The city of Prairie Village is locked in on a $30 million municipal complex project, despite some resident calls for a public vote on the issue.
On Monday, the Prairie Village City Council in two separate 9-2 votes made critical decisions that moved the $30 million project — for a $23 million city hall and a $7 million police department renovation — forward.
One vote was for a resolution authorizing the project to move forward, and another cleared the city to begin offering up to $30 million in municipal bond debt for the project.
Councilmembers Lori Sharp and Nick Reddell cast the dissenting votes on each motion. Councilmember Inga Selders was absent.
The votes effectively put an official stamp of approval on the years-long project and also marked a key step — dubbed “the big decision time” by city staff — forward for the project. The city anticipates only needing to issue $27 million in bonds, according to city documents.
Monday’s critical votes come two weeks after two councilmembers, Sharp and Selders, tried and failed to gain support among the rest of the city council to let residents vote on whether bonds should be issued to finance the project.
Groups like PV United, the same resident group that opposed housing efforts two years ago, and new dark money group Preserve Prairie Village have been calling for a public vote, promoting their cause with yard signs and mailers. The project was also the subject of a recent Kansas Policy Institute-backed survey that concluded residents “overwhelmingly” support voting on the project, though the survey mostly polled non-Prairie Village residents.
In August, the city council is expected to make another key vote to actually issue the bonds and get money on hand to build the project.
The city council also got a first look at the interior design plans for the new city hall building, at 7820 Mission Road, and the renovated police department and municipal court at the existing city facilities.
Police chief says expansion is needed for renovations
Police Chief Eric McCullough told the city council on Monday that the police department needs to expand in order to gain space for staffers, something that was shown in a fly-through video depicting interior designs during the city council meeting.
Examples of what the police department gains from the current renovation plan, which is only possible by building a new city hall, includes the following:
- A dedicated property room, where illicit drugs and other evidence is kept.
- An office for the property clerk, who currently works inside the property room.
- An office outside for the K9 unit, including the unit’s officer and actual canine who currently work inside of the investigations department’s storage closet.
- Expanded space for dispatchers, placing them near the break room for quick access (to accommodate the job’s time constraints).
- New rooms for interviews, gun cleaning, report writing, equipment drying and an expanded armory room.
- Wellness rooms for police officers, which McCullough said is common in police departments and is important for mental health.
“Without extra space, we’re not going to be able to capture the space we need for a larger property room or to move the K9 unit out of the investigations’ storage closet,” McCullough said.
“We will continue to do the job regardless of the space, but I don’t know how we can renovate that existing floor plan … and gain the space that we saw on the fly-through,” he added.
Concerns over project still linger
After Monday, with vocal resident support and a majority of the city council backing the project, the city’s municipal complex plans appear to be full steam ahead.
“This is a significant investment and a significant upgrade that’s going to touch the vast majority of our workforce, and I just try to imagine the cascading benefits of that — what we’re going to be able to do as a city for every resident with facilities that meet the standard,” Councilmember Cole Robinson said.
But some residents and councilmembers are still concerned about the project’s price tag, and whether an overhaul of the city’s municipal complex is even necessary.
Sharp, who voted against both motions that pushed the project over one of its final hurdles on Monday, said the city is “quadrupling” its debt by going from its current $9 million in debt to a total of $36 million in debt ($27 million anticipated for the municipal complex project).
Sharp also called to attention the estimated $23 million in interest over the 30-year payback period, “which will be a total of $50 million for a city hall.”
“I just would choose to spend that money differently,” Sharp said. “I would choose to give it back to the residents to give them tax relief, or I would choose for money more spent at the police department or the pool coming up, but for me that would not be my first choice.”
Residents like Jim Rosberg agreed with Sharp, saying he went to the current city hall at 2 p.m. on Monday and it was “virtually empty.”
Rosberg said the amount going toward a new city hall, roughly 76% of the total project cost, compared to the $7 million for police and court is “despicable at best, and completely backwards.”
“Spend 76% on the police, and I, for one, will applaud it,” Rosberg said.
A closer look at the $30M plan
Included in the $23 million cost for a new city hall is $4.5 million to purchase Mission Road Bible Church so the city can demolish it and build on top of that property.
The remaining $7 million is to renovate and expand the existing police department, as well as to formally turn council chambers and part of city hall into municipal court.
City staff anticipates paying the bonds back through existing revenue streams, namely the Meadowbrook Park tax increment financing revenues that are expected to roll off beginning in 2028.
The police department renovation features expanded property room and clerk space, office space for staff who currently work out of storage closets and a combined fitness room for police officers.
Here is a look at the specific upgrades for the new court room and court clerk department, as shared by Clark & Enersen, the architect firm designing all portions of the project for the city:
- A new court clerk window immediately up front where visitors currently walk into the city hall building today.
- A waiting area, virtual court rooms and a defense room for defendants to speak to their attorneys in private. (These amenities do not currently exist.)
- A renovation of the existing council chambers to turn it into a municipal court room, complete with updated acoustics, finishes and a feature wall.
The new city hall building, which is aiming for the Gold sustainability standard under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system, will include the following features, as outlined by Clark & Enersen representatives on Monday:
- A council chambers and nearby public meeting rooms that can open up into council chambers for additional seating.
- An art corridor, which currently exists in the city hall building at 7700 Mission Road.
- Private or open-space offices for the administration, information technology and human resources departments.
- Wellness rooms, conference rooms, a break room, an outdoor break/workspace for staff, consolidated staff and council restrooms and a meeting room for executive sessions.
City Engineer Melissa Prenger said there is flexibility baked into the city hall building plan to allow for potential staffing growth.
Next steps:
- In August, the city council is anticipated to consider acceptance of bids on the bonds for the project. If a bid is accepted, then the city will have the money on hand to start the project.
- The city council will consider approving a construction contract, which locks in the project’s guaranteed maximum price, in October.
Go deeper: Watch the city council’s entire discussion online here starting at 1:42:40
