NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Debra Teufel with the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce said the progress toward a new industrial park south of South Hutchinson has begun with the first land purchase.
"The doors were opened to this conversation by a local businessperson who also cares deeply about Reno County and the Hutchinson community," Teufel said. "They said, we'd like to introduce you to a lady named Sharon Kimbell. We sat down with her shortly after Christmas, she said, I would like to know more about what it's going to take to develop a new industrial park in the county. She's an economic developer at heart, I can tell. She loved the map. She loved looking at the lay of the land and understanding how she could make a difference."
Kimbell's gift is what made this first purchase happen.
"I met with her back in April when we were finally able to start making the transaction happen," Teufel said. "Shortly after, she had some health issues. She had to be at KU Med for awhile, then she was back home. We met again as soon as she was back home. She was excited to see what progress was being made. She wanted to see measurable progress and I love that about her. She wanted to know next, when was a sign going to be coming up in the park? That was important to her, to signify this future and I know she wanted to see that happen. Eventually, we will commemorate her with a permanent sign in the park. I have to say a big thanks to Sharon Kimbell and her family for making this next phase of growth happen for us."
With that said, there's still a lot of work to be done and land to be purchased before everything can go forward. The plan is for the park to be around two miles south of South Hutchinson along K-96.
"The utility situation in South Hutch is complex," Teufel said. "They have some issues that we're working with them on. How do they achieve more water resources for the future? Certainly, you can't have an industrial park without a water resource. That's why conversations with South Hutch and the city of Hutch are so important. I think, at some point, one of the solutions to water will be, can an agreement be struck where South Hutch purchases water from Hutchinson? That isn't going to be put on the taxpayers of Hutchinson, necessarily. It would be an agreement, whereby South Hutch brings the water from Hutchinson and pays an out of district rate or some kind of negotiated commercial rate for water."
Further study on how that would work and how much that might mean aren't done yet.
"This is going to be a long term project that's going to take much engineering to make happen," Teufel said. "I know both communities are looking at their water resource and their engineering studies and saying, what is the path to get the water there? I had a message last week from Gary Meagher. I know he's having his engineering staff look at this. They probably have a water study to do, just to ensure their future water resource, at the same time, South Hutch is working on theirs."
The biggest issue is that there aren't sites in the current industrial areas big enough for what some site selection professionals want to see for truly large projects.
"It's been no secret, Kansas has been on the radar screen for a project that led to the APEX bill in our legislature this year," Teufel said. "Those kinds of projects don't want ten, fifteen, twenty acre sites. They're looking at 150, 200 acre sites. As a community, we need to be ready and have product on the shelf. Just as any business has to have product on the shelf to sell it, we as a community need to have ready product. That's why we've been in that planning phase."
This has been on the mind of local leaders for at least eight years, and part of the competitiveness piece is proximity to both an interstate and a commercial airport, which is why they are putting it where they have chosen.