By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Last year was unprecedented for the city of Hays because of the coronavirus pandemic and throughout it all, Shaun Musil served as mayor.
"We disagreed. We worked it out. And that's what I think true government should be," Musil said after thanking the other city commissioners for working together as a team in 2020.
"We don't always have to agree, but at the end of the day, we do it for our community," Musil added.
The city commission was reorganized Thursday night, with Vice-Mayor Sandy Jacobs appointed as mayor by the commission to serve in 2021. Mason Ruder was appointed vice-mayor.
Musil admitted he was "scared to death" in making some of the calls he did regarding the city's response to the outbreak but said "the people came out of the woodwork thanking us, not just me, for what we did. You made it all worth it," Musil told the other commissioners.
Residents for and against COVID restrictions appeared before the commission at several meetings.
Commissioners voted 4-1 last summer to implement a face covering ordinance in effect from July 27 to August 30, 2020.
Following a contentious meeting with protestors gathered outside city hall on August 27, a 3-2 vote extended the ordinance through Oct. 5.
The following Saturday morning, Mayor Musil woke up to find his family's three vehicles vandalized.
At a special meeting on Oct. 2, the commission voted 3-1 to again extend the face mask mandate in Hays, but this time it was until certain metrics are met.
The ordinance now will be lifted if the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in Ellis County is at five or fewer for 14 consecutive days, as reported by Ellis County Health Services Director Jason Kennedy — or if Gov. Laura Kelly's statewide emergency declaration is lifted.
Neither situation has happened so far, even as rollout of the coronavirus vaccine is underway in Ellis County and across Kansas.
Musil also thanked city staff and employees.
No essential city services have had to be cut back or shut down to date, although public access has been denied to most city buildings at times since last March.
Musil's wife Heather was in the commission chamber and he left his seat to give her a hug.
"There's many things that happened to my family this year that without Heather over there, I never would have made it," he said.
Shaun and Heather Musil are co-owners of the downtown Hays business Paisley Pear, which was affected by the governor's emergency declaration of business shutdowns in Kansas early in the pandemic.
The five members of the Musil family have experienced the coronavirus and quarantines.
The commission was able to conduct business as usual in 2020, despite the pandemic.
Newly-appointed Mayor Jacobs listed many of the city's accomplishments last year and thanked Musil for his leadership "from the heart."
Among the major projects the commission supported or approved in 2020 are the construction start of the North Vine Street traffic roundabouts, new playground shelters at the Bickle-Schmidt Sports Complex, the Arc Park splash pad, the development agreement, CID and TIF for a travel plaza on Interstate 70 on the west side of Hays, and an RHID for the Tallgrass Addition for workforce housing.
"None of us will know if what we did is right or wrong for 10 or 15 years or even longer," Musil said, "but I feel like we did the right thing."
In other business, the commission:
* Approved a letter of support to the Federal Aviation Administration for a three-year Essential Air Contract with SkyWest/United Airlines to provide commercial passenger service at the airport.
* Heard an update on progress of the North Vine Street Improvement Corridor Project which is 40 percent complete as construction enters the winter months.