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Baldwin City council asks staff to probe privately owned parcel as alternative to motel-lot substation
Summary
After months of work on a planned electrical substation at the city-owned motel lot on Highway 56, council members agreed to have staff contact a nearby private landowner to determine willingness to sell and price; the transformer has been ordered and a pad is needed within a year.
Speaker 5 presented the council with an update on a planned electrical substation sited on the city-owned motel property on Highway 56, saying the transformer was ordered in February and has a one-year lead time and that drawings are being sent to Midstates for approval.
Why it matters: the council must decide whether to use the city-owned motel lot — which staff said has been cleared of trees and stumps — or pursue a newly available privately owned parcel that council members say could reduce the substation's impact on future commercial development.
Speaker 2 relayed concerns from residents that placing the substation on the motel lot would take a large part of a commercially positioned parcel off the market. Speaker 5 said the concrete-footprint of the unit under discussion is about 120 by 80 feet and that the bid includes decorative pre-cast concrete fencing rather than chain-link to reduce visual impact.
Councillors asked about floodplain risk and siting alternatives; staff said the city lot is not (to their knowledge) in the floodplain and noted two smaller trees on the property line that staff would discuss with an adjacent owner. Multiple members recalled three candidate locations previously examined (the motel lot, a parcel near the middle school and a privately offered parcel). Speakers emphasized both the urgency — the transformer has long lead times — and the need to test whether the new private parcel might be purchasable without delaying the project.
Council action and next steps: Speaker 7 proposed authorizing staff to contact the private landowner to determine willingness to sell and a price. Council members agreed to have staff gather information (not to make an offer) and to return findings at the next council meeting so the council can decide whether to proceed with the city lot or pursue the private parcel.
The council did not adopt a final site decision tonight; it directed staff to report back with the landowner's response and any cost or technical constraints at the next meeting.
