Candidates offer contrasting positions

By GAYLE WEBER

gweber@dailynews.net

One remaining question with the county's zoning regulations is whether a comprehensive plan will be implemented.

However, Glenn Diehl, Republican candidate for the Ellis County Commission District 2 seat, doesn't think the existing zoning regulations will work without the plan.

"We wouldn't have the problems we have now if we had a comprehensive plan," Diehl said.

However, his opponent in the Nov. 4 election, Democratic incumbent Dennis Pfannenstiel, said he's satisfied with how zoning works in the county now.

"I still don't want to tell people out there what they can or can't do," Pfannenstiel said. "If you put an area out there and somebody wants to put something out there, it may keep them from doing that and I don't want to do that at this time."

The comprehensive plan would confirm all decisions made by the planning commission and provide guidelines for residents to follow when deciding whether or not to develop a piece of land.

Diehl said he thinks the county should follow guidelines established by the Kansas Energy Council, especially when zoning for wind developments.

"They said if a county puts in zoning for wind farms, they highly recommend putting in a comprehensive plan," Diehl said. "I don't understand why we can't get a comprehensive plan."

Diehl said he would support a wind project in the county if the energy council's guidelines were followed, but he has, in the past, been involved with the Ellis County Environmental Awareness Coalition, a group started in opposition to Hays Wind LLC's proposed 100-turbine project southwest of Hays.

Pfannenstiel, who is running for his third term in office, was one of the two commissioners to vote in favor of implementing the wind project in July.

"My top priority is probably to get this wind farm into Ellis County -- to get this one established and look at the future," Pfannenstiel said. The decision on whether Hays Wind's project will be installed likely will come from a district court judge when the case is heard in court in the future.

"I'm definitely in favor of these wind projects," Pfannenstiel said. "It's a great economic boost for Ellis County.

"Whatever comes, I'm in favor of and it's an alternative energy source that we have greatly in this area."

Diehl said he hadn't thought about what he might do if the commission had the opportunity to repeal its July decision on Hays Wind LLC's project.

"I didn't know we could do that or not," Diehl said. "I hadn't even thought about that."

Diehl's priorities differ in that he wants to ensure that county government is accessible to everyone. Diehl has proposed moving county commission meetings to Monday nights to open up the pool of candidates for commissioner and allow people with 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. jobs the opportunity to attend meetings.

"Right now, you meet every Monday morning (and) it's hard for people to get off work," Diehl said. "If they want to serve, I think it'd be a lot easier for them to get off work if the meetings were in the evening."

Diehl said moving the meetings also would solve some of the space needs problems in the courthouse by freeing up courtrooms that the commission uses to meet in on Mondays.

Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution in June to pursue issuing $5 million in Public Building Commission revenue bonds to purchase and renovate the Hadley Center. County administrative offices would move to the building to free up space for the courts and law enforcement in the existing courthouse.

A protest put the issue on the Nov. 4 ballot, but Pfannenstiel said pursuing the PBC bonds for the Hadley Center was the best option for the county at the time.

"We didn't have the funds to fund it without the Public Building Commission bonds," Pfannenstiel said. "If we would have had general obligation bonds, it would have decreased our (bonding) power."

However, Diehl said the commissioners didn't do their homework on the issue. He said the county offices could have used less space than the proposed 35,000 square feet in the Hadley Center and stayed closer to the courthouse.

"One in particular was the Eddy building across the street from the courthouse," Diehl said. "This has been going on since 1999 when the county had the opportunity to purchase the First National Bank building across the street for $400,000.

"We need to get some leadership in the county that will look at all the options, not just the grandiose options."

Pfannenstiel said if the issue doesn't pass in November, commissioners will have to look at the county's property at 22nd and Vine streets.

"One of my concerns about moving there is getting the administrative offices out of downtown, which I don't think is a good idea," Pfannenstiel said.

Whether or not the bond issue for the Hadley Center passes, the James Building, which houses the Hays Senior Center, is scheduled to be demolished for parking for whatever the Hadley Center is used for.

The county funds the Ellis County Council on Aging, which oversees the center, and Pfannenstiel said he would not leave the seniors without a place to go.

"We will definitely find a place for them," he said. "There are three or four building issues in the city of Hays that we have looked into."

One of those was the former Army Reserve building on South Main Street. Diehl said after hearing the price tag of somewhere around $1 million to convert the building into a senior center, he would be in favor of finding another vacant building.

"Our problem is we just don't have that many large, empty buildings around town," Diehl said. "What I'd like to do is also increase our cooperation with the city. ... We've got a senior center that the city and county cooperate on and we need more cooperation because we're going to have a problem there."

Diehl also suggested the city and county work together on the city's need for a new fire station and county's need for an expanding EMS department.

"Both of them respond to the same calls in Hays right now anyway," Diehl said. "They're both going to need overnight facilities since they're on call 24 hours. I think it would be a perfect setup for the city-county cooperation."