OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Republican State Senate President Ty Masterson told FOX4 on Monday that he’s expecting a proposal from the Kansas City Royals at their Legislative Coordinating Council (LCC) meeting that should take place either in late November or early December.
The eight-member LCC is the body that would approve a Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) Bond proposal from the Royals. Democratic State Senator Dinah Sykes is one of three Johnson County, Kansas members on that body.
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Skyes says she does not know how she’d vote on this issue if the Royals submit a proposal to the LCC.
“I haven’t seen what it is. I know the parameters of what we put out, but I don’t know what the offer is,” Sykes said.
“I’m always going to look at what is in the best interest of Kansas, also taking into consideration where it is, the impact of what it will have on constituents who live there, Kansans who live there, businesses, so those are all pieces that I will factor in.”
One shopping center nearby is Park Place, which is actually in Leawood’s city limits, not Overland Park’s. Mark McGilley, a Leawood resident who’s had Royals season tickets since their inaugural season of 1969, says he thinks a ballpark in this area’s a bad idea.
“I think the traffic will be terrible,” McGilley said.
“I just don’t think it’s a good spot. I think the Royals should go downtown. The majority of the Major League Baseball stadiums are downtown, so obviously it proves the point.”
The Royals wouldn’t comment on this story on Wednesday. The LCC extended the Sales Tax and Revenue or STAR Bond offer in July for another year, but the leadership of that body, including Masterson, says that they want a proposal by the end of the year.
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Former Republican State House Rep. Jan Kessinger used to represent 119th Street and Nall Avenue in the Kansas legislature. He says there is no highway access.
“I guess when I picture a new stadium, it would be surrounded by commercial businesses, restaurants, and bars, not exactly a suburbia where you’ve got lots of home areas,” he said Wednesday.
“You’ve got lots of homes at that corner, well, at least within a mile of that site.”
Kessinger is also the President of the Blue Valley Schools Board of Education. He was not speaking on behalf of that group, though. He says thatthe body has never talked about this subject.
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