The Hays Daily News

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Taxes, Hadley and zoning

As a concerned citizen of Ellis County, I felt the need to point out some problems with our present county commission. The most glaring problem is their disregard for the spirit of the law, laws that they themselves passed for Ellis County.

One example is the acceptance of the conditional use permit application from Hays Wind LLC, which specifies the area to be granted a permit is drawn back 1,000 feet from the boundary of the property so that there are no neighbors to the applicants.

The commissioners followed this same tactic with the cell tower in Victoria. I fear that now a precedent has been set. From now on, no matter the request, be it putting up a roller coaster the size of Orlando's The Incredible Hulk, the commissioners will see to it that the requesting landowner will make himself his own neighbor in order to get the conditional use permit passed.

Because of the commissioners' past behavior of showing no concern for the citizen's of Ellis County, I now have a new worry, the Hadley building. Even if there is not public support for spending $10 million on the Hadley building, they may choose to do the project anyway and spend the money from other sources. The county commission should be in trouble with the general public if (a) they make moves in this direction before it comes up for a public vote in November, or (b) if they do this after the bond issue is defeated in November. But will the public even notice?

The public seems not to question the truthfulness of the claims that the commissioners made concerning taxes. The commissioners claim that they did not raise taxes and maybe even cut taxes because (a) they lowered the mill levy by one mill, and (b) they cut $300,000 from the requests made by department heads.

We know that lowering the mill levy by one mill does not lower taxes when the property valuation had gone up much more than that. In reality, they have lowered our tax rate while increasing taxes. (Perhaps this could be compared with raising prices by, say, 10 percent and then having a "1 percent sale.") And please note that they approved increased spending of about $2.4 million.

I am concerned, and I believe you should be concerned, too. One solution to this problem is to vote your concerns this November.

Rod Bittel

1101 Noose Road

9 comment(s) found

Spanish Co.: 9/9/2008
I think the Spanish company might have came here because of the wind. I could be wrong, but I think you need to be located where there is much wind. But, I bet there is way more hot wind in the area than they probably anticipiated.
(Posted by: Windy)

: 9/9/2008
Are they different than the wind turbines in Spearville, KS? They don't seem to have any problems with where they are located. I have read articles in the paper that had quotes from neighbors and people in town. Apparently, those have not affected anyone's quality of life. Is it a conspiracy and the paper is involved? No matter where you put them, someone will not like it and complain. There are popping up along the interstate. Some right next to farm residences. Why are the ones to be located East of Hays such a problem? Are they not the same thing? Are people in those areas just tougher and can handle it? I thought there is also proof that they do not affect the quality of life. Granted, you can't hide them, but if you don't own your view, you don't own your view.
(Posted by: Geez)

Geez: 9/8/2008
Personal right are lumped into what is know as a basket of rights. Yes the property owner has the right to have anything he wants on the property within the law, but the neighbor has a right to be protected from a nuicance or anything that disturbs his right to quality of life. These 400 foot monsters have been proven to effect quality of life within one mile much less 1000 ft. Portugal and Spain have made it law to stay at least 1 and 1/2 Kilometers from people homes. That is why the Spanish company came to this county. Regarding the commissioners claiming the zoning board checked it out and passed the Iberdrola deal, I attended the meeting and the zoning board said whether it was right or wrong they were going to pass it and It was up to the commissioners to check it out. Then the commissioners have their meeting and say the zoning board passed it so it looks ok to them. The whole thing is a joke and the commissioners seem to get by with it. They do little to no homework and just believe anything Iberdrola tells them. Other counties have 30 to 40 pages of windfarm rules and we have a page and a half. There is plenty of room in western Kansas without ruining peoples quality of life.
(Posted by: Paleov)

No Spin: 9/7/2008
Did you check out Tom Wasinger's numbers before you presented them as facts? Anyway, Hadley is a moot point. It will be on the ballot. Dennis has put in writing in the newspaper that he will honor the will of the people. Let's move on the the other B.S. you guys are trying to pass off as facts to get your puppets elected.
(Posted by: Geez)

Hadley: 9/7/2008
Tom Wasinger had a complete article in the Hays daily explaing and justifying the 10 million dollar figure. That is what the project will actually cost. These commissioners have not even taken the time to study what it will cost to staff and operate the Hadley expansion. They also have no idea where the funds will come from. They also need to do work to the jail after the move is made and they have no idea where that money will come from. Few real managers would build a business with no idea as to what it will cost to operate. These guys just want their legacy on a new building, they do not really care what it costs the tax payer. Same applies to the windfarm, they refuse to study the effects of such a project. They just want it to go down in history that they did it. Lets bring in the new deal, Glenn Diehl.
(Posted by: No Spin)

Previous Comments: 9/5/2008
Finally some good old common sense coming out of Ellis County!
(Posted by: Loyal Reader)

A little research, Please.: 9/5/2008
Are the commissioners using tactics to skirt the law? Did they fill out the applications? I doubt they had anything to do with filling out the applications. Did you ask them? Did the zoning board review the applications and vote on them? I believe they did. Also, how much land should one own before he does not have to check with his neighbors on a conditional use permit? There has to be a limit. Currently, it is 1,000 feet. Typically, you only have rights on what you own. At least those within 1,000 feet have the right to protest. On the cell tower, there were at least five or maybe six neighbors within 1,000 feet. Only one protested. Why do you indicate that the commissioners made the landowner his own neighbor? That is a lie. Again, I doubt the commissioners were involved in the application process too. You could have checked this out before making your serious claim. It is public record. Concerning the Hadley building, isn’t it a 5 million dollar project (actually not to exceed 5 million), not a 10 million project? You can check that out too. Also, commissioner Pfannenstiel has made written record that he will honor the will of the people if the project is voted down. Did you bother to ask any of the commissioners this question or are you just trying to cast two of them in a bad light? Could it be that you have sour grapes because you are currently involved in a lawsuit against the commissioners? That is public record. I looked it up. I believe you are part of a very small (but very vocal minority) that opposes the wind farm and are trying to get more people to vote against the commissioners using any angle you can (i.e. cell tower, Hadley project, taxes). That was an opinion and stated as such as well as is the following: I think you are very frustrated that the general public just doesn’t see things your way and maybe sees your group as giving Ellis County a bad rap which may hinder future progress (and that is putting it mildly). Have you ever thought that you might be wrong in your thinking and you might just have to accept that? You only have rights on the property you own. Maybe you should look that up to. If you want to control the land around you, you should own it. Lastly, you probably should do some homework to make sure you know what you’re talking about before you publish your opinions and lies as facts.
(Posted by: Geez)

landowner: 9/5/2008
If a landowner has enough land, what's wrong with moving the project? Oh, that's right, it doesn't suit you, the person who doesn't own the land, the person who wants to look at the open view and pretend he does own the land. Perfect example of the people who want to live in the country, buy a few acres and ACT like everything around them is THEIRS.
(Posted by: Concerned)

Not worried: 9/5/2008
Aren't you one of the Anit-wind and Anti-everything in Ellis county? Your minority will never be satisfied. Let's just let your little group pick the commissioners and the zoning board so EVERYTHING in Ellis County will work EXACTLY as you want it to. Commissioners Berens and Pfannenstiel have represented this county for many projects and are not commissioners out to GET WHAT THEY WANT, they are representing Ellis county as a whole, not just a group of people out for ONE AGENDA. And as far as the comment with the landowners "making himself his own neighbor" what ever happened to the landowners rights? Maybe a little bit of jealousy going on? And what puzzles me, the Anti-everything group talks about taxes, mill levy, and spending from the commissioners. Have they given it any thought what their lawsuits they filed against the county are costing the county? The lawsuit happy crowd, with the I'm better that you, or my house is worth more than yours attitude. Stop bringing the Hadley project on board to oust the commissioners, you know the real agenda is to get commissioners who's only interest is to stop what you are so against THE WIND FARM PROJECT and THE CELL TOWER.
(Posted by: Reader)

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