Council votes to sell Lot 3 to Kansas City Kansas Community College after college presentation
Summary
After a presentation by Kansas City Kansas Community College President Dr. Greg Mosher on program plans and economic impact, the Lansing City Council voted to sell Lot 3 of Lansing Town Center Second Replat to the college for $95,000.
The Lansing City Council voted to sell Lot 3 of the Lansing Town Center Second Replat to Kansas City Kansas Community College for $95,000 following a presentation by the college's president.
Dr. Greg Mosher, president of Kansas City Kansas Community College, outlined the college—s plans for technical-program instruction, student housing and a proposed workforce center near Leavenworth and Lansing high schools. Mosher said the college has raised about $67,000,000 toward a $75,000,000 downtown project and described program areas that would include HVAC, electrical technology, construction, welding, cyber/IT and culinary training. "We have raised over $67,000,000 in total for this project," Mosher said during his presentation.
Mosher told the council the proposed Lansing site would allow expanded dual and concurrent enrollment opportunities for high school students and stressed the college—s focus on technical certificates and two-year degrees that can lead to immediate employment. He said some graduates from KCKCC programs earn $55,000 to $100,000 early in their careers and cited a 2022 economic-impact study showing KCKCC supported $58,100,000 in income for Leavenworth County and roughly 890 jobs in that year.
During public comment before the presentation, an audience member warned that adding a college campus could increase the community—s mill levy and urged that any tax increases be put to a public vote. The commenter provided a series of calculations and comparisons to Wyandotte County that were framed as concerns about additional taxing authorities; those statements were presented as the commenter—s view and are reported as stated.
The council approved the land sale by roll call. The motion to sell Lot 3 to Kansas City Kansas Community College for a total of $95,000 carried; the clerk recorded affirmative votes by the council members present and the motion passed.
The sale documents were authorized to be executed by the mayor. The council did not include a specific timeline for campus construction; Dr. Mosher said the project—s schedule depends on identifying capital and operational funding sources, which could include fundraising, bonds, local sales tax or other mechanisms.
The college—s site concept and the council—s sale decision reflect ongoing local planning and economic development discussions; the council also heard questions about prospective staff and daily foot traffic, to which Mosher replied that projected daily visits could exceed 300 depending on programming and high school concurrent enrollment.
The vote and related presentation leave next steps to staff to finalize sale paperwork and to the college to continue site planning and funding discussions.
