City commissioners on Tuesday agreed to renew efforts to gain ownership of the 1950s-era Santa Fe Depot in eastern Lawrence, despite lingering concerns about repair and renovation costs.
Commissioners at their weekly meeting agreed to send a letter to Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway asking the company to make transferring ownership of the depot to the city a high priority.
Commissioners moved ahead after hearing that the depot was important to future Amtrak passenger rail service in the area.
“I’m convinced this is a mode of transportation that we’re going to become more reliant on in the future,” City Commissioner Sue Hack said. “Lawrence needs to be ahead of this. We shouldn’t have to play catch-up.”
Commissioners were told that the prospects of an additional Amtrak train running through the city were increasing as federal lawmakers approve new funding for rail transit as part of the federal stimulus package.
“I would say Amtrak fans are giddy at what is going on at the federal level,” said Mark Corriston, Kansas City director of the Northern Flyer Alliance, which is a group working to create a new Amtrak route from Kansas City to Oklahoma City.
Area residents also have lobbied commissioners to take over ownership of the depot building — located at Seventh and New Jersey streets — so that it can be properly preserved.
Commissioners are hoping that the railroad company will transfer ownership of the building over to the city for little or no cost. The city, if it takes ownership, could be obligated to make major repairs — including roof repairs — that total nearly $100,000. A larger issue is whether the city or Amtrak would be responsible for up to $400,000 in costs to make the station accessible to people with disabilities.
The city also has estimated annual maintenance and upkeep of the building could cost $60,000 per year. Currently, a volunteer citizen’s group has been doing much of the cleaning and general upkeep of the building.
City staff members said they don’t have a firm timeline on when the railroad may respond. State leaders, though, are expected to complete a feasibility study of whether to expand Amtrak service in the state by early fall, Corriston said.
Commissioners agreed to send the letter on a 4-0 vote. Mayor Mike Dever was unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting.
In other business, commissioners:
• Heard that a a game plan is in the works at City Hall if Kansas University’s basketball team makes a deep run in the NCAA basketball tournament.
The Lawrence Police Department has begun handing out fliers to downtown bars and restaurants urging them to serve all beverages in plastic cups during future NCAA tournament games.
The flier states that “no bottles, glassware or cans will be tolerated on city streets and sidewalks. Violators will be prosecuted.”
Law enforcement leaders have concerns about large numbers of glass containers being taken onto the streets as part of post-game celebrations.
• Approved a new policy that governs how tax abatements and other incentives can be offered to companies wanting to locate or expand in Lawrence. The new policy requires that new companies would need to make at least $7 million investment and add 30 new jobs that pay a living wage before they would be considered for a tax abatement.
• Expressed general support for a new policy that would give commissioners the option of buying goods and services from a local vendor even if the vendor wasn’t the lowest bidder. Commissioners asked staff members to bring back guidelines on when such a “local preference policy” would be appropriate to use.
Comments
LJWorld.com doesn’t necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (anonymous) says…
"The new policy requires that new companies would need to make at least $7 million investment and add 30 new jobs that pay a living wage before they would be considered for a tax abatement."
While I'm glad they have retained the living wage requirement, why does economic development have to be so dependent on a "white knight" mentality. It's quite possible that ten existing local small businesses could add a total of 30 jobs while spending less than $700,000 each, but would not be eligible for any sort of tax abatement.
Informed (anonymous) says…
Wow! We're hurting for money as a city, right?. But, hey, let's see if BNSF will give us the depot so that we can then spend $100,000 in roof repairs. And then possibly spend as much as $600,000 more to bring the building into ADA compliance.
Brilliant!
Informed (anonymous) says…
Sorry, I meant $400,000 for ADA compliance. But, then don't forget an additional annual $60,000 for maintenance and upkeep.
Yep. Seems like a sound business plan to me.
xbusguy (chris Ogle) says…
The new Homeless Depot
HermioneElliott (anonymous) says…
Some facts about Amtrak that were put out by Amtrak for the year 2008.
Amtrak operates one long-distance train through Kansas, the Southwest Chief (daily Chicago-Kansas City-Los Angeles via Topeka and Newton).
During FY08 Amtrak served the following Kansas locations:
City Boardings + Alightings
Dodge City 4,612
Garden City 6,840
Hutchinson 4,289
Lawrence 4,008
Newton 14,563
Topeka 7,554
Total Kansas Station Usage: 41,866
Procurement/Contracts
Amtrak expended $22,054,453 for goods and services in Kansas in FY08, $21,846,129 of which was spent in Wichita.
Employment
At the end of FY08, Amtrak employed 13 Kansas residents. Total wages of Amtrak employees living in Kansas were $808,843 during FY08.
As you see most of the money was spent in Wichita and they didn't provide very many jobs. To me this says that Lawrence would be better tearing the station down, relic or no, and putting in a shelter for people to wait for the train.
gccs14r (anonymous) says…
Because standing on an open platform in winter really shows what Lawrence is all about. I've had to stand on an open train platform, but that was in a little village of 300 people or so. It's ridiculous that a town of 80,000 doesn't have a manned station with a few shops, but then it's also ridiculous that a town of 80,000 along a major transportation corridor doesn't have hourly train service.
Raider (anonymous) says…
First off: tear the old building down and build a modern depot, if you're going to do anything at all. Better yet, why not let AmTrak re-build the depot? After all it's THEIR train. Makes sense to me.
Second of all, the CC basically just killed the prospect of new business relocating to Lawrence. Forcing a company to pay a "living wage" is not fair. The city can't tell someone how to run their business. Prospective employers will look at other cities / towns who offer abatements that don't have a LW requirement. There will continue to be a lack of jobs in Lawrence other than waiting tables, retail, or real-estate.
There are plenty of small towns out there that would love to have a company move to their area and pay any kind of wage. The CC can't hold a gun to these employers' heads and dictate their wages.