Feedlot Road repair sparked by bridge closing
Hays Daily News
A portion of Feedlot Road will get a facelift to fix the chronic flooding that often makes the two-lane chalk road impassable two miles east of Ellis.
The fix-up is called for after a handful of rural residents on Monday protested a vote by the Ellis County Commission to close a bridge on 140th Avenue, which is their only alternative route to Feedlot.
The commissioners voted to close the bridge March 1. Locals showed up at Monday’s regular commission meeting to say that they are forced to travel 140th after even light rains to avoid flooded, muddy Feedlot Road.
Co. Appraiser: Ellis County 2021 property valuations to jump
Hays Daily News
Most Ellis County property owners will see a jump in the county’s 2021 valuation of their real estate, whether commercial, residential or agriculture.
That may or may not translate to residents paying higher property taxes, something that won’t be known until later this year, said Ellis County Appraiser Lisa Ree.
“That’s hard to say, we won’t know until all the taxing entities put in their budgets, and the clerk calculates the mill levy,” Ree said. “Typically the clerk starts working on the mill levy in October.”
City looks at almost $1M in street work for 2021 hdnews.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from hdnews.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Hays Daily News
After pausing for winter, construction to finish up the $13.2 million reconstruction of north Vine Street will start in earnest on March 15.
The three remaining roundabouts will take until November to complete, according to city of Hays project manager John Braun.
The work by Smoky Hill Construction of Salina means traffic on various spots of north Vine Street-U.S. Highway 183 will once again be down to one lane in each direction, Braun indicated at a Tuesday morning press conference in City Hall, 1507 Main. That goes for both north and south of the Interstate 70 overpass, for the next eight months, he said.
Ellis County sees sharp drop in COVID-19 disease
Hays Daily News
Ellis County continues to record a steep drop in COVID-19 cases, as the residents also log one year of living under a pandemic.
Cases have declined precipitously since Nov. 23, 2020 according to the county’s health services director Jason Kennedy.
“Actually the last five days we’ve had seven-day average cases of less than five, which is good,” said Kennedy during an update to the Ellis County Commission at its regular Monday meeting in the Ellis County Administrative Center, 718 Main.
Demonstrating with graphs the course of the disease in Ellis County in recent months, Kennedy pointed out the relationship between testing and cases, as it’s unfolded locally.