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THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
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Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Pipeline boosts bottom line for Humboldt schools By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
HUMBOLDT — A remarkable increase in the assessed valuation of property within USD 258 will result in a significant decrease in patrons’ property tax bills. The cause is the construction of the Enbridge Flanagan Pipeline, which includes a large pumping station southeast of Humboldt. The district valuation nearly doubled, from the current $29.2 million to $55 million. District board members adopted their 2015-16 budget Monday night, which projects an overall ad valorem tax levy of 52.691 mills, 8.163 mills less than the previous year’s 60.854. To take advantage, board members rescinded a budget that had been figured earlier, before the Enbridge valuation was known. The general fund levy remained the same at 20 mills, which is statewide and has proceeds flowing directly
to state coffers. The capital outlay fund also remained unchanged at 8 mills, which alone will raise $440,000. Add cash carried forward, and the district will have $1.47 million available in the fund. Capital outlay revenue may be used for improvements, new construction and some equipment purchases, but may not be used for general fund expenditures, such as salaries. Superintendent of Schools Kay Lewis noted the general fund for the current year projects expenditures of $1.7 million more than 2014-15 at $6.9 million. This is largely due to the state’s new block grant funding mechanism that has local school budgets include the Kansas Public Employers Retirement System and funds for special education. Discussion did erupt before board members gave their blessing to the budget 6 to 1. Don Hauser was the lone “no” vote, requesting See PIPELINE | Page A6
The Taco Bell lobby was closed Monday for renovations. The drive-through lane will remain open until early October. Crews from Confederated Builders, Derby, are in charge of the project and hope to be finished by the end of October. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Taco Bell lobby closes for renovation By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Diners making “a run for the border,” better do so quickly. The dining room at Iola’s Taco Bell, 1602 N. State St., was closed Monday to accommodate a full-scale renovation.
Customers can still be served through the restaurant’s drive-through lane, said Sergio Roman, Taco Bell’s assistant director of operations. “This is a major renovation,” he said. “We’re upgrading inside and out.” The drive-through lane will remain open for the next
few weeks, until it, too, will be closed. “We’re looking at Oct. 5 for the drive-through lane to be closed,” Roman said. He hopes to see the restaurant reopen by the end of October, “weather permitting.” Crews from Confederated Builders, Derby, are in charge of the renovation.
EPA official updates Iola City Council on cleanup plan By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
It’s been almost 10 years since the Environmental Protection Agency began looking at clearing Iola residential properties of lead-tainted soil. And after an early stretch of activity in 2006 and 2007, in which more than 100 local properties had their yards replenished with “clean dirt,”
the project was shuffled to the back burner. That changes this month, when the EPA returns to clear more than 300 additional properties of contaminated dirt. Randy Schademann, the EPA’s on-scene coordinator, gave City Council members Monday a brief synopsis of the removal action. Crews should be in town later this month — perhaps as
early as next Monday — to begin the excavation. “It was always meant to be a phased approach,” Schademann said, but financial issues, bureaucratic red tape and other issues put the project on hiatus for several years. The wheels began turning again in late 2012, when the EPA put Iola on its National Priorities List and declared
Health insurance rates higher By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
See EPA | Page A3
Even with a looming 22-percent increase in health insurance premiums for Iola city employees, the city’s health insurance plan remains among the best in the state, a Blue Cross Blue
Shield consultant said Monday. David Dillon, a BCBS consultant out of Independence, told Iola City Council members a large number of claims over the past 32 months was the largest facSee INSURANCE | Page A4
Series of wildfires continue to ravage California
A home is destroyed in the path of the Valley Fire wildfire Sunday near Seigler Springs, Calif. LOS ANGELES TIMES/MARCUS YAM/TNS
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. (AP) — Barbara McWilliams told her caretaker she didn’t want to leave her home near Middletown, despite a nearby wildfire. The world traveler and sharp-minded woman with advanced multiple sclerosis said she would be fine. The decision ended up costing her life. Her body was found late Sunday in her burned-out home after flames kept Lake County sheriff ’s officials from reaching her. The fire that sped through
Middletown and other parts of rural Lake County, less than 100 miles north of San Francisco, has been burning nearly unchecked, despite a massive firefighting effort, since Saturday. Fueled by drought, it has consumed more than 95 square miles, injured four firefighters and sent hundreds of people to evacuation centers. Hundreds of homes have burned. Jennifer Hittson, the caregiver, told the Press See FIRES | Page A2
Iola school board OKs Bowlus budget for 2015-16 By Rick Danley The Iola Register
Early in Monday night’s meeting the board of USD 257 assumed their parallel duties as Bowlus Trustees and heard updates on the financial health of the fine arts
center from local banker Jim Gilpin, chair of the Bowlus Investment Committee, and from the institution’s executive director Susan Raines. Gilpin, 65, warned the board that he was mortal and wouldn’t be at their service forever: “What we’re preparing the trustees of the Bow-
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lus trust to consider is that at some point you may want to hire professionals to do what we are doing voluntarily.” Gilpin is aided on the committee by Jay Kretzmeier and Glen Buchholz. “Now, Jim, are you trying to get out of this,” kidded board member Buck Quincy.
Kelsey Konrade
Women In The Outdoors fun set for Saturday By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
“Is that what you’re telling us?” “Like you, Mr. Quincy,” said Gilpin, “I’m getting older and we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, do we? … As a volunteer I may not have the time to
Events Saturday should prove once again that the softer sex enjoy rugged activities. The third annual Kansas State Women In The Outdoors (WITO) event kicks off at 10 a.m. Saturday and will provide instruction on
See 257 | Page A6
See OUTDOORS | Page A2
“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.” — John F. Kennedy 75 Cents
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