Commission OKs up to $300,000 from revolving loan fund for research-park drainage; KBI commits $150,000

The Pittsburg City Commission approved an Economic Development Advisory Committee recommendation to allocate up to $300,000 from the city’s revolving loan fund to pay for drainage improvements in the city’s research and development park, with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) committed to contribute $150,000 to the work.

Supporters said the work is a needed infrastructure fix to allow a cluster of planned investments — including a KBI lab, university research facilities and private battery manufacturing — to move forward. Opponents and at least one commissioner pressed staff on whether the city and its taxpayers were being asked to shoulder a disproportionate share of costs relative to the private and state investment.

Ed McKechnie, representing Pittsburg State University, told commissioners the park hosts multiple incoming projects and described the completed plan and state backing. “This is what the new cave guide facility is gonna look like. 56, $40,000,000 has been appropriated, by the state,” McKechnie said while briefing the commission on the campus and project layout.

Commissioners and staff described the drainage need as a limited, targeted infrastructure fix: the park’s topography funnels runoff to a single low corner that requires additional piping and a pump to move water to a settling pond. City staff and university and KBI representatives said the work will support construction already planned by the entities active in the park.

Several commissioners raised questions about who pays. One commissioner noted that state bond proceeds and revolving loan fund money are both public funds and asked whether it meant Pittsburg residents were effectively paying multiple times for the same development. City staff responded that the state funding cited for the KBI project is general fund money that benefits the region and that the requested $300,000 is a small fraction of the roughly $100 million in expected overall development. Staff also noted the revolving loan fund is specifically intended to support local job-creation projects.

Commissioners stressed the city has the funds available in the RLF and argued the city uses those funds to attract larger out-of-area investment. In debate, commissioners also said the incentive request was relatively small compared with the scale of the incoming projects.

A motion to accept the EDAC recommendation and allocate up to $300,000 passed. The commission recorded the vote by voice and the mayor declared the motion carried.

Commissioners and staff said the work will be coordinated with KBI, Pittsburg State University and EaglePicher Technologies and will include installation of an under-road conveyance and a pump to empty the detention pond over time. Staff said the drainage work is intended to be the final infrastructure piece needed to put multiple parcels in the park into active construction.

Commissioners who questioned the allocation asked staff for clearer documentation on EDAC minutes and on cost shares, and staff agreed to provide those materials on request. No timeline for construction was specified during the discussion.

The action follows earlier, multi-year planning to prepare the seven-acre park for research and industry uses and accompanies state and private commitments for separate facilities in the park.