The Sports Complex

I hope my comments didn't come across as ugly , as that was not my intent

A lot of people are shopping elswhere beacuse of the never ending Tax Issues to build this or that and by the lack of Quality Shopping Opportunities.

I corrected myself there Luke,you're fine

I guess I would just like this town to ask the people what we want and need,not give us ridiculous things many may never use or frequent.

I don't see this town growing too much really.No one will let it happen.Didn't we used to have a skating rink that alot of our kids used?
It's just frustrating that the government and"world" are trying get you to buy what they're sellin' and it's all bullshit to keep the big guys happy-and it's damn expensive.screw the little guy.

I think the emphasis needs to be put on creating good paying jobs for people. I mean good paying, like better than 12.00 and hour and up. People can't live on the low wages that are paid around here and thats why we lose so many good people to other areas. I think entertainment is something that you can grow along with the economic growth as the needs require, but the philosophy of "If you build it, they will come" is not a wise one to have in this type of economy. What we need are jobs first , then play later.

LukeTHr wrote:

I think the emphasis needs to be put on creating good paying jobs for people. I mean good paying, like better than 12.00 and hour and up. People can't live on the low wages that are paid around here and thats why we lose so many good people to other areas. I think entertainment is something that you can grow along with the economic growth as the needs require, but the philosophy of "If you build it, they will come" is not a wise one to have in this type of economy. What we need are jobs first , then play later.

Yeah, let's get the government to mandate really high paying jobs in Hays. That's it. Then we can have cheap apartment rentals like this.

The idea is not to mandate the pay but to promote what Hays has to offer in quality skilled labor and excellent central location in the country as well as access to the interstate. It would also require moral support from local businesses and area leaders.

LukeTHr wrote:

The idea is not to mandate the pay but to promote what Hays has to offer in quality skilled labor and excellent central location in the country as well as access to the interstate. It would also require moral support from local businesses and area leaders.

Why not mandate it? Obama's plans are to mandate that businesses provide health insurance to employees. He denies it, but they'll face fines if they don't comply.

They'll also mandate that parents have health insurance on kids. They fail to say what will happen if the parents don't comply, raising suspicions that they would be removed from the home and placed in a wonderful foster home, thereby becoming wards of the state and placing even more burden on the taxpayers. But hell, they'll be fertile minds for the Obama Youth.

Oh yeah, I forgot one thing. The government needs to mandate that a radio station that meets wilkykav's standards be on the air in Hays. It will probably go broke, so the government also needs to insure that it stays on the air with subsidies paid by the taxpayers who really don't want or need the station.

Shouldn't be a problem at all. They already have PTV and NPR as working models.

The Other One wrote:

Oh yeah, I forgot one thing. The government needs to mandate that a radio station that meets wilkykav's standards be on the air in Hays. It will probably go broke, so the government also needs to insure that it stays on the air with subsidies paid by the taxpayers who really don't want or need the station.

Shouldn't be a problem at all. They already have PTV and NPR as working models.

Is it really too much to have a rock station in this town????Don't get me wrong,country isn't bad and I have a love for classic rock,but sometimes it's nice to rock out .Excuse me for wishing for anything different-I forgot where I was.

i don't post on here often but i thought this discussion was rather interesting. i haven't decided whether or not i am for or against the sports complex but there are a lot of issues to look at here. first of all it's funny how there is always something to blame. for example fhsu and ed hammond. i doubt that ed came up with this idea on his own and furthermore, does fhsu even have a soccer team? and is soccer the only sport (or non-sport as some call it) that will benefit from this complex? my children are involved in soccer, volleyball, basketball, softball.....basically any sport that hrc offers and i think that pratt-optimist is too small even for 5 year olds and 8 year olds. there is very little parking and basically no room between fields. i have seen several teams get confused with the buzzers on the time/score board because they are literally just feet away from each other. i do see where people wouldn't want to have to pay even more money for something that they most likely will not use. believe me, i understand. money is tight for everybody except the rich who keep getting richer and most of the people who that is in reference to live on the east coast or in california. there is no middle class anymore so if you don't already have hundreds of thousands of dollars, you are suffering. suffering from gas prices, stock market crisis, energy cost....even groceries. i myself would not use the sports complex but my children would. the big picture isn't about bringing money to hays. every new business is said to do that and have they? no. the sports complex is for the children and the adults who play sports. the other facilities that are already in existence could be used for other things. the rec center teaches a variety of classes and when winter hits it could be used for a place of refuge for travelers who get stranded in hays and either have no money for a hotel or have no luck and the hotels are already full. hopefully the economy will not be as bad as it is now forever and people will be able to afford to live their lives comfortably again in a few years. there are both pros and cons of building. will people really pay anything and everything for their kids to "live the dream" or will they decide to buy a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk rather than driving all the way to hays (where there isn't a lot of entertainment) spend money on gas, food, a hotel, and to get into this sports complex? will it really benefit the community and the businesses in hays with the said millions of dollars that it could potentially bring? it would definately give the kids something to do rather than watch tv or play video games all day. i bet that half of the people who are griping about the complex didn't gripe about spending the extra dollar to upgrade to an x-box 360 or a wii rather than having a basic game system. so why should people who are all about sports have to settle for a basic field rather than upgrading? yes, i know...they wouldn't be the only ones paying for the complex but...things change and people who resist the change are the ones who are going to be the most upset about it. whether we like it or not, change is inevitable and it will happen. the deciding factor will be the ballot. if you feel so strongly about the complex just go vote in november so you can say that you got your 2 cents in. lashing out at each other will not make the complex happen and it will not stop it from happening. votes will.

You may not post often, but you post well when you do.

Thanks for your thoughts rebelicia.

The Other One wrote:

Try this.

Got one that doesnt require you to sign up in order to listen to it?

lol, are they gonna build a dome? WTG on the long post of the week.

The Other One wrote:

wilkykav2 wrote:

The Other One wrote:

Oh yeah, I forgot one thing. The government needs to mandate that a radio station that meets wilkykav's standards be on the air in Hays. It will probably go broke, so the government also needs to insure that it stays on the air with subsidies paid by the taxpayers who really don't want or need the station.

Shouldn't be a problem at all. They already have PTV and NPR as working models.

Is it really too much to have a rock station in this town????Don't get me wrong,country isn't bad and I have a love for classic rock,but sometimes it's nice to rock out .Excuse me for wishing for anything different-I forgot where I was.

Try this.

I actually listen to radio in Phoenix on the web,but why should I have to listen on my PC instead of my home stereo?-I live in Hays,Kansas.If I knew then what I know now about Hays I probably wouldn't have moved here for sure.But I'm here now and I can bitch about somthing every once and a while if I want

Oh and yes,you pay for Sirius radio

wilkykav2 wrote:

The Other One wrote:

wilkykav2 wrote:

The Other One wrote:

Oh yeah, I forgot one thing. The government needs to mandate that a radio station that meets wilkykav's standards be on the air in Hays. It will probably go broke, so the government also needs to insure that it stays on the air with subsidies paid by the taxpayers who really don't want or need the station.

Shouldn't be a problem at all. They already have PTV and NPR as working models.

Is it really too much to have a rock station in this town????Don't get me wrong,country isn't bad and I have a love for classic rock,but sometimes it's nice to rock out .Excuse me for wishing for anything different-I forgot where I was.

Try this.

I actually listen to radio in Phoenix on the web,but why should I have to listen on my PC instead of my home stereo?-I live in Hays,Kansas.If I knew then what I know now about Hays I probably wouldn't have moved here for sure.But I'm here now and I can bitch about somthing every once and a while if I want

Oh and yes,you pay for Sirius radio

Okay, try this. Dump Eagle Cable and get DirecTV. The package that I have, which is no more expensive than cable, includes 73 XM Radio stations. Just run a line from your satellite receiver to your stereo and voila, whatever genre of music you want.

By the way, we just moved, so we got a "mover's special." No charge to install at the new place, 80 bucks a month for four months for every channel in the sky, including all of the HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, TMC, Starz and Encore channels and NFL Sunday Ticket. Only two more weeks of soccer and I can start to really enjoy football.

Sports Complex vs Hadley Purchase Bond Issue

Two groups of people have caused these two issues to a ballot that are on the surface at odds with each other. Oppose a $5 million, or more, bond issue and not spend money or, pass a sales tax and spend $8 million for a sports complex. I'm sure the cost of the Sports Complex will be much higer by the time it's built.
A sports complex wont benifit most citizens of Hays. Hotel profits leave town to a chain that employs low paid help. Most resteraunts are chains whose profits go out of town. Once again low paid help. WalMart, support Chinese business and labor. Everyone pays with sales tax. Will teams or kids from Hays, or more rightly Ellis county, get to participate in tournements at no charge since they are paying for it? NO!

The Hadley purchase is to increase Couthouse security and keep prisoners from intermixing with civilians. Court services are pushing hard for more room. County departments are also becoming pushed for space. The Hadley building should solve the county and court needs for long term future. It also keeps several county offices downtown and in one place. One problem is no one has an answer to what to do with the Senior Center. The city and county should work on that together. The county,and maybe the city, pays a lot of money housing and transporting prisoners in other jails. Maybe the county should look at building a new courthouse and jail together at a new location instead. They would save money and may be able to help pay for it by housing other counties prisoners and, they would still address the security issue. I don't agree with the floorplans at all. The tag and tax department should be at ground level not the second floor.


I at least get to vote on the Hadley bond issue although I haven't decided yet. I've talked to comissoners and county officials and can conceed their need and some arguments. I don't think the comissioners are doing a very good job of selling the issue. I do know I will pay as much or more in sales tax each year as property taxes for the bond issue. I think both will fail. I'm convinced the Hadley bond issue will fail big time and take the Sports Complex with it. If you're willing to vote in favor to the Sports Complex and be taxed to pay for it, you should also be willing to vote in favor of the Hadley bond. A vote against the Hadley bond will likely be a vote against the Sports Complex also.

i cant afford to vote for either one

Times are getting hard. Now is not a wise time to be making big expenditures. The bureaucrats can survive in the space they have and as for sports...... people really need to re-evaluate what is truly important and save their money.... they're going to need it more than they realize.

nitromaxx98 wrote:

The Sport Complex will cost $8,000,000 to build.

The tax raise to pay for it is 1\2 cent per dollar spent. ($.005)

$8,000,000 divided by $.005=$1,600,000,000 in taxable sales.

Divide by 365 days per year.

Divide by 4 years when the tax sunsets.

$1,095,890.41 in taxable sales per day in the city of Hays.

We did a little over a grand today, how about you?

BTW. that is gross, not net...

This will be another tax that they will hope we forget about. Like $3 per month for your poly cart, or remember the Universal Service Fund that was un-constitutional? Check your cell bill..

A new jail was up for a vote several years ago and the good people of Ellis county voted it down. Now we are housing our prisoners out of county because the jail is too small and paying a lot of money to do this.

What ever happened to the old Reserve Center on Main street? Didn't the city buy that building so that they could remodel it and make into city offices? Whatever happened to that plan. Oh yeah that's right they just want to spend spend spend on property the city doesn't need. How about the eyesore building on 22nd and Vine, sure they use it for training exercises but the place is a dive and an eyesore. Its time the city quit wasting money and see about some property tax relief and making Hays a cheaper place to live.

is our jail filled with local criminals, or are they mostly farm outs from other counties? I believe the old USAR center is going to be a seniors center, moving out of hadley. Where are Hadleys oil wells?

The city bought the reserve center for only one dollar. They are currently accepting proposals on how it should be used.

The property at 22nd and Vine was purchased by the county commissioners for a few million dollars. A classic example of why we need to vote those wasteful fools out of office. They still don't have a plan for how to use that. And it is not on the tax rolls as it would be if they would have allowed a business to purchase that prime property.

The Hadley oil wells would be on the Hadley ranch. That would be found near the Beach ranch and the Peavey ranch north of Hays near the river.

Didn't hadley hospital, at one time, receive income from the wells?

Not sure on that, but they received money from the Methodists.

Palin's mixed fiscal record extends to her six years as mayor of Wasilla.But she also angered some residents by putting Wasilla in debt for the first time ever — $5.5 million in road construction bonds and then pushing for $14.7 million in bonds to build a sports complex. The complex would be paid for by raising the local sales tax by one-half percent. Wasilla voters approved the sports complex bonds and sales tax increase.

That is interesting Alaska politics. How does that affect us?

I should than pointing out our complex will cost us $6.7 million less and have a larger tax base to pay for it. We will also have more people benefit from it.

[quote="Justoo"]That is interesting Alaska politics. How does that affect us?

It doesn't, I did it to piss you off and get a reaction.

plowboy wrote:

It doesn't, I did it to piss you off.

Wasted some time typing then. Didn't piss me off. Just convinced me we are getting an opportunity for a better deal. The timing may not be right because of the fiscal situation nationally, but still a better deal than the Alaskans.

nitromaxx98 wrote:

The Sport Complex will cost $8,000,000 to build.

The tax raise to pay for it is 1\2 cent per dollar spent. ($.005)

$8,000,000 divided by $.005=$1,600,000,000 in taxable sales.

Divide by 365 days per year.

Divide by 4 years when the tax sunsets.

$1,095,890.41 in taxable sales per day in the city of Hays.

Sounds like a good deal to me. An easy goal to reach.

It may be a better deal than the Alaska complex.I have to agree the timing isn't right and very few businesses stand to benefit from this. Let Hammond build his own soccer field.

Next Hammond will want the tax payers to build him a new house in the middle of the Quad.

I watched the presentation this past weekend on eagle cable 14 and I have to say I really think they are swinging wild on this one. Some of the points I have to disagree with are

1: It would help to make Hays a better place to attract and retain employees for places like the hospital and nextech.

Why should that be put on the backs of the taxpayers???

2: They want the sales tax to generate enough revenue to be able to set aside money for maintainence of the complex for 10 years.

Shouldn't that money come from the user fees??

it shouldn't and YES

Justoo wrote:

The city bought the reserve center for only one dollar. They are currently accepting proposals on how it should be used.

The property at 22nd and Vine was purchased by the county commissioners for a few million dollars. A classic example of why we need to vote those wasteful fools out of office. They still don't have a plan for how to use that. And it is not on the tax rolls as it would be if they would have allowed a business to purchase that prime property.

I cant remember what the county paid for the old KDOT at 22nd and Vine but I don't remember it being in the millions of dollars. I do remember HIV and some other city officials causing the lot to be re-appraised and the price going up from what the state originally offered it to the county.

LukeTHr wrote:

I watched the presentation this past weekend on eagle cable 14 and I have to say I really think they are swinging wild on this one. Some of the points I have to disagree with are

1: It would help to make Hays a better place to attract and retain employees for places like the hospital and nextech.

Why should that be put on the backs of the taxpayers???

2: They want the sales tax to generate enough revenue to be able to set aside money for maintainence of the complex for 10 years.

Shouldn't that money come from the user fees??

Hays will have to do nearly 1.1 million dollars in taxable sales per day just to pay for the complex, let alone maintain it for 10 years. Remember the tax is proposed to sunset in 4 years.

Sorry group, I've been away for a while, but I'm curious what the opion is on this ballot question.

I know I am very much against it, but what scares me, is there is a lot of propaganda about it in the community. Not a lot of support for a NO vote!!!

wwtp we already had a sports complex thread so I went ahead and merged them. Might want to start at the beginning of the thread.

Its going to be NO sports complex for me. Only because of the way our economy is going. everything is going to be expensive enough.

The only way for out of town folks to vote against it is to shop somewhere other than Hays.

They already are going elsewhere, don't blame them when friggen WalMart is your biggest shopping draw. I go to shop in Salina, Wichita or Topeka other than Groceries.

LukeTHr wrote:

The only way for out of town folks to vote against it is to shop somewhere other than Hays.

Of course
DUH, I still act like I live in Hays, I mean Im there 99.9% of the time anyway. I guess my vote wont count either way huh!!!!

I'll vote for ya, Jess.

Thanks!!! You're voting No right???

jessks75 wrote:

Its going to be NO sports complex for me. Only because of the way our economy is going. everything is going to be expensive enough.

Looks like it.