by Alan McArthur
Landmark reporter
The Platte-Clay Electric Cooperative building in downtown Platte City will soon be up for sale as the cooperative consolidates its offices into a new building along Bethel Road.
According to Cheryl Barnes, communications director, the cooperative has outgrown the current district office on Main Street and will be consolidating their offices to a former Aquila building on Bethel Road.
“We need to be more efficient and need to be able to respond quicker,” said Barnes.
The building along Bethel Road was built by Aquila and became vacated when Kansas City Power and Light (KCP&L) purchased Aquila and consolidated their services. The building is located at 15055 Bethel Road north of the Shiloh Springs Golf Course.
A newsletter from the cooperative says, “The former Aquila space will increase Platte-Clay's efficiency by bringing co-op equipment and supplies from three separate locations to the Bethel Road facility. The district office will continue to provide full service to members at the new location, including bill payment and product sales.”
Barnes said the offices will probably move in late spring to the new building.
Currently, if there is an emergency, crews must pick up materials from several locations before going to a site. The new facility will consolidate the materials to one location.
Barnes said the Main Street building will require refurbishment before being usable again.
Jason Metten, city administrator, reported to the board that the city was approached by Mike Torres, chief executive officer and general manager, and Kenneth Brown, finance manager, to discuss whether the city was interested in the building. Frank Offutt, mayor, recommended the issue be forwarded to the city's committees.
However, the city's public works committee made a recommendation against purchasing the building.
According to documents provided to the city, the site consists of 2.18 acres and has more than 10,000 square feet of office space and 4,300 square feet of garage space. A recent appraisal for the co-op lists a value of $890,000.
The county assessor's office lists an assessed value on the property of $380,400 for 2007.
The building on Main Street was constructed in 1959; the building on Bethel Road was constructed in 1973.
