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State moving forward on SLT
‘Some people are buying it just like gold’
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Property owners to be contacted about selling right-of-way land By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
A FARMER IN HIS COMBINE MAKES A PASS THROUGH A FIELD in the river bottoms Monday just north of the Kansas River. Crop land prices in the Midwest have risen by more than 25 percent during the last 12 months, a new report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has found.
Prices shoot up for Midwest crop land Strong commodity prices, especially for corn during the ethanol boom, have helped drive up land prices. The Fed noted that Nebraska has seen crop land values increase by Midwest farmers are certainly growing corn, wheat and soybeans, about 40 percent for the year. By Chad Lawhorn
clawhorn@ljworld.com
but now there are questions about whether they’re nurturing a real estate bubble as well. A new report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City found that crop land prices in the Midwest have risen by more than 25 percent during the last 12 months. It was the highest rate of increase ever monitored by the Kansas City Fed. “There are people out there
looking for alternative investments to the stock market right now,” said Kelvin Heck, a broker with Lawrence’s Colliers International. “Land is still something they aren’t making any more of, and I think some people are buying it just like gold as a hedge against bad times.” The Federal Reserve report esti-
mated that in Kansas, non-irrigated crop land increased by 20 percent for the year, irrigated crop land by about 15 percent and pasture land by about 12 percent. In the Douglas County area, the market is more mixed. Heck said the market for fertile bottom ground in the Kansas River has
been active, and prices likely have been increasing near the rates suggested by the Federal Reserve. But the price for less fertile property outside of the river valleys has seen less of an increase, said Dale Bohn, an appraiser with Frontier Farm Credit. Bohn said those types of properties have been hurt by the slowdown in new housing growth. That’s because many of those type of properties in Douglas County aren’t just bought as farm land but also are used for rural housing. Please see PRICES, page 2A
Consolidating schools certain to ‘hurt,’ board member says By Mark Fagan mfagan@ljworld.com
After five months of meeting, greeting, dreaming, researching, information-gathering and scenarioseeking, members of an advisory group charged with recommending how to shrink the number of elementary schools in the Lawrence school district finally saw a potential “scenario” taped up on a wall. Then promptly outlined how it couldn’t work. The scenario — one that would combine New York and Kennedy schools at what likely would be a new
building at the site of the former East Heights School — had surfaced as an anonymous suggestion by a member of the Central and East Lawrence Elementary School Consolidation Working Group. Then reality hit. Natasha Naramore, a group representative from the New York School community, started the criticism with a pointed question. “What’s the size, the area site,” she said, “for East Heights?” “Approximately four and a half acres,” answered Mike Myers, also from the New York community. Naramore: “So you’re building a
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They’re experiencing what we as board members experience when we get in the middle of budget cuts — which is, anything you do is going to hurt somebody.” — School board member Bob Byers
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500-kid school on four and a half acres, when all of our other 500-kid schools are on how many acres?” Myers: “Twelve acres, eight minimum.” Then her questioning turned into an answer. “How does that meet equity, in any way whatsoever?” she asked, exasperated. “That’s what I’d like to know.” The discussion continued, with group members hearing from hired professionals. Building on such a site, as is, wouldn’t be a first choice, said John
State transportation officials soon will contact about 60 Lawrence property owners to begin the process of buying right-of-way to complete the controversial South Lawrence Trafficway. The Kansas Department of Transportation announced Monday that it plans to begin staking out needed parcels within the next few weeks. The announcement is the most tangible sign yet that the state is optimistic it can overcome a legal challenge and begin construction on the $150 million bypass project in fall 2013. “We’re trying to be as efficient and as responsible with public money as we can,” said Josh Powers, a spokesman for KDOT. “If we waited, the project would have to be delayed and those costs would rack up really quickly.” The uncompleted trafficway — the final six-mile leg would run from south of 33rd and Iowa streets to the intersection of Kansas Highway 10 and Noria Road east of Lawrence — is the subject of a federal lawsuit. The state has won a ruling finding that the project has the necessary permits to build the road through the Baker Wetlands. But opponents have filed an appeal with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals arguing the permit process was flawed and the road should not be allowed in the wetlands. Powers said the state is prepared to begin purchasing property before the outcome of that appeal is decided. The attorney for the trafficway opponents questioned that approach on Monday. “It puts them in a situation
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COMING WEDNESDAY Can you control your eating on Thanksgiving? Definitely. We’ll give you some strategies in Pulse.
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