HAVEN, Kan. — The Haven USD 312 School Board had further discussion but in the end took no action on how to deal with declining enrollment at the elementary schools in Partridge and Yoder. The board tabled for one month any action on possibly closing one of the two schools.

Currently USD 312 has only 51 students in grades K-6 at Partridge and 77 students in K-8 at Yoder.

Several other options had been discussed in the past months, including consolidating them, make one school serve K-4 and the other 5-8 grades, or leave things as they are.

If the district decides to close one of the two schools it must be published and then a public hearing would be held before action is taken.

 

RENO COUNTY – Fifteen of sixteen employees briefly hospitalized following a carbon monoxide leak at a Reno County manufacturing business on Monday returned to work Tuesday.

Fire crews evacuated employees from the building located in the 1600 Block of East Wasp Road south of Hutchinson after they confirmed elevated levels of carbon monoxide.

Employees thought something was wrong at the business and began complaining of headaches, according to Alex Birkenfeldt, SYT USA CEO.

Emergency room staff tested and treated employees and then sent them home.

Birkenfeldt said a gas heater responsible for the leak is being replaced.

The business manufactures fiberglass parts, according to Birkenfeldt.

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YODER, Kan. A carbon monoxide leak Monday afternoon forced employee’s of SYT USA to evacuate from their building at the old naval air base near Yoder..

The call came in just before 2 p.m. Monday to the report of people feeling ill. Originally the call came in as a hazmat situation but units were told to stand down before arrival. However ambulances did respond to eh scene.  

SYT USA CEO Alex Birkenfeldt says the leak was in one of the building’s heaters. All 15 employees were taken to the hospital to be checked out as a safety precaution and everyone is okay.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Two people were taken to the hospital after a two vehicle accident just southeast of Hutchinson Saturday.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, a vehicle driven by 62-year-old Alice Rose Oldham of Hutchinson was eastbound on U.S. Highway 50 exiting onto Yoder Road and at the stop sign on the off ramp. She failed to yield the right away and collided with a vehicle heading southbound on Yoder Road. That vehicle was driven by 19-year-old Hinalei Otuangaofa Fihaki of Taylorsville, Utah.

Both drivers were transported to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center for treatment of injuries. Both were wearing seat-belts according to the highway patrol.

The accident occurring about 6:20 p.m.

STAFFORD COUNTY – During the week of February 6th, the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) began conducting survey work at the US-50/US-281 intersection in Stafford County in preparation for the proposed construction of a roundabout. The survey is designed to gather information necessary for the detailed design of the proposed improvements. The field survey will extend from the US-50/US-281 Intersection a half mile in each direction. The field survey is scheduled to be completed by mid-March weather permitting. Letting for the project could potentially be as early as October 2018.

A member of the survey crew will contact property owners and/or tenants for permission prior to entering private property. Survey activities will include the use of survey instruments on the ground to determine locations of existing features within the survey corridor. Michael Selley, P.S., Field Survey Project Manager, will be in charge of this survey for the KDOT.

Roundabouts can reduce crashes at an intersection by 62%, but they do have their limits. Large loads often have issues navigating the confines of a roundabout. The proposed construction of the US-50/US-281 roundabout calls for a diamond shaped group of restricted lanes called “Tight Flies” that are constructed outside of the center roundabout. When these lanes are made available it will allow for the oversized loads to drive around the roundabout. This is a unique design similar to the roundabout near Marion, Kansas. The design addresses the need to impact traffic flow by slowing traffic while providing access to the oversized loads passing through the state.

Federal Funds will be used for the construction of the US-50/US-281 Roundabout. Highway construction project locations and road condition information can be viewed at the https://511.ksdot.org website, or can also be accessed by telephone by dialing 511.

KDOT urges all motorists to be alert, obey the warning signs, and “Give ‘Em a Brake!” when approaching and driving through a highway work zone.

Persons with questions about this road work or other KDOT projects can call South Central Kansas Public Affairs Manager, Zach Oswald, at 620-663-3361 or 1-877-550-5368 (Toll free).

Here is an aerial view.

RENO COUNTY -There was no school Friday in the USD 310 school district due to an outbreak of two illnesses sweeping through the schools. The district includes the communities of Abbyville, Arlington, Langdon, Plains, Sylvia and Turon.

Over 20% of the district students either stayed home Thursday or were sent home at some point during the day, according to the school web site.

This break from class was to give the district staff an opportunity to concentrate on a thorough cleaning of all areas as well as limit the exposure of illness to healthy students and staff.

The High School Vo-Tech route running to take students to Hutchinson Community College Friday class and the high school basketball teams happened as normal.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – USD 308 Superintendent, Dr. Shelly Kiblinger released information Wednesday evening on how a proposal by the Kansas Senate would effect the budget of the Hutchinson School District.

They state, after “hundreds of paper cuts,” a proposal from the Kansas Senate Ways and Means Committee this week could bleed money from the Hutchinson Public Schools budget at a much greater rate.

“Since the Great Recession, USD 308 and other schools have endured a slow death by hundreds of paper cuts – that is, we’ve endured repeated, small cuts to our operating budgets that already weren’t increasing at the rate of inflation,” said USD 308 Superintendent Dr. Shelly Kiblinger. “We understood the cuts from the Great Recession but expected our budgets to heal during the better years.

“That healing has not taken place. In fact, the Senate Ways and Means proposal represents a knife wound to our budget, one that comes at a time when the vast majority of our resources have been spent for the year.”

The current Senate committee proposal would cost the district a 5 percent cut of $1,298,227. If that were reduced to a 2 percent cut, the cost to the district would be $519,291 while a 1 percent cut would be $259,645.

The Kansas Senate is expected to take up the bill Thursday.

Already this year, the district reduced a track of classes at McCandless Elementary School to save an estimated $350,000 for the current fiscal year because legislative action provided no new classroom funds for the 2016-17 budget and did not provide any relief from inflation.

For the 2015-16 school year, block grants approved by the 2015 Legislature essentially froze general state aid at 2014-15 levels and then reduced that amount by 0.4 percent to redistribute to schools with extraordinary needs.

Again, the district made cuts to provide raises for staff and pay for increased fixed costs, such as utilities and insurance.

“I appreciate the monumental task legislators have ahead of them,” Dr. Kiblinger said. “The budget hole was dug in previous years. However, they need to continue to work on solutions to find a way to keep their promise to Kansas kids.”

At this point in the school year, the vast majority of expenses have been incurred in the district. Reductions at this point in the year would impact summer maintenance, spending planned to enhance student safety and needed technology replacements. The cuts also would damage the long-term plans of the district and its financial position.

“Anything we cut now will have a direct impact on our ability to provide a safe, quality learning experience for students,” the superintendent said.

The Senate committee has suggested taking the cuts out of district’s “flexible funds,” but these funds typically are savings accounts for large, periodic purchases – such as textbooks – or emergencies – such as replacing roofs after a hailstorm. To reduce costs in a previous budget cut, the district changed its insurance plan and now faces a large deductible each time it files a claim for storm damage.

“I hope parents and supporters of public education will reach out to legislators and let them know the importance of allowing schools to operate this year with the budgets we were promised in June,” Dr. Kiblinger said. “Because the Senate is taking up the plan Thursday, we would ask patrons to make their wishes known by contacting their senators tonight or Thursday.”

Again, this information coming directly from the Hutchinson School District.

TOPEKA, Kan. – The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has issued a boil water advisory for the public water supply located in the City of Nickerson. KDHE officials issued the advisory because of an electrical issue that caused a loss of pressure in the city’s water system. Failure to maintain adequate pressure may result in a loss of chlorine resulting in possible contamination of the water supply.

The advisory took effect this morning and will remain in effect until conditions that place the system at risk of contamination is resolved.

Customers should observe the following precautions until further notice:

• Boil water for one minute prior to drinking or food preparation, or use bottled water.
• Dispose of ice cubes and do not use ice from a household automatic icemaker.
• Disinfect dishes and other food contact surfaces by immersion for at least one minute in clean tap water that contains one teaspoon of unscented household bleach per gallon of water.
• Water used for bathing does not generally need to be boiled. Supervision of children is necessary while bathing so that water is not ingested. Persons with cuts or severe rashes may wish to consult their physicians.
• If your tap water appears dirty, flush the water lines by letting the water run until it clears.

Public water suppliers in Kansas take all measures necessary to notify customers quickly after a system failure. Regardless of whether it is the supplier or KDHE that announces a boil water advisory, KDHE will issue the rescind order following testing at a certified laboratory.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council gave approval to a letter of support for a developer that wants to build an apartment complex near the downtown area.

The letter of support to the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation on behalf of Manske and Associates who are proposing a new apartment complex near the downtown area. If approved The Heritage Lofts would be located at the corner of  Sherman and Washington. The apartment would provide housing to persons with developmental disabilities and residents over 55 years of age. A decision by KHRC could come in May and if approved, work on the complex should begin in November with completion in early 2019. The cost of the project is $4.5 million.

The Council also approved two public works projects. The first was awarding a bid to APAC Kansas for the city’s 2017 arterial street maintenance program at a cost of $1,391,336. The second was for the residential street maintenance program from Circle C Paving at a cost of $815,243.

The Council also approved the sale of the old W 4th Avenue fire station to Absolute Precision Plumbing for $40,150.