Star-Journbal Editor
This past Tuesday, the Hillsboro City Council was trying to find some way to allow Emprise Bank to build a new drive-through, without taking seven parking slots from downtown Main Street, including three slots from the business next door.
But on Monday, council members received a memo in which consulting engineer, Bob Previtera, warns that attempts to build the drive-through with a shrunken-down traffic design might lead to accidents for which the city could be found liable.
As a result of the memo, at least one council member says he now plans to steer clear of the bank's plan to build the new drive-through in the heart of downtown Hillsboro.
Council member Matt Hiebert said Previtera's opinion helped clarify the issue. In light of the potential liability to the city, Hiebert said he would not vote to reduce the traffic space to accommodate the project.
"I couldn't vote conscientiously to do that," Hiebert said. "Whether I'm still on the council come next election or somebody else is, the city taxpayers would ultimately be responsible for any damages."
Previtera's legal caution flag could allow the council to dispose of the matter and avoid a collision between two longtime community leaders — Emprise Bank president Bob Watson and Mayor Delores Dalke — who disagree sharply that the planned drive-through is good for downtown.
The bank, built in 1975 on the northeast corner of Grand Avenue and Main, has a drive-through on the east side of the building that exits onto Grand Avenue. But Watson told the council that his customers need a new drive-through that includes a depository into which they could drop money bags without leaving their vehicles. He added that at the current drive-through location, three cars lined up for banking forces the third car to block the alley, which is unacceptable.
A traffic drawing from EBH Engineers, Cimmaron, indicates seven parking slots along Main Street would need to be removed for the project. Four of the parking slots are in front of the currently-vacant, bank-owned building. Three slots are in front of the building next door, at 108 N. Main, which, for the past 24 years has been occupied by Prudent Tours travel agency, a business owned by Hillsboro native Hank Wiebe.
Councilman Hiebert also owns three buildings on Main Street. In addition to the building that houses his business, Jost Plumbing and Heating, at 128 N. Main, he also owns buildings at 130 and 132 N. Main; occupied by Quilts and Quiltracks and Mennonite Brethren offices, respectively.
He has been looking at the proposal as a councilman and as a property owner, he said.
"As far as Quilts and Quiltracks go, that's retail. I would lose tenants over the deal if it happened to me.
"I'll be the first to tell you, I'm not against change and that kind of stuff, but I also feel that if we went ahead and did this we have the possibility of affecting the resale value of two buildings."
"In the six years I've been on the council this is probably the most feedback I've gotten from city residents on an issue before the city council," Hiebert said. "I've not got anybody speaking in favor of the drive-through. Normally you very seldom hear anything. But people are concerned that it's going to detract from what we've done on Main Street so far."
The council agreed to postpone its vote and asked Garrett to find out if the 15-foot turn radius was "set in stone" or "just a suggestion." It also asked Garrett to find out if the handicapped parking place closest to the intersection could be preserved.
Garrett received answers to these questions from Previtera and put them in the memo, which was mailed to council members.
A width of seven parking slots would be required to ensure that there would be a minimally-acceptable turning radius for vehicles exiting the drive-through onto Main Street.
"Commercial and industrial radius standards are 30 feet," the memo reads. "Residential standards are 20 feet. A 15-foot radius is as small as Bob would recommend going. This is the size that is reflected in the [EBH Engineers'] traffic flow study. This is also an industry standard.
"The city could go with less, but assumes any liability with doing so."
The drive-through plan has been under continued scrutiny even after the Hillsboro Planning Commission voted 4-2 to recommend the project's approval by the city council.
The two planning commission members who voted against the proposal, chairman Gaylord Goertzen and Kevin Suderman, spoke at the council meeting, to voice their concerns about safety issues, traffic issues, and the loss of parking spaces in front of Prudent Tours.
Goertzen said, "[The planning commission] feels it's a good plan for Emprise, but the concern is how to negate the impact of removing those parking spaces from in front of Prudent Travel."
Suderman said, "Part of the reason why there was a non-unanimous vote is that we are very concerned about how you work with one business and potentially take away from another at the same time.
"That's something that I think the commission should be very wary of."
Watson told the council that he, too, was concerned about the loss of parking spaces in front of Prudent Tours.
"When we started this, we never dreamed it was going to take seven parking places," Watson said. "While we're not traffic engineers, we still have some big questions about whether it really should, which we could talk about perhaps."
Watson asked, "Is that set in stone, seven parking places? I can tell you, it looked to me like if you took five parking places, it would be plenty."
"We'd very much like to do this,"
Watson said. "But we really didn't want to cause another business problems. If there's another solution we haven't thought of, we'd be very happy to try to work with you."
Prudent Tours owner Hank Wiebe who was away on business and unable to attend the meeting, sent a letter to the council, asking the city to deny the proposal. Dalke read the letter into the public record.
"Our reason is the current proposal would eliminate all on street parking for Prudent Tours and part of the parking for the neighboring business to the north," the letter reads. "It is also likely to have a ripple effect for all parking on the east side of main street north of the drive through.
"Having been a Main street business for more than 23 years, we have come to understand the importance of close-in, accessible parking to business owners. We are very unhappy with the vote by the Hillsboro Planning Commission to allow the plan to proceed.
"It is our opinion that Emprise should not be allowed to take our access to public services, in this case on-street parking. Losing all of the parking in front of one building and almost half of the next building will have a negative effect on both businesses involved as well as negatively impact the value of each of these buildings.
"We are not against progress, particularly when it comes to downtown businesses. We are against allowing the progress of one business to have a negative impact on neighboring businesses. Thank you for giving this matter your thoughtful consideration
Dalke said she was against the drive through, which would create a 25-foot wide gap in the continuous buildings along Main Street.
"I'm thinking about the aesthetics," she said. "We've been getting so many compliments about what downtown Hillsboro looks like now. We get them all the time from people out of town, or from people who maybe haven't been here for several years, and they come to town and they go, "wow" and once we start pulling buildings out
"And that probably has nothing to do with the traffic," she added. "It's just my personal feelings that we are starting to tear down Main Street one little piece at a time and I don't like it.
"The council is actually going to vote, unless it's a tie, but I just don't like to see that happening to Main Street."
In an interview this past Sunday, Watson said that Emprise would not fight a no vote by the council.
"If they vote no then we won't do it," he said. "That's their job and they have to do what they think is right.
"We would like to do the project," he added. "And if we can't do the project then we will look at other options. I don't even know what those options would be. We would have to go back to the drawing board.
"Our goal is not to wind up alienating everybody in town. We would prefer to do it this way, but you know, this [current drive through] has been functional for 30 years and I assume it will be functional for a long time, but this would be better."
Watson said that because the building is in such disrepair the bank plans to tear it down regardless of the council's decision. The bank has applied to the city for permit to demolish the property, he said.
"The building is in very poor shape," Watson said, adding that the building was not kept up through years because the bank always intended to tear it down.
Watson said on Sunday that he hoped the city engineer would agree that five parking slots would be sufficient for the project.
"We never dreamed it would take seven parking places," Watson said. "Hank (Wiebe) is a bank customer and it was never our intention, nor is it now, to do anything to harm Prudent. I would like to do this for our business but we certainly don't want to harm another business."
In other business,
— Marion County Commissioner Dan Holub came before the council on behalf of his daughter, Army Spc. Molly Holub, who, after being wounded in a roadside bombing in Iraq, returned home to a hero's welcome, including a Quilt of Valor presentation Oct. 14 at American Legion Post #366 in Hillsboro.
Holub thanked the community and Mayor Delores Dalke specifically for the get well card she sent to Molly on behalf of the city when she was hospitalized.
The quilt, flowers, cards, and gifts his daughter received had encouraged Molly and her fellow soldiers still fighting in Iraq.
"It was overwhelming, it really was," Holub said. "She was really struggling with the kindness of everybody."
— The council agreed to allow the Hillsboro Development Corporation to relocate its offices to vacant offices in the southwest corner of the city building.
The request was made to the council in a letter from HDC chairman Mike Kleiber, in which he said, "
The letter goes on to explain the benefits of establishing offices in the city building, including "communication between personnel, access to records, maps, and the mere presence of the location, which portrays cohesiveness within the community."
According to Garrett and Dalke, the board will be assessed a fee for renting the space from the city.
Speaking on behalf of the HDC, board member Lyman Adams told the council, "It does make good sense to be side by side where we can communicate easier. We're pleased with the council for allowing us to be located there."
— The council voted to sign off on a certificate of substantial completion from Utility Contractors, Inc. for work on the water plant, releasing the $5,500 for the final payment on the project. According to Garrett, the company's work comes with a yearlong warrantee.
— The council authorized a partial payment of $77,818.11 to Middlecreek Corp., Peabody, for partial completion of the sewer, water and paving at the Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church addition. The company had completed about 42 percent of the scheduled work on its $195,849.30 contract, Garrett said.
— The council authorized payment of $10,500 to Jantz Construction, Tampa, for remodeling the hallways at the Hillsboro Community Medical Center Long Term Care Unit. The company smoothed over cinder block walls in the hallways, an improvement which recently helped the LTCU earn a second PEAK award in as many years from the Kansas Department of Aging.
— The council also authorized the payment of $129,172.86 to APAC-Kansas, Inc., Wichita, for taxiway improvements and helicopter pad construction at the city airport, a project that is 96 percent completed.
— Energy consultant Scott Shreve continued his ongoing efforts to educate the council about the city's pending contract negotiation with Westar Energy Corp.
After Shreve informed the council the city could expect price increases of more than 35 percent from Westar, the council asked him to solicit bids from other energy providers and have them ready by the next meeting.
— Two Cub Scouts working on their citizenship badges came to find out what goes on at a city council meeting.
"We're glad to have you here, and I hope it's not too boring," Dalke said.
— The council met twice in executive session; to discuss land acquisition, and personnel matters. No action was taken.
