The proposed homeless services center at a repurposed Lenexa hotel took another step forward last week, as a majority of county commissioners agreed to fund $3.3 million in renovations.
The commission also voted to approve a 10-year agreement with reStart Inc., the Kansas City-based nonprofit tasked with operating and ultimately owning the shelter.
Commissioners considered whether to use federal Housing and Urban Development funds for the renovations, but rejected the idea because of the added cost and extended time period.
Using a HUD grant would require an environmental impact statement that could take up to two years to complete, and the sale of the hotel and nearby restaurant depends upon closing by the end of October.
HUD money also would drive the cost of renovations to $4.86 million and require a remediation plan for noise, radon and soil contamination.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has already monitored the site and determined the levels are safe, said Assistant County Manager Joe Connor.
Instead, the money will come from COVID relief funds that are a part of the county general fund.
Total to buy and renovate hotel now stands at $10.5M
The $3.3 million for construction plus $370,000 for operating costs and capacity building would be added to the $6 million purchase price and $850,000 due diligence costs, bringing the county total to $10.5 million for the proposed shelter.
The assignment agreement sets out terms for transferring ownership of the center to reStart.
A deed restriction requires that the property, now a La Quinta Inn and Suites, be used primarily as a non-congregate shelter for 10 years.
After the transfer to reStart, the county would be released from liability, according to the agreement. No ongoing support from the county is written into that agreement.
Chairman Mike Kelly said there are plans for an advisory committee to oversee operations as the shelter starts up.
“We are in a unique position to try to address what has been recognized as a community need,” Kelly said.
Federal COVID-19 money gives the county the ability to have a facility it could not afford to build on undeveloped land, he said.
“It’s a huge step in the direction of meeting a need that otherwise goes unmet in our community,” he added.
“Put together with chewing gum”
Commissioner Charlotte O’Hara, who has opposed the project, called the action by the commission Thursday, “ridiculous, inexcusable and irresponsible.”
“I am almost speechless as to how this is being rushed through,” she said, noting reStart has asked for contributions from the county and city governments as the project starts up.
She said some cities’ leadership doesn’t support that.
“This is a project that has been put together with chewing gum. You do not have anything in certainty now,” she said.
She also questioned whether the entry system used to place people in the shelters would keep the project from focusing on Johnson County residents.
“That means that we cannot focus on Johnson County residents, and we cannot ask about citizenship because anyone that goes through that coordinated entry system has to be given services because of nondiscrimination through HUD,” she said.
“The financially right thing to do”
However, Kelly and Commissioner Janeé Hanzlick said the system only requires anyone who calls to be evaluated. It doesn’t dictate where the person is referred.
Commissioner Shirley Allenbrand pushed back on the idea that the shelter project is being rushed, noting that the commission’s housing subcommittee spent about three years looking at affordable housing.
“This is not something that’s been rushed. This is something that’s been looked into,” she said.
“The thing that’s frustrating to me the most is just hearing all the miscommunication out there,” Allenbrand added. “When you start spreading stuff about environmental reports, people bussed in from other countries — we should not be spreading that kind of rumor because that’s not what this is about.”
Kelly also said helping people recover a place to live is “financially the right thing to do” for the county because it ultimately saves on emergency services and law enforcement.
How the commission voted
Commissioners voted 6-1 in favor of the legal assignment agreement, with O’Hara the lone dissenter.
The commission also OKed the renovation budgeting 5-2, with O’Hara and Commissioner Michael Ashcraft voting against that motion.
