MERRIAM, Kan. —
The city of Merriam is proposing a new sales tax to fund the future of downtown as they work to finalize plans to redesign it. City Administrator Chris Engel introduced the tax to the city council on Monday.
This comes after the Downtown Master Plan Steering Committee finalized its recommendation for a vision of what they want the area to look like in the coming years at their final meeting last month.
The city says this is all the result of a 2022 survey that showed the community wanted downtown to include more restaurants, shopping, and entertainment options while also increasing flood protection. The results represent less than one percent of Merriam’s population, but are still valid according to the ETC Institute that conducted it.
The area currently sits in the Turkey Creek floodplain. Downtown has not experienced serious flooding since 1998, but it still limits redevelopment opportunities.
The city previously proposed three plans for the future of downtown, but ultimately landed on ‘Plan C’ that would redevelop about 60% of the area and remove the core from the floodplain entirely.
Within ‘Plan C’, two options exist.
Option C-1 was designed by HNTB, an engineering firm hired by the City to explore options for flood protection. The blueprints show it plans to redevelop several areas with historic storefronts and could require these buildings to be removed.
Option C-2 was designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It accomplishes the same goals of flood protection while preserving the existing buildings and businesses. The Corps has studied flooding concerns in Merriam since 2000, and the city has invested $575,000 in the effort since 2022.
Rick Williams and Nancy McGuire, who have owned and operated their music supply store in Merriam for nearly 40 years, worry the city’s plans could force them to close their doors.
“It’s going to cost us and probably, God forbid, make us close our business,” McGuire said.
While they support revitalization, the couple says they’re concerned about the potential loss of Merriam’s history.
“We’re okay with change and improvements. We’re just not okay with destroying downtown, the historic part of downtown Merriam,” McGuire said. “And forcing the businesses down here, that pretty much made this area, go away.”
The couple says they suspect the city might utilize eminent domain to take their building along with several others in the area. Engel says that’s not the goal, but it’s not entirely out of the question.
“The whole plan is built around willing sellers and willing buyers coming together to try to remove downtown from the regulatory floodplain simply so that reinvestment can occur,” Engel said. “I certainly couldn’t rule out that there would be a possibility, but I’m not aware that anything in the current plan.”
Regardless of what the city moves forward with, both options would require additional funding, which is why the city is proposing the sales tax.
Engel emphasizes that the plans are still in the early process and that it will take a lot more work before final decisions can be made.
“It’s ultimately up to council to point us in the direction of where we should do further research for further engineering and further work. We don’t have final plans on anything,” Chris said.
“We’ve got a little patch of old Merriam left,” Williams said.”A big nail in the coffin is being ignored.”
The Merriam City Council will hear the next update on the downtown master plan at its meeting on the 26th.
