On the warming shelf

Here are a few things coming up in Hutchinson and Reno County government in the next few days.

* At 3 p.m. Thursday, Kirk Ebmeier, a homeowner in Ring Levee C just west of Hutchinson, will present a petition to the city asking for creation of a special benefit district to finance improvements to the levee so that those property owners won't be forced to buy flood insurance. The city owns the entire levee system in and around Hutchinson and has already committed to improving the levees protecting property within the city. However, Levee C is outside the city and those who own property there don't pay city taxes.Creation of the special benefit district, with the consent of the Reno County Commission, will allow the city to make improvements to Levee C and collect annual special assessments of about $130 per property to pay off the bonds issued for the improvements. The petition must be signed by at least 51 percent of the owners of the 398 parcels within Levee C.  Assuming the petition is certified as having enough valid signatures, expect the City Council to take up the matter on May 21.

* Dan Rowe of Treanor Architects will meet with Reno County officials on Monday to discuss the progress of final drawings for the new jail and discuss the timing of the construction of the new secure entrance midway between the courthouse and the Law Enforcement Center on the south side of the buildings. The new entrance, which will be equipped with X-ray machines and metal detectors, is intended to prevent anyone from bringing a weapon into the buildings, primarily the courtrooms. When the entrance is built isn't really dependent on any of the other construction projects, but there's a bit of discussion going on over whether to build it but mothball it except for during high-profile trials or potential threats until the jail annex is renovated and the county clerk, treasurer, register of deeds and appraiser move out of the courthouse and into the annex on the southeast corner of First and Adams. Part of the reason for moving those offices is so that the public won't have to stand in line to go through security just to get into the courthouse to transact routine business such as paying their taxes or getting car tags.