HUTCHINSON, Kan. — High winds have once again caused aerial spraying for mosquitoes to be postponed until Monday night.

Vector Disease Control International will be doing the aerial spraying, which is necessary to combat and control mosquitoes where ground spraying is less accessible and effective.

The plan is to fly 300 feet above the ground and spray a product commonly used for mosquito control. The plan is to start around 9 p.m. and spray until 2 a.m. That time frame will again depend on weather issues.

Pretty Prairie is the only city that will not participate in the spraying.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Reno County Administrator Gary Meagher has informed the County Commission of his plans to retire.

Meagher says it has been a privilege to serve as the County Administrator for Reno County over the last 10 years and said he appreciated the opportunity. “I am grateful for the support that I have received from the county commissioners, department heads and staff,” Meagher said.

He admits his part in the organization has been challenging and rewarding, but believes it’s time for him to move on. He says the county is in great financial condition and has excellent employees.

He says he plans to fulfill his current employment contract by working until the end of the year. His last day will be Dec. 27. “The time has gone by quickly and it is hard for me to believe that I am finishing my career with almost 46 years in public service,” Meagher said in an email.

He says he’s had a good career in local government and had the chance to work with some terrific people that are truly dedicated to improving the community. “During my 30 years in city and county management, I have had many great experiences,” Meagher said. “I have learned much about local government and hope to be able to use this knowledge to serve in the community.”

He added that he believes Reno County is a very desirable place for a County Administrator to live and work, so he believes this position will attract many well-qualified applicants.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council gave approval to spend nearly $1 million for engineering services on a major drainage project involving Cow Creek.

The action came during Tuesday’s agenda session as part of the city’s Storm Water Master Plan to improve drainage along Cow Creek.

The proposed project would include widening of the channel along with work on various bridges that flow over it. However, this plan is subject to change. As proposed, the plan includes several railroad bridges on South Plum. The total cost of the project is approximately $12 million.

Work will include possible design modifications to four bridges, relocation of utilities and negotiations with Union Pacific Railroad for work in and around the railroad’s right-of-way.

If all goes as planned, work could begin in March of next year with completion by February of 2021.

The council approved the bid from Wood Environment and Infrastructure at a cost of $998,640.

Funding for the project will come from the storm water utility fee.

The council also set an Aug. 6 date for a public hearing on the proposed tax incentive package for GEO Chemicals, LLC.

GEO Chemicals plans to begin operation of a manufacturing and storage facility for chemicals used in the oil and gas industry. The company will use a building it purchased at the old Consolidated property near 17th and Halstead. GEO Chemicals plans to build an adjacent 10,000-square-foot building at a cost around $400,000.

Once the company begins, officials say they expect to add 50 new jobs the first year with plans to create 200 or more jobs over the next 10 years.

At some point, the company also wants to build a new facility in the Enterprise Industrial Park.

As far as tax abatement, the company wants 100% abatement over 10 years, but the city wants to start off with an abatement of 95% the first year and then decrease over the 10-year span.

The final decision will come after a public hearing on Aug. 6.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council will seek approval to spend nearly $1 million for engineering services on a major drainage project involving Cow Creek.

The action could come during Tuesday’s agenda session. Part of the city’s Stormwater Master Plan was to improve drainage along Cow Creek. The proposed project would include widening the channel along with work on various bridges that flow over it. That includes several railroad bridges near South Plum. The total cost of the project is approximately $12 million.

The council will be asked to consider the bid from Wood Environment and Infrastructure at a cost of $998,640. Work will include design modifications to four bridges, relocation of utilities, and negotiations with Union Pacific Railroad for work in and around their right-of-way.

If all goes as planned, work could begin in March of 2020 with completion by February of 2021.

Funding for the project will come from the stormwater utility fee.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Fire crews were once again involved in a rescue on the Arkansas River. Firefighters rescued two citizens from the river after they were displaced from their kayaks Saturday.

The pair entered the water at the 4th Street bridge. Approximately a half mile down, some tree debris in the river was present and the two became dislodged from their kayaks. One of the individuals was able to grasp an overhead branch and return to the bank. The other member of the pair was able to hold onto the branch until fire crews made contact. Another crew was able to assist the individual to the bank.

Meanwhile, a boat was deployed and entered the river to assist the rescued kayakers back to their vehicle because of difficult terrain. Hutch Fire was assisted by the Reno County Sheriff’s Department.

Both citizens were wearing life jackets.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — With the start of the next budget, the city of Hutchinson will fully implement a merit-based pay scale. City Manager John Deardoff says they started work several years ago to put a system in place in which all employees will be evaluated before any possible merit pay increase. “We are now on a true merit-based performance system where we will basically have a minimum and maximum. We’ve customized performance appraisal tools for each department,” City Manager John Deardoff said. “Employees are evaluated, those evaluations are reviewed and employees will receive raises based on their performance.”

Deardoff says the new merit pool will give employees incentive to work harder. He also says that department heads will need to offer true accounts of why an employee deserves a merit increase in pay. “One of the things we’re working hard on with our supervisors is that if you do rate somebody in the exceed category, you’ve got to have good documentation to show that they do exceed . . . that they’re outperforming a co-worker,” Deardoff said. “It’s going to take time to get the program really fully implemented, but we’ve got everything in place. We really think it’s going to help improve our ability to attract and retain a quality workforce.”

Deardoff says he expects fewer than 30% of city employees will meet the incentive threshold each year. The new merit pay pool is on top of what will be a 3.5% average wage increase for employees in the next budget.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Siemens Gamesa plant in Hutchinson is getting a new plant manager. The company has hired from within the plant. Doug Fulton, the longest-tenured Hutchinson employee, has accepted the position.

Fulton will take over for Danilo Bezerra who has accepted a position with Siemens Brazil. Bezerra is from Brazil and will be reunited with family with this new role. Bezerra has served the Hutchinson facility for more than three years.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The retreat of the Arkansas River after more than a month of flooding has not revealed any significant damage to the levee system protecting Hutchinson and the surrounding area.

According to Public Works Director Brian Clennan, there was some damage but nothing alarming considering the levee was under stress for an extended period of time.

“There was some damage around the bridges,” Clennan said. Most of the damage was to what is called the high bank that contains the river during most high water events. Clennan said there was some erosion in those areas and that it will be repaired.

There have also been reports of sand inside drainage pipes that divert storm water from the city into the river. Those areas are being cleaned out.

The only real notable erosion came around a bridge pillar on K-96 Highway near 4th Avenue. The city worked with KDOT to expedite repairs for that site.

Finally, Clennan was thankful to the employees who put a lot of time in during the flood to make sure the levee was holding. “Really pleased with the work the staff put in 24/7,” Clennan said, noting the crews worked 12-hour shifts watching the levee.

The city is keeping track of hours and machinery used for making repairs to the levee in hopes to get reimbursement from FEMA.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The mosquito population in Reno County is the worst anyone has ever seen, according to Sherry Tubach with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

She spoke at the Reno County Commission meeting yesterday and talked about what they found in the county traps.

“Among the five traps that were found in Reno County, this is really an unprecedented number, we have never ever trapped this many Culex mosquitoes,” Tubach said. “We really feel like the West Nile virus, actually they can also carry Saint Louis encephalitis virus, is quite high.”

She says they are going to do aerial spraying over every community in the county to try to reduce the pest population to lower the risk for disease.

“KDHE has identified funding and we have requested and been granted the redirection of some federal funding that is used for mosquito surveillance for a one-time application to reduce the number of adult mosquitoes in Reno County,” Tubach said.

She says this could be done in one night and should be pretty effective in reducing the mosquito population in the county with the aerial spraying.

“We anticipate that only one application will be needed to reduce the number of mosquitoes by about 9o percent,” Tubach said. She adds that they will continue to monitor the mosquito population in the county.

Residents will still need to toss mosquito dunks in standing water to eliminate mosquito larvae to keep control of the problem.

Megan Gottschalk-Hammersmith, the Assistant Director of Community Health Operations, says the health department has about 700 dunks to help control the larvae. The department plans to order more.

No specific date has been set for the spraying.