ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
After multiple months of work and discussions, the 15th Street fire station is now officially under City of Liberal authority.
A contract regarding the matter was unanimously approved by the Liberal City Commission at its most recent meeting Tuesday evening.
“As you all might remember, on May 19, 2025, the Seward County Board of County Commissioners hosted a joint special meeting with the Liberal City Commission. The topic of discussion was the 15th Street fire station. The original MOU dates back to Jan. 25, 2007 and details the term, financial expectations, maintenance requirements, and potential dissolution of the agreement between the two,” City Manager Scarlette Diseker said. “At the conclusion of the meeting, the Liberal City Commission had a consensus to offer a flat $500,000 for a buyout of Seward County's portion of the facility. County commissioners requested an appraisal, of which we agreed to schedule but later canceled. In the months that followed, staff detailed under Section 12(a), the MOU states that ‘Either party hereto may terminate this agreement at any time for any reason or for no reason by giving the other party thirty (30) days' advance written notice.’ It goes on to state in Section 12(b) ‘Upon termination by City, unless otherwise agreed, City shall remain the sole occupant and owner of the facility. City shall pay County 40 percent of the appraised value of the facility, based on an appraisal obtained by city.’ The City then requested to exert the ‘unless otherwise agreed’ portion of Section 12(b) with the flat dollar amount offer. The City also extended the Right of First Refusal to the county in the event that we ever decided to sell the facility. This offer letter was presented and approved at the Sept. 2, 2025 Seward County Commission meeting.”
After some brief discussion, the commission unanimously approved a contract for sale and purchase of interest in real estate pertaining to the 15th Street fire station, with funding having been approved from the Streets, Drainage, Capital Improvements portion of the 1-cent sales tax in 2026.
During the meeting, the commission also heard some updates to zoning amendments and then discussed Resolution No. 2443 concerning the authorization of a Kansas Department of Transportation grant.
“The Kansas Department of Transportation's Innovative Technology Program Grant provides financial assistance for innovative transportation-related projects that promote safety, improve access or mobility, and implement new transportation technology that does not currently exist in the local community of the project,” Chief Communications Officer Keeley Young said. “Our proposed project, if awarded, would replace 30-year-old signal equipment at three key intersections where optimized traffic flow is needed: Pancake Blvd. and S. Pershing Ave.; 11th Street and N. Kansas Ave.; and Pine Street and S. Kansas Ave. This proposed project would integrate advanced technology to upgrade our signalized intersections with real-time safety sensing technology and data analytics to automatically detect and report a vehicle stopped on the shoulder, a vehicle stopped in a lane, slow traffic, stopped traffic, vehicles moving in the wrong direction, stop-sign violations, crosswalk violations, double yellow line crossing, commercial vehicles, speeding, near miss incidents, and red-light violations. Traffic flow would be enhanced through implementation of a traffic controller platform which uses real-time data feeds to adjust signal timing for optimal traffic movement during periods of heavy traffic. These intersections do not currently feature any protective signal technology for pedestrian crossing safety. All intersections would be upgraded to incorporate Ped Head crossing time countdown technology with audible pedestrian push buttons. The addition of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) equipment to two of these intersections will also enhance safety by allowing critical intersections to continue operating during periods of power failure.”
After some brief discussion, the resolution was also unanimously approved, as was a resolution concerning the waiver of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The commission them moved on to discussion of expansion of the airport terminal parking lot, which was also unanimously approved.
“Per the agenda information, the Liberal Municipal Airport is looking to expand the terminal parking lot. Staff has been working with Lochner and the FAA to finalize an agreement and get started on the project,” Airport Manager Brian Fornwalt said. “The agreement with Lochner will begin the process and hopefully bring about the airport terminal project as well. The agreement is for the design, consulting, and engineering for the parking lot project that will be located between General Welch Blvd. and Terminal Road. The building on the lot will have to be taken down. The agreement for services has a total amount of $505,000 which will be reimbursable by the FAA at a 95/5 split. The city's portion will be $25,250 and funded from the Economic Development portion of the 1-cent sales tax.”
