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Hays city commissioners during the Aug. 14 meeting. Photo by Becky Kiser\/Hays Post<\/p>\nHays city commissioners during the Aug. 14 meeting. Photo by Becky Kiser\/Hays Post<\/p>\n
By BECKY KISER
Hays Post<\/p>\n
More housing planned for the west side of Hays received support from the city commission on Thursday.<\/p>\n
A resolution and an engineering services agreement to establish a benefit district for\u00a032 lots in the first phase of Covenant Estates First Addition were approved.<\/p>\n
“Every time we do something like this, we get criticized, it’s not the right type of housing,” said Shaun Musil, commissioner. “But in my opinion, the developer wouldn’t build it if they didn’t think they could sell it.”<\/p>\n
The developer,\u00a0Covenant\u00a0Land & Developing Inc., has petitioned the city for street, stormwater, water and\u00a0sanitary sewer improvements through the use of a benefit district.<\/p>\n
Seventy percent of the costs will be reimbursed through special assessments, with the remaining 30% being paid by the developer. No city capital would be expended.<\/p>\n
The engineer\u2019s estimate for total construction costs of the improvements is $2.9 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Opioid Fund grant request<\/p>\n
Don Scheibler, police chief, presented a request from High Plains Mental Health Center for a portion of the city’s opioid settlement funds. The state distributes the opioid funds to municipalities, which are allocated for opioid and substance use disorder treatment and prevention.<\/p>\n
The commissioner approved a $45,481 grant to purchase social detoxification treatment chairs and infusion pumps for the mental health center’s new\u00a0Crisis Intervention Center, which is<\/a>\u00a0under construction in Hays.\u00a0The center will serve 28 western Kansas counties.<\/p>\n Wildfire resilience<\/p>\n