A Unified Government committee on Monday learned just how hard it is to correct an error once it’s made in the official documents.
The UG Economic Development and Finance Committee voted on Monday to take a 30-acre area out of a redevelopment STAR Bond district.
According to Lisa Russell, a bond counsel with Gilmore and Bell, when the Village East STAR bond district was formed in 2005, it only included property located east of I-435. It was amended in 2014 to include the Village West STAR bond area, area No. 4, to be effective when the STAR bonds from Village West were paid off.
Unfortunately, there was a clerical error in the legal description and map in 2014, according to Russell. The map incorrectly included an area that appears to be the Target and J.C. Penney stores at Village West. The intent had been for Kansas City, Kansas, and the state to retain tax revenues from those locations, she said.
The error in the plans was later discovered by the UG’s Mike Grimm, in the research department, she said.
According to Russell, the effects of the error were minimal. No one had been told that this property was included in the STAR bond district, and bondholders never had any expectation of it, she said.
The proposed change to the STAR bond documents and maps will not have any effect, since it was not being treated as part of the district, and the proposed change will just clean up the ordinance, she said.
But there was a second issue brought up at the EDF meeting by state Sen. David Haley. Haley is an elected member of the Board of Public Utilities and sits on the UG’s EDF Committee through that position.
Sen. Haley said he supports the redevelopment efforts near the site of the former Schlitterbahn water park near 94th and State Avenue.
However, he took issue with the name, “Village East,” which the UG is using on its documents that are being considered.
Haley said the name “Village East” was filed as a limited liability company with the secretary of state’s office. “Village East (KCK) LLC” was the name listed on the secretary of state’s business entity website. The documents list Haley as a member of the company, as the resident agent and the mailing address for the company. The earliest of these documents found online are from 2005.
The “Village East” area described by Haley’s filing is in the general area of the John Brown statue in the Quindaro area of Kansas City, Kansas, at 3500 N. 27th in Kansas City, Kansas, according to the documents. It is the address of the old Bryant Butler Kitchen nursing center.
Sen. Haley said he had talked with various UG mayors and administrators over the years to let them know that he had the rights to the Village East name, and he was assured by some of them that the UG would not be using the name.
Haley voted for the requested change to the Village East STAR bond district, while stating that the name is an ongoing concern that would be addressed.