photo by: Screenshot/Douglas County Commission

This map provided to the Douglas County Commission by Lawrence-Douglas County Planning and Development shows a planned construction of a church at 588 North 1200 Road, transposed over a map of Clinton Presbyterian Church's previous facility in the same general area. Clinton Presbyterian is pursuing the construction of a new church because its previous church burned down in August 2019.

The construction of a new church and the reclamation of a rock quarry in rural Douglas County are on tap for the County Commission to consider this week.

During their meeting Wednesday, the commissioners will consider a site plan for Clinton Presbyterian Church to build a 4,244-square-foot church building at 588 North 1200 Road, which is in the unincorporated community of Clinton, west of Clinton Lake.

588 N 1200 Rd, Lawrence, KS 66047

According to planning documents provided to the commissioners, Clinton Presbyterian is proposing to build a new church because its previous one burned down in August 2019. The new church would be built on a nearly 8-acre parcel directly north of the previous church’s location.

While Clinton Presbyterian owns the land for both sites, the sites are technically separate parcels, which is why a site plan is required. Along with the church, a surrounding gravel drive would be built, including roughly 30 parking spots just south of the building. Planning documents show the drive extends about 370 feet to North 1200 Road, over the general area where the previous church was located.

The commissioners will also consider approving a reclamation plan for Big Spring Quarry, located at 2 North 1700 Road, in the northwest part of the county.

Mid-States Materials | Big Springs Quarry

According to planning documents provided to the commissioners, Mid-States Materials, the owner of the property, plans to reclaim two quadrants — identified as Aqua and Orange — of the quarry by allowing several former pits to become ponds. The largest of the ponds would have a maximum depth of about 45 feet.

Once the reclamation is complete, the land would then be available for agriculture, recreation and wildlife uses, according to the planning documents.

In other business, the commissioners will consider providing funding for a staffing expansion of the county’s integrated crisis team, which is a multi-agency team working in LMH Health’s emergency department that provides behavioral health services.

With the county’s planned construction of a behavioral health crisis and recovery center, the Behavioral Health Leadership Coalition — including Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, LMH Health and other local behavioral health organizations — proposed adding about five full-time staff members to the team and requested funding from the county to cover some of the costs.

According to documents provided to the commissioners, the coalition is requesting up to $88,000 for the remainder of the current year and up to $522,000 for 2021.

The County Commission will convene at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday for its regular business meeting. The meeting will be open to the walk-in public at the county courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St., but a link for the public to watch live online is available on the county’s website, douglascountyks.org. Residents may also call in and listen by phone by dialing 1-312-626-6799 and entering meeting ID 995-0091-3492.

Full audio from the meeting will continue to be posted on the county’s website, as usual. The meeting’s full agenda may also be found on the county’s website.