The Kansas Bioscience Authority must decide whether it wants to spend money on infrastructure in a planned bioscience park — now that a major tenant has put its plans to move there on hold.

The Kansas Bioscience Park, planned on 90-plus acres donated by the city of Olathe, is being managed by the authority. Kansas State University has plans to build its Olathe Innovation Campus there.

Among issues the board discussed Thursday was whether the authority wanted to pick up infrastructure costs on a site that was slated for Overland Park-based Fort Dodge Animal Health.

Staff members told the board that Fort Dodge’s plans to move to the site were “indefinitely delayed” because of economic conditions and that the company understood the authority’s need to move on in finding new tenants for the land.

Fort Dodge, a global manufacturer of animal health products, was the first company to sign up as a tenant for the park, planning to build a $40 million research and development facility that would house more than 200 employees.

The authority had agreed to provide 30 acres and up to $3.5 million in financial assistance to Fort Dodge, based on the company’s achievement of construction and hiring milestones.

Staff proposed that the authority cover 68 percent of the site’s infrastructure costs and the rest would be picked up by K-State. The school also has to approve the expense. The money then would be paid off by tenants over time. The change would boost the authority’s contribution on infrastructure from around $7 million to $9 million.

Also at the meeting, staff recommended expanding the authority’s building at the park from 25,000 square feet to 35,000 or 40,000 square feet. The increase would push the budget from $12 million to $19 million.

The building will be used as the authority’s offices and for incubator space. The original size did not account for the room needed for hazardous waste material or support functions, staff members said.