HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Reno County planning commission heard the final arguments Thursday for a company wanting a conditional use permit for a proposed wind farm.

NextEra Energy wants to place as many as 88 wind turbines in southeastern Reno County. NextEra disputed claims from numerous citizens. The company said it used a collaborative approach to the plan and worked with many citizens throughout the area to address concerns and issues.

Spencer Jenkins with NextEra noted that a lot of the project is in an unzoned area of the county. He said there are setbacks of 2,000 feet in all areas. County zoning, as it stands now, is only required to have a setback of 1,000 feet.

He also noted that, in some cases, they actually moved some possible turbines to other locations because of possible development in the area. They have also been working with those who have concerns about aviation in the area. NextEra has been working with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks concerning bird migration.

Again, NextEra disputed claims that the turbines will cause health issues and said the noise from the turbines will not cause issues for those near them.

The planning commission has yet to make any recommendation. The hearing is in recess. No official date has been set for the hearing to resume, but it should come later this month.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A sudden and sad turn of events has created some doubt about the future of a Nevada company’s expansion to Hutchinson. Public Restroom Company announced in April of 2018 that it would move a new manufacturing facility to Hutchinson. Plans were to have the company in place by the end of this year. However, the president and founder of the 45-year-old company, Chuck Kaufman, died on March 25 after battling a long illness.

According to Chamber President Debra Teufel, the company has been taken over by Kaufman’s son, Chad, and other family members. As of right now, any decision about expanding the company has been put on hold.

Teufel says steps have also been taken to extend the lease of the old Mega Manufacturing building to Siemens. The building has been used as a storage depot. That lease was set to expire this year and allow the Public Restroom Company to start the process of moving to Hutchinson. The lease has been extended to Siemens for another 18 months.

“Our thoughts are with the Public Restroom Company family and employees at this time.  It is not unusual for a company’s timeline to change, particularly after a significant loss of their founder and leader,” Teufel said. “This additional lease extension will provide Siemens Gamesa with ample space as they prepare to ramp up with a full pipeline of work in the next year.  Our office is actively working with company leadership – Chad Kaufman, Vice President and Katie Sherin, Executive Vice President, as they continue to assess Public Restroom Company’s future growth strategy.  Hutchinson stands ready to assist when the time is right for their expansion.”

Public Restroom Company assembles whole restrooms and then ships them to customers. Some of its products are at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and in other major parks. The modular restrooms weigh between 30 tons and 40 tons when finished.

At the time of its announcement, the company projected to have between $50 million and $75 million in annual sales in the next few years. Teufel says the company planned to take on the added costs of shipping products from Nevada rather than consider start-up costs for the Hutchinson facility until it got things in order. The Chamber was able to get a comment from Chad Kaufman.  “We still feel that Hutchinson is an ideal location for manufacturing growth and we appreciate the support from the community at this difficult time as we assess our plans moving forward,” Kaufman said.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson IHOP restaurant celebrated its Shrove Tuesday pancake celebration today.

The event is held each year to help raise money for The Children’s Miracle Network. IHOP in Hutchinson couldn’t participate on the original date — Tuesday, March 5 — because the store was closed after a motorist ran into the building. Now with a newly remodeled building, the event was finally able to take place.

The event included a pancake stacking contest between the Hutchinson police and fire departments. Hutchinson Fire Chief Steve Beer said it is always fun to do things like this for a good cause. “Any time we get a chance to come along and help our community for a great cause . . . fire and police are always there shoulder to shoulder,” Beer said.

In the end, the fire department won the stacking contest with 8 inches, compared to the 7 ¾ inches of stacked pancakes for the police department.

The contest was judged by 12-year-old Vincent Manning, who has benefited from the Children’s Miracle Network. The restaurant said it expected to dish out about 500 servings of pancakes during the day.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Three Hutchinson USD 308 schools were presented with Challenge Awards from the Confidence in Kansas Public Education Task Force Monday morning.

Hutchinson Middle Schoool 7, the Magnet School at Allen and Lincoln Elementary were given the awards in ceremonies at each school. Ben Jones with the state school board presented the awards.

“This award is a reflection of last year’s state assessment results on state reading and math assessments,” Jones said. Jones also noted that the challenges the district faces makes the awards special. “The amount of kids that go through USD 308 . . . and the challenges they face on a daily basis, from behavioral issues to income issues to free and reduced lunches, is a large number,” Jones said. “The work these teachers are doing is very applaudable and that’s the pleasure of presenting these awards.”

Overall, more than 170 Kansas schools received 2018 Challenge Awards. The awards recognize Kansas schools that are making a notable difference in student achievement despite facing significant challenges in their school population. Since its inception in 2002, more than 1,500 awards have been presented to schools across the state.

Photos courtesy of USD 308.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — It started at First Presbyterian Church in Hutchinson. Five Buhler High School students set out to raise awareness and help victims of domestic violence. The students have helped a Hutchinson agency make a difficult situation better.

In February, Maggie McLean, Libby Schultz, Lacie Branscom, Maggie Epp and Bailey Harner were assigned a student passion project. They chose the BrightHouse shelter, which is the safe house for domestic violence victims. With the help of their church and others, the five were able to raise $10,000. That money is being used to make improvements at the shelter.

BrightHouse Director Donna Davis said, “At first they were looking to raise $500.” That changed quickly when the group surpassed that goal. “After that, they thought they might do better. They were hoping to raise $3,000,” Davis said.

The total quickly grew to $10,000. Davis says the money is being used for new carpeting, ceiling fans in the bedrooms, new paint, new window treatment and new bedding, along with other renovations. Davis says it has been amazing. “These girls are phenomenal. Their leadership and their passion and their forward thinking. They’re going to change things for people in the community.”

At Buhler High School, English teacher Greg Froese is equally impressed with the girls’ efforts. “I’ve been so happy with the outpouring of support,” Froese said. “These girls have poured their heart and soul into this.” The student passion project is a requirement of all juniors and seniors at Buhler High School, according to Froese.

BrightHouse, formally known as the Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Center, began in 1976 as the Rape Center. In 2017, the organization served 415 victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking. Additionally, BrightHouse sheltered 81 people from abusers — including 33 children — and helped coordinate safe child/parent visitation for 120 children through its Child Visitation and Exchange Center program.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — There are some new stores opening up in the downtown area and one of them has a very familiar name.

Reffner’s will open in the old Sport Shack building. According to Chelsey Dawson from the Chamber of Commerce, the store is expected to open May 1.

The store will be operated by Brian Reffner. He is the son of Denny Reffner, the original owner of what was Reffner’s Sporting Goods located at 2nd and Main. While the store carries the Reffner name, it will have a different look. “We won’t be selling any shoes or such,” Reffner said. Instead, the store will offer licensed college and pro sports apparel, along with apparel for area high schools.

“We just felt it was something in the area that needed to be filled,” Reffner said. The store will also offer corporate embroidery and screen printing for companies and events.

The original Reffner’s closed in 1996 after 31 years in business.

HUTCHINSON — They are using hotel rooms, buying products and filling up the state fair campground.

The four-year turnaround is underway at the CHS Refinery in McPherson and the city of Hutchinson is benefiting. The turnaround is a complete retrofitting and maintenance project that brings hundreds of workers to the area. Some local retailers are seeing an increase in business with the project.

“We are working to get guys clothing and boots,” William Long of Long’s said. “It has been a nice boost to the economy.”

He says the increase in business caught them by surprise.

“I wish we had known about it earlier, we would have been ready,” Long added.

The turnaround is also bringing a lot of business to the Kansas State Fair RV Park. Non-fair events Manager Nathan McClanahan says they have just 60 full-service RV sites left out of 211. With the Kansas Mennonite Relief Sale approaching, it will make for a very busy time. McClanahan says they will use the overflow camping on the grounds.

“We’re going to get creative, but we’ll make it work,” McClanahan said.

A one-month stay at the RV park is $510.

At Giant Laundry, 5th and Adams, piles of clothing are filling up the area as workers try to keep up with the extra business. They report doing as much as 500 pounds of laundry in a single day. Hutchinson City Manager John Deardoff says it will be a month or two before the city knows the amount of extra revenue being generated, but says you can see the increase in activity around the area. Hotels, restaurants and other businesses are all benefiting from the large increase in workers at the refinery.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — AT&T has chosen Hutchinson to be the first city in the nation to beta test a federally-backed smart city system.

Hutchinson Police Chief Jeffrey Hooper presented a proposal to the Hutchinson City Council. The city must present AT&T with a letter of commitment to move forward.

Chief Hooper explained the concept and how it would work. Hooper said the technology would help law enforcement by allowing officers to access a phone that has called authorities. Officers could start recording the crime and authorities would be able to tap into the system and see the crime as it’s happening.

Hooper also talked about AT&T strengthening its towers in Hutchinson. That includes putting cameras on certain intersections for first responders to access. In an emergency situation, lights and sirens would trip the lights to red and allow emergency vehicles to pass through more safely.

“It would also have sensors on that intersection where we could see the traffic flow, traffic pattern where we could see congestion at that intersection, such as a stalled vehicle or an accident, something like that,” Chief Hooper said.

Hutchinson was chosen because Kansas is the nation’s leader for the 911 dispatch communications system. There are 98 communications centers connected to the statewide system.

Drones could also be connected to the system for major events — such as flooding or wildfires. There is some concern regarding the drones since they are not allowed in certain areas, including the Hutchinson Airport. There are also some privacy concerns with drones. Those issues will be addressed and worked out before the drones are used.

There would be no upfront cost to the city, however, there would be a service fee if the city chooses to stay on the system. Hooper also says there will be some staff time commitments across the city.

Any final decision will come before the city council at a later time.