On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays Post reporter Becky Kiser recaps this week's Hays City Commission meeting with city commissioner Sandy Jacobs and city manager Toby Dougherty.
Transcript:
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James Bell
city commissioners discussed ongoing opportunities and concerns in pays. At their City Commission meeting this week as Post reporter Becky Kiser recaps that meeting with city manager Toby Dougherty, as well as City Commission member Sandy Jacobs, on this episode of the Post Podcast.
Hays Post Reporter Becky Kiser
There were excellent discussions last night Sandy have several things going on and recurring in the city and some situations that perhaps the city can help with. One of them was a report actually an update from gro Hayes, Executive Director, Doug Williams talking about what that organization is doing. And actually Doug will be talking to James a little bit lower or later this morning. So we don't want to steal his thunder. But he did have some really interesting things to talk about housing. And that's something that's been a priority for the city in recent times to get more of it. And it looks like we're in a pretty good place right now.
Sandy Jacobs
The momentum is going in the right direction. I'll say that I don't want anybody to think that we need to stop thinking about it. Because there's so much going on, but grow Hayes has and I won't steal his thunder either, because it was the kind of a good news bad news night last night. And he certainly had good news on everything. The housing that's going on in the Tallgrass second edition, the RFID. We did last night, the other buildings that are going up, I think Toby checked how many actual were in construction recently, it was over 100
Toby Dougherty
Your construction and or permitting were about 160 units. Wow,
Sandy Jacobs
that's a big deal. That is a very big deal. And so the we're answering it, developers are stepping forward, the difficult thing that's happening, we have a developer in the Tallgrass edition that's ready to put in eight, and put eight more basements in while we were informed last night, his framework can't start until July. So it's and then then you worry about getting the bit the stuff you need the wood and the concrete and everything else that you need, because everything's backordered. So it's kind of a good news. Bad news
Hays Post Reporter Becky Kiser
is we should also explain that and Doug, if you're ever around, Doug, and I'm sure he says it all the time is when he's talking to James is that this foundation of what builds communities and attracts people to haze or other communities, you've got to have housing to begin with before you get people here to accept jobs.
Sandy Jacobs
Absolutely. And it's the basis of his triangle. And as he says, he carries that everywhere he goes. And I think we've all pretty much got that memorized. But he, he he and his organization. And I want to give credit to that board that has given him the liberty to keep moving forward and doing things and encouraging. Because that hasn't happened before with this strongly with economic development. And I've known it for a long time. This is the most active we've been with an economic development director for a very long
Hays Post Reporter Becky Kiser
time. Well, I know over the past few years haven't covered a City Commission, there have been concerns by the City Commission about it, feeling like you know, you're just not doing anything for Should we continue to fund you. And you have seen a big difference. And in fact, last night, I think it was you Sandy, who mentioned that we as Doug said, there is an additional position another person there who really has made a difference in what is happening.
Sandy Jacobs
David clang and has just been outstanding. When Doug hired him. He didn't have any economic development background, per se, but he had a lot of big box background. He'd been with some big box businesses, but he understood retail, he understood the environment. And he was very gung ho to make things happen. And as Doug announced last night, they actually, David wrote a grant that actually was awarded for 2.6 million and I don't want to take that thunder. So
Hays Post Reporter Becky Kiser
Oh, okay. Well, that's good news tokens, right. I mean, we're talking about over in the heart of America area, correct. On the east side of town.
Toby Dougherty
Yes. For the single family homes. We're talking on the east side of town. We do have some infill projects going on the former Washington school that's been converted to apartments.
Hays Post Reporter Becky Kiser
Are they actually not hiring? renting out now? Is that what
Toby Dougherty
I've heard? I know there is an open house sometime early next month, early next month? Yes. I think maybe the 12th or 13th Air landing
now. Right. And
Hays Post Reporter Becky Kiser
the St. Joseph former school I am and I've seen, you know, some people going in and out of there. So they're hopping around in that building now,
Toby Dougherty
right, that'll be converted to 12, moderate income housing apartments. And then we have, as Commissioner Jacob mentioned, the RH ID for another 34 units. That will be behind Washington School. And that'll be coming coming later in the year. So we have a lot of stuff in the works right now.
Hays Post Reporter Becky Kiser
Let's talk about the RH ID we heard from Finance Director Kim Rapp. And there's always a little bit of a smile on everybody's faces because it is a very long process to make this happen. And just regulations that the city has to fall
Toby Dougherty
it's it's state statute, you know, whenever you whenever you abate taxes for anybody, and that's what this is a tax abatement, it is a redirection of taxes to help fund a development. And so whenever that happens, there is a A lot of due process built in, there's a lot of public opportunity for input. And so it it, it delays the process. So there are publication requirements, there are public hearing requirements or public notice requirements. And that just all adds time to the process. I think it's needed because you shouldn't be able to abate taxes without adequate public input. So it is just a lengthy process. And I think Kim, the finance director said, we should be completed in August if the commission follows the calendar as presented. And then the developer would have to go ahead and start start construction.
Hays Post Reporter Becky Kiser
Another portion of this as he mentioned last night is there has to be justification shown that there is a need for housing and he talked about the housing survey that was done by Fort Hays State stocking Institute.
Toby Dougherty
Yes, that was completed late last year. And it shows an overall lack of of a need for housing in almost all categories. But the types of housing that the archer ideas last night is going to consider as the top of the of the of the needs for housing, so it is definitely the most needed.
Hays Post Reporter Becky Kiser
Sandy The another thing that's part of Doug's Famous Pyramid is childcare. You know, many parents, if not most, are working these days and they need childcare. And at the quote that came from Sarah Wah, singer of the Hayes chamber, who has helped had this childcare Taskforce, one of her quotes was childcare is in a market failure nationwide. I mean, it's just not Kansas, and Hayes is everywhere.
Sandy Jacobs
Well, and you agree, Becky, and it is everywhere, no matter where I travel, I hear the same stories. The only the many good things are happening, though, to try to relegate what's happening there. There's many different entities out there trying to find ways to incent people to begin childcare to start new chalker Whether it's in their home or or a childcare center. We have we have wonderful facilities in Hayes now wonderful homecare. And I think one of the very most important things I heard last night other than we have 800 kids in this community that we need to find childcare for that was important. But we had a wonderful contingency of child childcare professionals in our in our audience last night. And I think that's really important to understand. They made it very clear, they're not babysitters, they're childcare providers. And I think that isn't it, I feel differently, you know, if I'm looking at the process of that job as a childcare provider versus a babysitter. So I think that was important. But there is also part of all of the surveys we've come up with and in Sarah and her group have just done an outstanding job with this. They're really moving through this and they will make a difference. We have 151 people in this community that said in a survey that they will go back to work if they can find childcare for children, and they can
Hays Post Reporter Becky Kiser
and that's, you know, again, it just kind of is this circle because it just about anywhere you look, you see businesses in Hays with signs up on their marquees hiring now. So you know that that just shows it's also Toby something again, it isn't just what's going on locally, there are a lot of regulations, and that the that the daycare providers last night talked about that come from the state, if not the feds, but especially the state that make it kind of difficult to do this in your home. And not everybody's really able to do that
Toby Dougherty
difficult and and sometimes not profitable. So you're not running on high profit margin, I think I think that was one of the prevailing ideas that came out last night from the childcare providers who were in the audience was that they're not getting rich off of this. They are getting by at best, you know, most of them seem to be doing it because they like to do it. And they enjoy it. And they they want to provide the service. So the profit margins are small, it's very difficult. It is a highly complex regulatory environment. Even if you're a single person shop. It's a it's a highly complex regulatory environment. So it's difficult to get into and maintain.
Sandy Jacobs
It is and I think I mean, there are so many things that we really don't even understand. I was saying earlier to Becky, if we don't say it, nobody realizes it's happening. We have no room, no room, we have childcare providers last night, they said their waiting list is three years, their first opening they have is three years from now. Every single one of them has upwards of 2530 on the waiting list. Wow. So I mean, it's it is it is it's getting dire I will say that and because it affects so many areas of the community,
Hays Post Reporter Becky Kiser
one of the stearic talked about some of the things that they've done and and things that they would like to accomplish and ideas that may come into play, one of which is childcare centers, as opposed to someone who's doing daycare in their home. It sounded like some of the daycare providers feel like that might be more of an expensive option for some of their clients if they chose to do that. Maybe not super practical, but I don't and I don't have kids so I don't know but it seems like to me if we had things like that and businesses offering childcare you in their building would be helpful. I
think there's some of that being looked at right now.
Hays Post Reporter Becky Kiser
Can the city help in any way?
Sandy Jacobs
We don't know. But are we looking? Absolutely. And I think that was made clear to everybody last night. We don't know what we can do, but it is on the table, and we will be having discussions about it with this group and others.
Hays Post Reporter Becky Kiser
I like what you said last night. The city wasn't giving just lip service. You were you promised to the daycare providers that we are looking at. Toby I wanted to give a shout out to when we heard our progress report from assistant city manager. He noted that our parks director Jeff Boyle recently was acknowledged for his work out name is an award named after somebody that has been very had been very active in our haste community.
Toby Dougherty
Yeah, it was named after Jim Strine. Jeff Boyle, the parks director received a forestry award at Arbor Day celebration a couple of weeks ago, and well deserved if there's a bigger advocate for trees in in Hayes and Jeff, I don't know who it is maybe Jim shrine. But you know it Jeff does a good job. We have a tree nursery that was also shown in the progress report last night. Jeff is very good at finding properties around Hayes out in the country where there are cedar trees and other types of trees that can be transplanted to city facilities. And we have a tree spade and it just does a good job. You know, we don't have a lot of trees in the High Plains out here. So it's nice to continually plant those trees and see them grow. And
Sandy Jacobs
everyone if somebody's taking a tree down here with
Hays Post Reporter Becky Kiser
these they, you know, I think that's really that's really neat because a lot of ag people don't like those red cedar trees, but they're good in town for a windbreak and didn't we put some out sports complex to
Toby Dougherty
go Yeah, sports complex golf course we have them all over the place. And I would like to put a plug in for the tree rebate program. Yes. You know, if you are replacing a tree or planting a tree, you can go on Hayes usa.com and look in our parks department. They'll have the brochure for the tree rebate program where you can go to the city clerk's office and ask for it. We'll give you have $50 to help pay for the cost of your tree. And if you have a certain species of tree that is diseased that needs to be removed. We'll actually give you a little money to help you tear that tree out and then give you some money to help you replace it.
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