BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org
INDEPENDENCE — County commissioners expressed interest in acquiring the Washington School property, which is located north of the Montgomery County Judicial Center.
The school property will be vacated sometime in 2012 due to the construction of a new elementary school near Eisenhower Elementary School in Independence. The USD 446 Board of Education has agreed to seek offers for the sale of that school property.
County commissioners toured the school building two weeks ago to determine its usefulness for county efforts. While some county residents have hinted that the school could be used as a site for a juvenile detention facility, commissioners on Monday were reluctant to put that idea into blueprints.
“The sheriff and undersheriff have already concluded that the design of that building is not conducive for an incarceration facility of any kind,” said commission chairman Tony Fowler.
Fowler did say that the facility, should it be bought by the commission, could be used to relocate existing county offices housed in other places in Montgomery County. Some of those offices include the Montgomery County Health Department and Juvenile Justice Authority.
The facility also has ample room for storage of equipment records while the playground area could be used for additional courthouse parking, Fowler said.
Later in the discussion, commissioners heard a request from Independence resident Bob Pierce to acquire the school property for potential use as a juvenile detention facility.
“If you sit on your duffs, you are going to miss an opportunity to give us adequate space for the next 100 years,” said Pierce, who served on two committees that examine the prospects of building a juvenile detention facility in Independence. “You don’t want to miss this opportunity.”
Pierce said he did not advocate expanding government but believed the Washington School property posed the best financial bargain for the local taxpayers.
Pierce insisted that the commission issue a letter to the USD 446 Board of Education immediately, suggesting that the county will buy the school property for $100,000.
Fowler thanked Pierce for his information but said he and other commissioners should look at more information before issuing any formal offers to the USD 446 Board of Education.
Contacted after Monday’s meeting, the superintendent of Independence schools told the Montgomery County Chronicle that the USD 446 Board of Education does not wish to see the Washington School property converted into a jail.
Chuck Schmidt, USD 446 superintendent, said the school board expressed that desire in 2009 during a bond issue campaign for several school building projects. Schmidt said board members heard concerns from neighbors in the area of Washington School that they did not want to see the property converted into any type of a detention facility.
“That’s still the desire of the board,” said Schmidt.
County commissioners have heard suggestions in recent years that the Washington School property could be a prime spot for the construction of a juvenile detention facility. Montgomery County currently places incarcerated juveniles at the Southeast Kansas Juvenile Detention Facility near Girard.
Schmidt also said the school board is accepting written proposals from any interested buyers of the Washington School this week (March 3 was the deadline in which to submit a letter of interest). He said the City of Independence has already expressed a desire to acquire the school property, and he said he had learned of the Montgomery County Commission’s intent to use the school property for county offices, storage and additional parking.
In other business transacted at Monday’s Montgomery County Commission meeting, commissioners:
• reappointed Jim Kelly of Independence and Rob Gill of Cherryvale to their positions on the Montgomery County Economic Development Authority.
• learned that the Montgomery County Public Works Department had spread 5,564 tons of gravel on county roads during January.
• awarded a contract to Woods Lumber Company of Independence for the sale of sheet metal that will be used for the construction of a storage facility at the Montgomery County Public Works Department facility. Woods Lumber Company submitted the second-lowest bid ($10,991.10) for the project while Cleaver Farm and Home of Chanute ($10,468.72) provided the lowest bid. Commissioners agreed with a recommendation from Robert Bever, public works director, recommended the contract to Woods Lumber Company by virtue of the firm being a local business that operates within Montgomery County.
• heard a report from appraiser Leroy Burke, who said county taxpayers will receive their property valuation notices sometime after March 12. Taxpayers will have 30 days to file an appeal on their assessments.
Burk said agricultural land had experienced a slight drop while commercial properties had been bolstered with the addition of the new Walmart Supercenter in Coffeyville as well as the opening of a new motel in Coffeyville.
