Topeka ? The Kansas House advanced a bill Thursday that would set up a redevelopment authority to determine what to do with the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant in Johnson County.

The measure was given tentative approval on a 62-50 vote. Another vote is required before final House approval.

Several lawmakers spoke against the bill, saying it would open the state to liability involved in the cleanup of the 9,000-acre site. Currently, the federal government is responsible for cleaning the area south of Kansas Highway 10 east of Lawrence.

But the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Rob Boyer, R-Olathe, said, “The alternative is to do nothing. Should the land just sit there and go vacant?”

Under the bill, Johnson County commissioners would set up a seven-member redevelopment board with three of the members coming from cities or townships bordering the site.

Boyer said the redevelopment authority would be a special entity to accept the land’s title from the federal government. They would study and make decisions on how to develop the site.

“There are a thousand things that have to be resolved at Sunflower. This is step one,” he said.

The Sunflower site had been sought by developers interested in building a theme park based on “The Wizard of Oz.” But those plans went under last year when the Johnson County Commission voted to kill a feasibility study on the theme park.