The beach was a popular place for weekend visitors at Lake Scott State Park
32 Pages • Four Sections
Volume 23 • Number 5
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Published in Scott City, Ks.
one year later
Business owners move forward One year after a fire destroyed one of the most historic buildings in Scott City, and threatened an entire block in the downtown district, those individuals most directly impacted have been able to move on with their lives. All three businesses that saw their buildings destroyed, or heavily damaged by the smoke and fire, have since relocated. And while some evidence of the fire is still visible, even that site is gradually being transformed. Over the next few months, the empty lot will be transformed into a park that can be enjoyed by the community. In many ways, it’s impressive to think about what has been accomplished over the past year and that life for those most directly impacted has returned to normal. Getting to this point wasn’t easy, admits Gil Lewis, owner of Bruce’s Carpet and Tile. “I felt confident all along that we’d reopen. How that was going to happen was another matter,” he says. While the building occupied by Lewis appeared to survive the fire in good shape, insurance adjusters weren’t so certain. In the weeks following the fire, Lewis was being told that he would have to raze the building, or at least replace the north wall. “I was being told that it could cost about $400,000 to rebuild the wall so that it would satisfy the insurance company,” Lewis says. “Even with my insurance money that wasn’t going to be practical.” And while he felt the building was much more sound than insurance adjusters were willing to say, Lewis felt his options were limited. So he relocated to another, much smaller, building that he owns a block to the south.
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Sterling joins SCH staff as COO
In an effort to provide a stronger link between employees and administration, the Scott County Hospital board has hired Tyson Sterling for the newly created position of chief operating officer. Sterling, who has most recently been administrator of the Wichita C o u n t y H e a l t h Center, began Tyson Sterling his new duties on September 1. “I appreciated the opportunity that I was given in Wichita County, but this was something I couldn’t pass up,” says Sterling. “What attracted me (to the Scott County Hospital) was the growth that I’ve seen occurring and the potential for even more growth. This is a pretty unique situation for a rural community.” It’s that growth which prompted the hospital board and CEO Mark Burnett to add the new administrative position. “When you look at our gross revenue just three years ago (2013) and compare it to where we expect to be in the upcoming year, we’re projecting a 28 percent increase,” says Burnett. (See STERLING on page 16)
Volunteers with the Dighton Fire Department assist in fighting the downtown fire on Sept. 8 of last year in Scott City. (Record Photo)
Berning in process of removing the final scars A destructive fire such as the one that leveled one building and extensively damaged two others can present a lot of concerns for city officials and surrounding businesses. How long will the clean-up take? What will become of the site? Do we end up with empty lots in the downtown area? How will those buildings left standing be utilized, if at all? Terry Berning, who owned the historic building where
(See FORWARD on page eight)
Braun’s Butcher Block had been located, has put a lot of those questions and concerns to rest. After having all the debris completely removed from his lot and backfilling the basement, Berning later acquired the fire damaged buildings on each side of the lot. His plans were to restore the buildings so they could once again be used and to make sure the downtown area didn’t suffer from empty
Council OKs sites for demolition
storefronts. “I don’t know why we took on this extra work,” says Berning with a laugh. But then he quickly answers his own question. “We didn’t want the area to look bad. If the property belongs to someone else you can’t do anything with it,” he says. “Besides, this is our community and we take a lot of pride in how it looks.”
The Scott City Council has given tentative approval to proceed with demolition of five building sites. Property owners have requested the city’s assistance with two of the structures. The council has not heard from the owners of three other structures that they added to the list because they are in disrepair. The council has the permission of the property owner to demolish a house and garage/ shop located at 230 E. Road 140.
(See BERNING on page eight)
(See DEMOLITION on page two)
Unusual twist to ‘extraordinary’ funding When a conservative majority in the Kansas Legislature successfully passed a block grant funding program for public education, school districts with increasing enrollment soon realized they would be taking a financial hit. Rather than receiving additional aid for each new student, state funding for all schools was frozen at the 2014-15 fiscal year level for two years. But there was an added wrinkle that many school admin-
Scott Co. district plans to apply next time istrators didn’t discover until they were late in the budgeting process. Form 151 included a line in which districts were to deduct 4/10 of one percent from their expected state aid. That line item cost the Scott County school district (USD 466) $21,560. This deduction was taken from each of the state’s 286
406 Main, St. Scott City • 620-872-2090 www.scottcountyrecord.com
A busy Labor Day closes out the summer at Lake Scott Page 25
school districts to be deposited into an “extraordinary needs” fund. It is from this newly created $12.3 million fund that the Senate Finance Council in the Kansas Legislature recently distributed $6.1 million to schools who demonstrated they met the definition of “extraordinary needs” based on higher enrollment or declining property valuations.
money.” While acknowledging there are some districts who have a greater need than USD 466, Rumford also points out that “other districts got our money. I feel our kids are entitled to the money that should have gone to our district.”
The Dighton school district, for example, received $150,679 from this fund based on declining valuation. Brewster received $88,396 in response to increased enrollment. Scott County Supt. Jamie Rumford says legislators have ‘A Little Disturbing’ Keith Higgins, superintenseemingly tried to take credit for creating this fund to help dent of the Wichita County districts “when they’re actu- school district, says that he (See FUNDING on page two) ally helping us with our own
406 Main, St. Scott City • 620-872-2090 www.scottcountyrecord.com Opinion • Pages 4-6 Calendar • Page 7 Youth/education • Page 9 LEC report • Page 10 Health care • Pages 12-13 Deaths • Page 14
Church services • Page 15 Sports • Pages 17-24 Pigskin Payoff • Page 22 Farm section • Pages 26-27 Classified ads • Pages 29-31
Scott City scores two late TDs to pull away in season opener Page 17