Re: [CPEO-MEF] Committee endorses plan to set up Sunflower redevelopment author

[uxogypfy@bellsouth.net]

Anyone out there want to take a stab at the pros and cons to local
government authorities having oversight of contaminated miilitary sites?

Thanks,
Stella:)
----- Original Message -----
From: "CPEO Moderator" <cpeo@cpeo.org>
To: <cpeo-military@igc.topica.com>
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 9:54 AM
Subject: [CPEO-MEF] Committee endorses plan to set up Sunflower
redevelopment authority


> Kansas
> Posted on Wed, Mar. 12, 2003
> Committee endorses plan to set up Sunflower redevelopment authority
> JIM SULLINGER
> The Kansas City Star
>
> TOPEKA - A Kansas Senate panel endorsed a bill today that would require
> Johnson County commissioners to establish a special authority to oversee
> redevelopment of the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant.
>
> County officials originally wanted the option of creating such an
> authority. But the Senate Commerce Committee sided with De Soto Mayor
> David Anderson, who wanted to make establishment of the authority
> mandatory.
>
> Anderson, who testified before the committee Tuesday, also expressed
> concern that De Soto wouldn't be guaranteed a seat on the seven-member
> authority. The mayor wanted the ability to directly appoint a member.
>
> The senators didn't give him that but agreed to a provision requiring
> that three of the board members come from cities or townships bordering
> the 9,000-acre site in western Johnson County.
>
> De Soto is the only city with boundaries that touch the site.
>
> "The city of De Soto and several surrounding townships will all have
> some representation on that board to help decide what's going to happen,
> the cleanup and some of the planning for it," said House Speaker Pro tem
> John Ballou, a Gardner Republican.
>
> Before the committee voted, Ballou told the senators it was time to
> start redevelopment of the property, which is in the process of being
> transferred from the Army to Johnson County for private development.
>
> Ballou said county government took over a former Navy air station
> between Olathe and Gardner in the 1970s and turned it into a major
> industrial park. In the process, he said, the city of Gardner was left
> without an industrial tax base or a say in what happens at the former
> military base, which is now called the 21st Century AirCenter.
>
> He said the Legislature shouldn't allow that to happen to De Soto when
> the Sunflower site is developed.
>
> The bill approved by the committee sets up the process for that
> development once the federal government turns over the property.
>
> It would give the redevelopment authority quasi-municipal powers,
> including the ability to grant property tax breaks to developers, and
> review and approve development plans.
>
> Kessinger/Hunter Inc. of Kansas City is the only developer that has
> expressed interest in acquiring the entire 9,000 acres. Currently, the
> U.S. Army is responsible for cleaning up contamination resulting from
> the production of artillery shell propellants.
>
> This article can be viewed at:
> http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/5375105.htm
>
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