OSWEGO — Nearly 40 years after it closed, the Katy Hospital is finally going to change hands to a new owner.
On Monday, Labette County commissioners signed a settlement statement allowing the sale of the former Katy Hospital property, including the hospital, the house and the clinic, to CRH Properties based in Sulphur Springs, Arkansas. The sale price is $50,548.
The county owns the property, so commissioners had to sign off on the sale.
CRH Properties has asked the Parsons Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals to rezone the property from single family residential to multi family residential district. A hearing on the request is set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, in the basement of the Parsons Municipal Building.
The hospital, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, was first opened in 1922 to serve Katy Railroad employees and their families. The hospital closed in April 1985, although the Katy Clinic connected to the hospital in 1967 continued to operate through 2009.
The future of the hospital property has been discussed for decades and Labette Health has spent thousands of dollars over that time repairing or maintaining the facilities, according to Sun archives. The general discussion has mainly been about converting the building or buildings into apartments or housing of some kind.
“This has been a long time coming. I just drove around that property yesterday,” Commissioner Vince Schibi said. He formerly served on the hospital board of trustees.
Fair board
Three members of the Labette County Fair Board, J.J. Bebb, Rick McKinzie and Kayla O’Brien, met with commissioners to discuss future projects at the fairgrounds in Oswego.
O’Brien told commissioners that the premium sale, which happens at the end of the county fair in July, brought in about $300,000 this year. “So that was excellent for the kids. Our buyers are probably one of the top-notch in the state,” she said.
That equaled to about $2,300 for each participating 4-Her, which was up from $1,800 the year before.
The final payment on the most recent improvements to the fairgrounds will go out in the coming weeks. So the fair board members wanted to discuss with commissioners the projects being considered that would be financed over a period of years. The county pays a subsidy to support the fair and a portion of that money goes to pay down the debt for improvements.
The new project will be adding newer bleachers to the east side of the rodeo arena, probably at a cost of $50,000, and adding a permanent gathering area attached to the goat barn. The fair board is getting quotes on that project, which would be a 30- to 40-foot extension to the building.
The fair this summer will be July 19-26. The fair board now has 15 members and the junior fair board has 20 members.
In other matters, commissioners: — Conducted the traditional new year of business matters and elected Commission Vince Schibi as chairman, Terry Weidert as vice chairman and swore in new Commissioner Tom Barrett. Other county officials were sworn in as well.
— Agreed to purchase four new sonic walls to protect computer systems in county buildings for $27,965 from Higher Calling Technologies in Parsons. These devices will go in the courthouse, the jail and sheriff’s office, the county barn in Altamont and the Noxious Weeds Department in Oswego. These will replace older devices that are nearing their useful life. Commissioners also agreed to pay $1,289.75 a month for additional security devices that log and monitor email and other systems for threats.
— Set new limits on breakfast, lunch and dinner allowances when county employees are traveling on county business. The new rate will be $17 for breakfast, $20 for lunch and $35 for dinner. This is a $3 increase on breakfasts and lunches and $5 on dinner.
— Set new bonding amounts for the county clerk, the county treasurer and the county attorney. The new amounts will be $100,000 for the clerk and treasurer (up from $10,000 and $25,000, respectively) and $25,000 for the county attorney (up from $2,000).
