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Commissioners defer Manor Conference Center management agreement after Kansas State Extension raises access concerns
Summary
After extended discussion and testimony from Kansas State Extension, county commissioners deferred action for one week on a facility-management agreement with YBR Properties WG Topeka LLC, asking counsel and parties to add explicit written protections for Extension's meeting-space access and food-service rights.
The Shawnee County Board of County Commissioners voted to defer a proposed 10-year facility-management agreement for the Manor Conference Center after Kansas State Extension staff and a commissioner raised concerns that the draft would give the manager exclusive control over scheduling and food-services, potentially displacing Extension’s long-standing community programs.
Kansas State Extension director Candace Stiles told the board she learned of the proposal only when the agenda appeared and emphasized the meeting room is heavily used for educational programming: "Last year, we did have 243 community meetings in that meeting room," she said, and urged written protections so Extension would not be charged or otherwise impeded when using the kitchen and meeting spaces. Commissioner Kevin Cook and others asked that Extension's use and any fee structure be specifically spelled out in the agreement.
Roy Arnold, managing member of YBR Properties WG Topeka LLC, described hotel renovations and the need for a design-build team; he said preconstruction work would likely take six to eight months and that the county would set priorities for construction. Despite that, commissioners agreed the Extension office’s current access and no-fee use should be addressed in writing before approving a contract that would assign calendar control and food-service rights to a new manager.
Commissioner Bill Rippon moved to defer item D3 for one week so counsel, county staff, the developer and Extension can work out explicit protections. Commissioner Kevin Cook seconded, and the motion to defer carried.
