Douglas County and Lawrence city commissioners probably will decide early next month whether to bid for the defunct Farmland Industries fertilizer plant.

And if the decision is yes, they’ll weigh whether to put the issue — which could cost as much as $15 million up-front — to a public vote.

County Commissioner Charles Jones on Tuesday told the Lawrence-Douglas County Economic Development Board that city and county officials would meet in a closed-door session at 5:30 p.m. July 6 at City Hall to discuss a bid for the 467-acre plant east of Lawrence along Kansas Highway 10.

City and county officials have been eyeing the site, which they would redevelop.

“It is time for us to make a decision,” Jones said. “I don’t expect us to come up with a definitive proposal, but I think it is time to make a fish-or-cut-bait decision.”

If commissioners decide to proceed with a purchase, Jones said elected leaders would have to decide whether to conduct a referendum on the purchase.

Not legally bound

Jones said he thought the city and county could combine their ability to issue bonds for the project and not be required to conduct an election.

“There is a technical question of whether we are legally required to have a vote, and I think the answer to that is no,” Jones said. “Politically, though, is that the responsible thing to do? I think that is a discussion the public officials are going to have to have.”

Douglas County and Lawrence city commissioners are considering purchasing the 467-acre site of the shuttered Farmland Industries fertilizer plant, pictured in July 2002. Government officials have scheduled a closed-door meeting July 6 to discuss a possible purchase.

Although the meeting will be an executive session, Jones also has sought to have representatives from Douglas County Development Inc., developers of the East Hills Business Park, and ECO2, a county group charged with fostering development of industrial land and preservation of open space in the county, attend the executive session. County officials are determining whether those members of the public can legally attend the closed-door meeting.

After the executive session, commissioners will have a brief joint meeting prior to the City Commission’s regularly scheduled meeting, which begins at 6:35 p.m.

Costly endeavor

The possibility of a public election has been raised, Jones said, because of the amount of money needed to buy, clean up and redevelop the site.

Jones declined to discuss how much the project may cost. But some numbers became clearer at Tuesday’s meeting. Farmland has put $7 million into a trust fund to clean up ground water contamination issues at the site. The fund is controlled by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Jones said that from conversations with department officials, he thought the county and city would be required to produce $7 million at the beginning of the cleanup and be reimbursed as the cleanup progressed.

In addition, Jones said, costs to extend infrastructure to the site — such as city sewer, water and roads — easily could be as costly as the cleanup.

Those two expenses could mean the county and city would need to issue bonds for about $15 million, plus whatever the land itself would cost. Cost for the plant and land won’t be known until a public auction is conducted by the court overseeing Farmland’s bankruptcy.

Time for discussion

Jones said he had not yet decided whether he thought an election was the right course of action.

“My only thoughts on it right now is that it is an important discussion to have,” Jones said.

He declined to guess the effect of such a bond issue on property taxes.

“It is going to take additional tax dollars in the short run, there is no question about that,” Jones said. “But hopefully in the long run, the project will pay for itself.”

Jones said he thought taxpayers could break even because the county eventually would be reimbursed for the cleanup costs and other costs would be recouped when the land was sold for redevelopment.

Economic development board members said they were supportive of the city and county exploring their options.

“Let us know how we can help,” Mike Maddox, chairman of the board, told Jones. “I don’t think you can underestimate the important development that could spawn from this project.”