By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council appears to not like the current deal on the table for the Atrium Hotel, but they want to do what the people want, so Mayor Steve Garza had a question for city staff at the meeting Tuesday.
"I've been thinking about this Atrium for a long time and talking to a lot of taxpayers," Garza said. "Is there any way that we could put that on, where we put it on the voting plans and let the citizens vote on this?"
City Manager Jeff Cantrell said yes the city could do a referendum, but if they do that, there could be unintended consequences.
"What would happen if we took it to the voters, it was turned down in an overwhelming majority and then because the building becomes blighted, which its rapidly becoming, we still have to address that issue and spend dollars to demolish the building and essentially do the same task of acquiring it in the first place? Unfortunately, when you would do some of those tasks, you wouldn't acquire the property, you would just mitigate the blight and so you still don't hold title to that property, but you might have spent two thirds of the money required to actually acquire title. You could find yourself in that ultimate quandary with the public."
Council member Sara Bagwell isn't sold on the idea as it is.
"I'm just not for spending $3 million on a piece of land where we're going to demolish most of it," Bagwell said. "I think we should either get a better deal and if we're going to continue with this deal, put it to a vote."
Council member Jade Piros de Carvalho doesn't like the current deal's provision for ongoing costs to the city, but she is a proponent of making a move on the Atrium in general.
"I just don't think we have the luxury to wait as long as we need to wait," Piros de Carvalho said. "I think we need to do something bold to not let one more property deteriorate and not lose one more thing for the community. I will remind the council that we actually invested $2.5 million in a parking garage that facilitated the development of the Wiley Building, which transformed that block of downtown. It's hard to understand the domino effect and all of the downstream benefits we're looking for, because they're not guaranteed. It's a gamble, and we typically don't like to gamble with public money."
Piros de Carvalho said it's also a gamble to continue to let properties decline.
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