Dear Editor:
The Business Redevelopment Committee met on Tuesday (June 3) to lay out a vision of what the business community wants to see happen in Greensburg over the next year, and to talk about the key events of the year which have passed since an EF-5 tornado leveled the town on May 4, 2007. However, one of the most significant things that came out of the meeting WASN'T DISCUSSED in open session at the meeting, and involved a decision made behind closed doors.
Jerry Younger, Deputy Secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation, recently came back to the Greensburg City Council and announced in effect that no consideration was going to be given to the proposal made by the Business Redevelopment Committee for additional exits into town from U.S. 54/400. The exit proposal had been prepared and reviewed by a group composed of members of the Business Redevelopment Committee, Scott Brown, myself, investors Larry Burke and Ron Wright, Mayor John Janssen, County Commissioner Gene West, and City Adm Steve Hewitt.
The proposal had then been presented to a meeting of the entire Business Redevelopment Committee by Scott Brown and myself, and those present at that meeting had approved the proposal UNANIMOUSLY and recommended it be reviewed and considered by the city council.
Brown made another presentation to the city council, and the council approved the proposal by a vote of 4-1, with councilman Gary Goodheart voting against. The proposal was then forwarded to KDOT for review. Younger declined to consider it on behalf of KDOT.
After Younger's announcement, I wrote a follow-up letter to Younger, KDOT Division Engineer Bob Cook, and Transportation Secretary Deb Miller. I asked for a meeting and a "dialogue" between the Business Redevelopment Committee, the mayor, the city council, the city administrator, and Representatives Dennis McKinney and Ruth Teichmann, to further discuss the proposal and to determine why it was not being considered, and whether or not ANY of the committee's requests could be addressed. Senator Pat Roberts' office had communicated the senator's strong support of such a dialogue to Stephenson, who informed KDOT of it.
Transportation Secretary Deb Miller sent a letter to Stephenson in response (letter is below), and indicated that she believed the issue had been resolved; but that KDOT was willing to dialogue further about it, although "we don't see a need to arrange a meeting unless one is requested by official representatives". I delivered a copy of the letter to Mayor Bob Dixson's office on Monday evening, and forwarded a request to committee chairman Kelly Estes to put the KDOT letter on the agenda for Tuesday's meeting.
At the beginning of Tuesday's meeting, it was announced that the KDOT letter was being removed from the agenda, due to time constraints. I approached Mayor Dixson, asked him if he had received a copy of the KDOT letter, and Dixson pulled it out of his planner. When I asked Mayor Dixson what his position was on the letter, Dixson replied, "We're not going to pursue it. We have to pick our battles, and this is not one of them."
Former Mayor John Janssen said in the council meeting at which the proposal was approved, that "we may have to go to bat for this", but it was apparent at Tuesday's meeting that the change in administration included a change in priorities, and one of the key factors necessary to the support and survival of businesses in the "new" Greensburg was tabled by the new mayor and allowed to quietly die.
Kevin Stephenson
Greensburg, KS —
