Quandry grows regarding future of former AMPI facility

Written by Don Ratzlaff Tuesday, 24 August 2010 16:26

The former AMPI building as it appears currently. The area to the foreground (left corner) of the building houses the Hillsboro Police Department and an office for the Kansas Highway Patrol. The Hillsboro City Council likely set at least a portion of the city-owned AMPI building on a path to demolition when it decided at its Aug. 17 meeting that it is too costly to repair sections of the roof that are now leaking.

At the council’s July 20 meeting, City Administrator Larry Paine had presented an estimate of just under $50,000 from Wray Roofing of Newton to repair two sections of the roof in the middle of the expansive facility.

At the request of the council, Paine secured a second estimate from Larry Boozer Roofing of Wichita and presented it Aug. 17: about $97,000.

Even with the lower estimate from Wray Roofing, Paine had projected the payback period for the city to be 8.25 years.

“I’m still not excited about...

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Time marches on for AMPI building

Written by Hillsboro Free Press Tuesday, 24 August 2010 16:25

The fire on April 25, 2007, proved to be a turning point in the potential for the former dairy processing facility. Following is a timeline of key events in the city’s involvement with the former AMPI property.

1997 – Associated Milk Producers Inc. merges with three other milk processors in the region to form Dairy Farmers of America.

Aug. 5, 1998 – DFA announces it will close its processing plant in Hillsboro, affecting around 75 local jobs.

November 1998 ­– Ice cream production shuts down at the plant, officially ending a local dairy-processing tradition that began in 1930 as Tip Top Creamery.

July 2002 – City announces its intention to buy the DFA property, including 30 acres of annexed land and buildings totaling around 100,000 square feet.

October 2002 ­– Contract established to purchase property for $75,000.

November 2002...

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State cuts to mental health services coming at a price

Written by Dave Ranney Tuesday, 24 August 2010 16:24

A little more than four months ago, a Prairie Village policeman shot and killed a 47-year-old woman who a split second earlier had thrown a butcher knife at him.

Prairie Village Police Chief Wes Jordan said Susan Stuckey was mentally ill, noting that officers had been called to her apartment eight times that month.

She was barricaded in her apartment when police arrived and they spent two hours trying to calm her, Jordan said. They entered after she threatened to kill herself by setting the apartment ablaze.

“The officer did everything he could to protect her,” Jordan said. “This has been tough on him. It’s been tough on us. I can only imagine what her family is going through.”

The shooting coincided with legislators...

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HPD aims to involve citizens in finding missing persons

Written by Patty Decker Tuesday, 24 August 2010 16:24

The Hillsboro Police Department has a new method of drawing the community together to help officials find missing persons.

Police Chief Dan Kinning said Monday that his office formalized an agreement with the “A Child Missing Alert Program.”

According to Kinning, this free service will involve Hillsboro citizens interested in assisting police locate missing children, elderly people, college students or someone who may be mentally or physically challenged or disabled.

Anyone who has a landline telephone or who gives permission to contact their cellular phone can participate.

When police receive word of a missing person, the first call they will make is to the national headquarters of the “A Child Missing Alert Program” in Fort...

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