A new elementary school building near 88th and Waverly moved forward at the Thursday night Unified Government Commission meeting.
On an 8-1 vote, the UG Commission approved the Kansas City, Kansas, school district’s proposal for the district to contribute $600,000 toward the building of a new road to the new Brune Elementary School, while the UG would pay the remainder of the road cost. The total road cost was estimated at $1.4 million to $2 million.
The UG earlier had sent back the school building plan for more work, as the UG planning staff recommended a different, more expensive, road configuration than the district originally had proposed.
UG Administrator Doug Bach had proposed that the school district and the UG equally share in the costs of the road, but Dr. Kelli Mather, chief operating officer for the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools, tonight said she wanted equal sharing removed from the wording of the ordinance. She said the district could pay $600,000 toward the cost of the road in the new plan, or it could return to the old district plan, where the road cost was about $600,000.
Bach said a study that was done by the district has led the UG to believe the existing 91st Street would not last very long with the traffic. One solution would have required total reconstruction of 91st from Parallel to Georgia, at an estimated $6 million, and if from Parallel to Leavenworth Road, it could have cost $20 million.
A newer solution would instead connect a road to the south, to 90th Street, he said. The alternative also would require some land acquisition to build the road, he said. This project could require about $1.5 million to $2 million, he said.
Dr. Mather went over the history of the school’s journey through the planning process. She said in 2017, the district realized it could not build on the existing White Church Elementary School or Bethel Elementary School properties, and sought a new site.
In 2017, the district met with the UG regarding the property to make sure there were no significant obstacles to it. In June 2018, the district received approval from the City Planning Commission for its plan. The UG Commission on June 28 then brought up some concerns about the traffic on streets in the area and the item was sent back to the Planning Commission. In August, the same plan was approved at the Planning Commission.
Then the item was tabled at the UG Commission level, for more discussion, and meetings with the UG officials in September.
Dr. Mather said she acknowledged a new school building can trigger the need for other public improvements, and the district had approached the project with volunteering $600,000 in improvements at 91st Street in front of the frontage. That included more than 730 feet of road improvements in front of the school, she said.
“We all want what’s best for the kids, we’re trying to develop the school, we want to get it built,” Dr. Mather said.
If the road project comes in at $1.4 million, the district would pay $600,000 and the UG would pay $800,000.
Dr. Mather said a problem is that the district doesn’t own the property between their property and Parallel Parkway, and the school district is not interested in acquiring any more property to access the school. She asked the commission to move forward Thursday night on the project.
“We have lost several months on this process,” Dr. Mather said. “Frankly, we’re getting a little concerned that we won’t be able to open the school on time.”
They originally were hoping to do the grading right now, she added.
Commissioner Melissa Bynum and most of the other commissioners were in favor of approving the school district’s request.
“I can’t even quantify how baffling it is to me that a process for building a school that began almost a year ago if not more, made its way all the way to a consent agenda for the full commission before the commission became aware of the dollar amount of the 91st Street improvements,” Commissioner Bynum said. The new school is named after her father, Lowell Brune.
She added that the UG Commission sat through a budget session with a full list of Capital Maintenance and Improvement Plan projects, and they never heard there was a school project in need of road improvements.
Commissioner Gayle Townsend asked who would be responsible for purchasing the additional land for the street improvements if the school district does not purchase it.
Bach said the entire cost of the project should be less than $2 million, including the land for the street. He said he did not expect any problem in acquiring the land.
Commissioner Brian McKiernan said he agreed with Commissioner Bynum and wanted to find out why they were so far into the process before this potential roadblock was uncovered.
Planning Director Rob Richardson said before the property was acquired, a real estate agent met with the UG and was told some concerns about it, but apparently the message didn’t get back to the school district. The test results on the streets did not come back until after the Planning Commission meeting, he added.
Commissioner Tom Burroughs asked who would be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the new street. Bach said any public street is the responsibility of the UG, and if part of the new street is a driveway to the school property, the district could be responsible.
The vote to approve the new school plan was 8-1, with Commissioner Jane Philbrook voting no.