The Unified Government Commission on Thursday night unanimously approved industrial revenue bond ordinances for the PQ Corp. – Zeolyst expansion in Kansas City, Kansas, and also approved street and sidewalk improvements near the new Brune Elementary School near 88th and Waverly.
The PQ project was approved at a previous meeting, and the two ordinances approved Dec. 5 were for issuing taxable IRBs for the project.
IRBs of up to $1 million were approved for the PQ Corp. expansion at 1700 Kansas Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. The funds will be used for acquisition, purchase, construction, improvement, installation and equipping the expansion project, according to the agreement.
There was no discussion on the project at the Thursday night, Dec. 5, meeting. It was discussed at previous meetings, and a public hearing was held a few weeks ago.
The PQ project received approval at the Nov. 21 meeting, and UG officials then said the return on investment of the project was “very good” for Kansas City, Kansas. At the Nov. 21 meeting, a resolution of intent to pass the IRBs was approved.
The UG Commission also approved an agreement with the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools regarding building a street and sidewalks to the new Brune Elementary School at 88th and Waverly.
According to the agreement, the district will construct the school at 8833 Waverly, while the UG will build a public road connecting Parallel Parkway and 91st Street to Brune Elementary on property at 8910 Parallel Parkway. The agreement also discussed sidewalks, transportation, storm and sanitary sewers.
The improvements are to be completed by Jan. 1, 2021, according to the agreement.
According to the agreement, the district’s engineering firm will design the road and driveway, while the UG would bid out the road work and can provide project management.
The school district is to pay the UG $600,000 for part of the road work costs, and the UG ‘s share of the road project will not exceed $2 million, including land acquisition costs, according to the agreement.
Also, sidewalks would run west from Waverly Avenue to the new school, according to a resolution. Eminent domain proceedings for the land were approved, if necessary.
There was no discussion about the Brune School agreement at the Dec. 5 meeting.
Also approved at the Dec. 5 meeting were a resolution to survey land for a Water Pollution maintenance facility and a police tow lot and crime lab, along with several other items.
Bell Crossing ordinance
An ordinance to rezone property at 3605 Bell Cross from single family district to agriculture district was opposed by Tscher Manck during a public hearing.
Manck said the street is in the area near the Old Quindaro Museum, and there were problems with trash in that area.
Rob Richardson, the UG’s director of planning, said the ordinance was one of the first steps in improving the area. After looking into trash and codes problems in the area, this is the way that was chosen to move the code case forward and it should make it better, he said.
Commissioner Melissa Bynum said she has been to the area and the UG has been working on it for more than a year and is aware of the codes issues. She said some of the residents of the area do not know the city’s rules governing property and zoning. The UG has been working with them individually to solve the problems, she said.
The commission unanimously approved the zoning change.
Piper subdivision issues
In another zoning issue, residents of one Piper subdivision opposed a plan by another subdivision near the entrance to their neighborhood. Apparently, the main concerns were the potential of cars parked in the street, and another concern was mud in the street.
The improvement for the West Ridge Estates near 115th and Hollingsworth would be picnic tables with a canopy, space, a fire pit and a natural walking trail from the houses to the amenity, according to officials.
A member of the homes association next door was opposed to building the amenity in the first phase of the project, and if built later, there could be parking away from the entrance to the existing neighborhood.
Commissioners decided to approve the project, and put the amenity into the subdivision’s second phase, as well as deal with the mud issues.
Legislative programs approved
The UG Commission also approved policies it would support at the state and federal legislative levels.
In an earlier UG Commission presentation on Nov. 21, Mike Taylor, the UG’s lobbyist, presented the platform of state and federal legislative policies. Area state legislators attended.
Leading the list was property appraisal reform. The UG supports appraisal based on fair market value as historically done in Kansas, he said. Some recent court decisions favoring big box stores have the potential to rip out the tax base from small towns, he added on Nov. 21.
Medicaid expansion in Kansas also is supported by the UG. Taylor said expansion would provide insurance for an additional 10,000 Wyandotte County residents, would bring in almost $68 million in health care spending and create hundreds of new health care jobs locally. Currently the hospitals are writing off tens of millions of dollars for health care a year, he said, for citizens who are unable to get Medicaid.
The UG also supports control of the public right of way by the municipal governments, he said. Some cable and phone providers have been advocating for use of utility lines for transmitter boxes without getting permits.
STAR bond renewal may be up for a vote this year, he said, and the UG favors renewal with a flexible policy without restrictions.
The UG also is supporting origin-based sales tax collection as opposed to destination based.
If the state chooses to legalize medical marijuana this year, the local government should be allowed to collect local sales tax on it, and decide whether to have dispensaries in the cities, and the state should not mandate those local decisions, he said.
If the state approves sports betting, the UG’s position is that the local government should receive a share of it, the same as with casino gaming, he said.
The UG also supports additional resources for behavioral health programs and mental health centers to reduce the number of people incarcerated in jails, he said.
The UG also is taking the position that municipal utilities should have the ability to set and control their rates, Taylor said at the Nov. 21 meeting.
State Sen. David Haley, who recently lost a close election to the BPU board, responded at the Nov. 21 meeting that the Kansas Corporation Commission might have some opinions that KCK might look at by way of comparison.
There could be pending legislation to look at the percentage the UG charges, such as the line items from the PILOT fee and other charges, that can be on every bill, Sen. Haley said. He said there should be a priority on easing what some consider a burden. Sen. Haley said there is a need to balance the scales for business and small customers, and in the public’s eye it has gotten away from public service.
Mayor David Alvey, a former member of the BPU board, said at the Nov. 21 meeting that trying to do that at the state level is inconsistent. One of the UG’s priorities is local control over its revenues. “We have oversight over those decisions, that’s what our elections are for,” Mayor Alvey said. “I would strongly oppose any attempt for the state to control fees.”
Rep. Pam Curtis noted that at a recent state commerce meeting in Lawrence, high utility rates were a big issue and could work as a huge detriment to economic development in the state. A chart showed that Wyandotte County had high utility rates, but she believes the rates are not as high as the private utilities. She said it would be great to have some comparison to what others are paying.
There were many other policies supported in the UG’s legislative platform.
At the Dec. 5 meeting, Taylor said the UG has added the reduction of state food sales tax to the list after Commissioner Mike Kane brought it up Nov. 21.
Also, wording of the UG’s environmental and energy policy was changed at the suggestion of Mayor Alvey, he said.
Commissioner Jim Walters said at the Dec. 5 meeting he would not support the legislative package unless the UG took out a recommendation that it supported an overpass over Village West Parkway at State Avenue, an $11 million project.
“I have opposed this since I first heard of it,” Commissioner Walters said. He said the UG needs to keep The Legends as a thriving and positive experience for residents, and this complicated overpass and intersection contradicts that approach.
He and the rest of the UG Commission approved the legislative package, after taking out the overpass at Village West.