HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Reno County Commission approved two resolutions as part of the consent agenda Tuesday.

One item was tabled last week for Dale Lehman, who wants a conditional use permit for a manufacturing facility and also a retail sales facility near K-96 and McNew Road. That project is pretty much complete.

The other is for a conditional use permit by Garber Leasing to establish a commercial use for a contractor’s office and storage facility north of 43rd and Plum. With the approval of the resolution for this project, work could begin in the very near future.

The commission also approved wording for the profile to recruit a new Reno County administrator. One change from last week is the proposed salary for the new administrator. Last week, the amount talked about was $120,000. Commissioners upped that in the actual wording of the profile to $125,000. However, that amount would be up for negotiations when the candidate is hired.

The commissioners want to have interviews in December. The hope is to have someone hired when the current administrator retires at the end of his contract toward the end of the year.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The newest featured neighborhood in Hutchinson now has a name. The neighborhood celebrated with a picnic and cleanup day last Saturday.

Grace Arbor Neighborhood, the area between 4th and 11th avenues from Main Street to Plum Street, is the newest featured neighborhood of the Hutchinson Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative. Residents have been meeting since May discussing concerns and ambitions for the neighborhood, finalizing boundaries, selecting a name and planning the picnic and cleanup day that was held Saturday.

The name, Grace Arbor Neighborhood, reflects the neighborhood’s history as it was home to Grace Hospital. It also reflects the geography of the neighborhood, which has streets named after trees.

Neighbors spent Saturday filling three dumpsters. More than a dozen volunteers assisted. The Salvation Army hosted the neighborhood picnic. Sixty neighbors gathered for food, games and conversation.

The next steps for Grace Arbor Neighborhood include seeking a proclamation from the City Council to officially recognize the neighborhood. Residents will also gather to develop a neighborhood logo for street signage.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A 26-year-old Hutchinson man who was busted last Thursday after a search warrant was conducted on his home made a first appearance in court Monday.

David Crothers is jailed for distribution of marijuana, possession of a stimulant and possession of drug paraphernalia.

In addition to drugs, he was also allegedly in possession of a number of fake $100 bills. There were also two children in the home at the time the search warrant was being conducted.

Crothers will also face a community corrections violation. He has been on corrections for a number of burglary and theft convictions.

Bond in the case was set at $20,000.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A local woman faces a slew of possible charges after she allegedly led police on a chase late last week.

Police were called to a Hutchinson home on the report of criminal damage, where officers located Marissa Schneider. She allegedly attempted to flee officers by driving out of the city and stopped at a rural home. Police said she then got out of the vehicle and refused to follow police commands. With the help of a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper, officers managed to get her into cuffs. During that time, she was reportedly laughing. Schneider didn’t believe the officers were real and thought they had fake badges, according to reports.

They placed her in a police vehicle. She then pulled the wires from a video camera inside that vehicle.

Authorities also reported finding methamphetamine inside Schneider’s vehicle.

She was arrested on suspicion of reckless driving, possession of methamphetamine, felony interference, DUI, felony flee and elude, not having an interlock device on the vehicle, driving in violation of restrictions and criminal damage to property.

She is jailed on a bond of $9,750.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Reno Country District Judge Tim Chambers granted a motion for landowners in Reno County who protested the building of a wind farm to intervene in the lawsuit filed against the county.

NextEra Energy and Pretty Prairie Wind, LLC, claim in their lawsuit that some of the petitions were not valid because of the method in which they were acquired. They say all of the petitions should be dismissed. Landowners will now be allowed to challenge the claims made by attorneys for NextEra.

The landowners within the area of the proposed wind farm managed to force a super vote of the Reno County Commission, meaning all three commissioners had to be in favor of granting the permit. Only two were in favor.

NextEra didn’t want the motion for landowners to be allowed. NextEra says the landowners’ interests will be covered by the county’s defense over the actions taken to find the petitions valid.

Local attorney Eric Steinle, who is representing the county in this matter, told the judge that the county will not represent the interest of landowners. He asked that the motion be granted.

NextEra wants the case to move as quickly as possible. Judge Chambers noted that, if he had denied the motion to intervene, it would have been appealed and that would delay the lawsuit from proceeding quickly.

Now comes the next step. However, the judge made it clear that he will not rule on any of the other issues of the lawsuit until he has the facts of what happened. That means the county will have to put together all of the facts that led the Reno County Planning Commission to make the recommendation. The county will have to provide information from hearings and explain how the commission came up with its vote.

The three groups of attorneys will work to set up a case management schedule to gather facts. How long all of this will take is unclear.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Reno County Commission will consider two resolutions as part of the consent agenda Tuesday. One item was tabled last week.

Dale Lehman wants a conditional use permit for a manufacturing facility and a retail sales facility near K-96 and McNew Road.

The other is for a conditional use permit by Garber Leasing to establish a commercial use for a contractors’s office and storage facility north of 43rd and Plum.

The commission will also consider the wording for the profile for the recruitment of a new Reno County Administrator.

Commissioners will again discuss the Kansas Homeland Security Region G Mitigation Plan.

The commission will also get a report on Reno County Youth Services from Director Bill Hermes.

The Reno County Commission meeting is Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. in the Reno County Courthouse.