HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Carey Park PGA Jr. Golf League finished its second-consecutive undefeated season in the 13 and under Wichita 2 division.
The group finished the league 5-0. Trakker French, Landon Hallier, Dawson McConnell and Brody Ummel were named to the All-Star team and will participate in the sectional championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The 13 and under team also includes Ty Adkins, Jalen Crable, Taylor Riemen Jr., Ethan Schwartzkoph and Harrison Walton.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — As expected, the Hutchinson City Council rejected bids for the pavilion center for
Rivers Banks Orchard Park north of town.
The city was to take action on bids for the building during Tuesday’s agenda session, but bids came in nearly twice the projected cost, which was approximately $850,000.
The action by the council also comes as questions were raised by several council members over whether the public building would cause too much competition with other such facilities that are both privately and company owned.
One city council member who is employed by such a company expressed concern during a recent meeting. During Tuesday’s meeting, Councilman John Daveline stressed the need to study the competition issue further:
Parks Director Justin Combs says, while there could be some competition, the buildings at the parks are often used by groups for events that are very different from the other event centers:
City Manager John Deardoff says things are further complicated by the fact the council has already approved bonds for the project, along with engineering and design costs. The council wants the study conducted on the event numbers in the next 30 to 60 days before making a decision as to where to go with the project.
The engineer for the project also told the council that he would go back and redraw plans for the project at no cost.
The city has until the first of the year to get the project rolling or the city will have to make some decisions on what to do with the bonded funds.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council took considerable time to go over several changes to property use codes during last night’s agenda session. That includes the implementation of the R-6 infill zoning district.
The changes were put in place after several public meetings and studies were done to see if the infill district would make property improvement easier. One of the biggest additions with the new zoning change would allow for the construction of a small apartment on property, such as a garage apartment.
Amy Allison with Planning and Zoning says the new structures do come with some requirements:
The change would actually be good for the entire area in question. Other changes include smaller setbacks and the number of parking spaces a property must have from two to one.
The new residential zone covers an area of the city from 17th south, then east and west from K-61 to Cow Creek.
The changes also include fewer sue regulations, thus eliminating redundancy and speeding up the time it takes to get issues and requests resolved.
It also regulates the types of materials that can be used for accessory structures, but continues to regulate the type of building and its location on a property.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — After a lot of meetings and many cuts, the Hutchinson City Council passed its budget for 2019 following a public hearing during Tuesday’s evening meeting.
The budget comes together after more than $4 million worth of cuts in order to keep a proper ending fund balance.
The cuts included the elimination of ten positions, including the end to the Assistant City Manager and Downtown Development position.
The budget, including Hutch Rec, totals $88,063,217 on taxes levied of $14,820,285. The mill levy will go from 47.7 to 47.8 mills. The budget calls for some major capital improvement projects, including a possible remodel of the Law Enforcement Center at a cost of $2.4 million.
It also calls for $750,000 for bleachers at Fun Valley, $992,000 for sewer projects and another $500,000 for street projects. It also calls for the next phase of the North Main reconstruction project from 13th to 5th Avenue.
Also Tuesday, the council approved bids for eight T-hangars at the Hutchinson Airport from Erect-A-Tube company at a cost of $155,945 and approved a request of a conditional use permit for a salvage yard located at 316 Spencer.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The fall sports season officially kicks off with the HutchCC soccer team hosting Northeast Community
College. The Dragons are looking to rebound from last year’s disappointing end to the season.
Dragon Head Coach Sammy Lane:
One weapon the Dragons have back is former Hutch High standout Braily Moeder, who lead the team in scoring last year with 18 goals. Moeder says she welcomes the added pressure of leading the offense:
First touch is set for 3 p.m. from the USD 308 complex.
HAVEN, Kan. — The Haven USD 312 School Board passed the proposed budget for next year during last
night’s public hearing. The budget totals $15,927,781 on taxes levied of $4,185,347. The mill levy for the district is set at 60.707 mills.
Also Monday, the board discussed board governance. The board went over goals and strategic planning for the year. The district is part of the Kansas State Department of Education Gemini II program that covers how schools operate and how they can better teach their students and improve the learning environment within the schools.
Superintendent Clark Wedel says the program could also involve personalized learning that would allow individual students to learn at their own pace. The program could be significant for students with higher learning ability as it could advance them through to higher education curriculum.
The Gemini II program has been established in 19 school districts in Kansas.
SOUTH HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The South Hutchinson Police force will be reduced by two officers and
the department will lose its records clerk because of cuts approved in a split vote by the City Council last week.
Police Chief Mark Thompson says the two officers and employee will be gone by Sept. 5.
The cuts were part of a cut in staff approved by the council to generate about $360,000 in needed revenue. The cuts were made after the council discovered its proposed budget left little ending fund balance.
Along with the cuts to the police force, the fire department will cut back on the number of staff at the station from three to two. Public works will also eliminate two positions, although those will be done by the resignation of one employee and the retirement of a second. Those positions will be left vacant.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — It was controversial and even lead to threats of legal action. There was eventually
legislation by the state over its legality. In March 2015, the Hutchinson City Council approved establishment of a Rental Registration and Inspection Program.
But the city was forced to amend the program in June 2016 to comply with the new state statute. The change required tenant consent before conducting an interior rental inspection. The change basically took the teeth out of the city program, which was put in place to pressure landlords to keep their property up to standards. The program was also met with much resistance from landlords.
Now, after three years, the program may be eliminated. The Hutchinson Housing Commission will likely ask the City Council to do away with the program. The request will surely draw a lot of discussion by the council if and when it’s presented to them. The housing commission will meet Wednesday to consider discontinuing the rental inspection program at the end of the year. Another request to the council will be to explore alternative code enforcement methods for the city. Alternative codes might at least keep some type of watch over rental properties.
The lack of interior inspections left little chance for rental improvements to be made. The commission report states that Hutchinson has not seen a noticeable improvement in housing conditions. The last data collected was in 2015, which showed trends still declining.
Rentals continue to hold a significant share of the housing stock — 33.5 percent of housing units meet the definition of rental as determined by the Rental Registration and Inspection Program within the city.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — With a better understanding of the district’s budget and school funding in the 
state, Hutchinson USD 308 and the National Education Association of Hutchinson will hold their third negotiations session for the 2018-19 agreement.
The meeting is Thursday at the Hutchinson High School Professional Learning Center. Human Resources Director Rick Kraus says it time to get to the heart of the negotiations after taking the summer off:
Except for caucus periods of the individual groups, the negotiations are open meetings. Normally, the two groups meet several times for negotiations. Thursday’s meeting is set for 4 p.m.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Animal Shelter had a successful weekend with the annual “Clear
the Shelters” event. The animal shelter was participating in the nationwide event to find homes for the dogs and cats in its care.
The shelter announced it adopted out 46 animals. The shelter found homes for 15 dogs and 31 cats. By the time the event was done, the dog kennels were empty and there were just seven cats left. The shelter already has some more dogs up for adoption.
The shelter used a grant from the Petco Foundation to pay for all adoption fees and other charges associated with adopting an animal for the event.
More than 900 shelters nationwide participated in Saturday’s adoption.
