On Thursday, Lyon County Commissioners voted to encumber—hold—a $250,000 allocation to a major development project in far west Emporia saying they wanted to see the physical results of the work before contributing finances to the effort.
Friday, while speaking with KVOE News, City Manager Trey Cocking stated they would not have to wait long as work is set to begin very soon on the Flint Hills Crossing Development, the project poised to bring QuikTrip to the community.
Before Thursday’s vote, discussions amongst county commissioners included a restatement of their disappointment with the city after city commissioners approved an annexation request from Stormont Vail Health for property at Roads 180 and G back in November. At that time, County Commissioner Doug Peck had stated his belief that action violated an agreement between the city, county, Stormont and Newman Regional Health that no action on an annexation request would be taken until after this month’s meeting.
Cocking says the city was simply following procedure with that action.
Following Thursday’s action, KVOE News asked county leadership if the move to encumber the $250,000 was or could be viewed as retaliatory to which Peck stated it was not. Commission Chairman Rollie Martin stated he hoped it would not be viewed that way. When asked the same question Friday, Cocking stated he cannot speak to the actions of others but noted his excitement for the partnership between the city and county on the Flint Hills Crossing Development noting the benefits it will bring to the community.
Of those benefits, Cocking says QuikTrip’s reputation for how it treats and supports its employees is at the top of the list.
Flint Hills Crossing has been in development for well over two years now and the county has verbally committed the above-mentioned $250,000 to the project for road construction. Initial construction work will include the construction of a new roundabout north of the two existing roundabouts already connecting Interstate 35 and the Kansas Turnpike to US Highway 50 that will assist traffic flow directly to the QuikTrip location. The need for the new roundabout came following discussions with the Kansas Department of Transportation which updated its right-of-way rules over the past year causing them to be out of alignment with the Flint Hills Crossing developer’s vision per Cocking.
An exact timeline for the project is not currently available, however, the Emporia location is set to be one of the largest spanning around 8,200 square feet.
