Iola City Council members were noncommittal Monday, but agreed to consider a proposal to trade a portion of Meadowbrook Park to Iola’s First Baptist Church for land adjacent to the city’s disc golf course.
Church members requested the trade, giving First Baptist the 2.4-acre parcel of the park that sits south of Meadowbrook Road.
Doing so would allow the church to add onto its building, church member Terry Sparks explained.
“This is something we’ve recognized for some time,” Sparks said. “Basically, we’re landlocked.”
A new children’s ministry within First Baptist has been well received, Sparks said, to the point that 40 children or more are served in two classrooms on the north side of the church.
“Forty children in that area is a bit crowded,” he said.
Sparks said the church has agreed to purchase roughly 3 acres of undeveloped green space adjacent to the city’s disc golf course on South Washington, and then give that to the city in exchange for the Meadowbrook parcel.
Councilman Jon Wells noted that advancing the proposal for review by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and the National Park Service — a necessity because Meadowbrook Park was created in 1972 from federal funding — was a procedural move, and not indicative of the city’s desire.
“I’m torn,” he said. “I’m not opposed to saying let’s move forward,” but he stopped short of endorsing the plan.
Councilwoman Beverly Franklin was skeptical, suggesting Meadowbrook Park’s parcel was used more frequently by kids playing soccer, touch football and other activities.
“We need more input from the community,” she said. “I’d like to know how the community feels. Meadowbrook Park is a good location for community activities.”
Sparks said he considered the proposed swap a “win-win for everybody.”
“We view the grounds north of us as not being utilized very much,” Sparks said. “We just don’t see people there very often.”
Sparks said the church could leave the basketball courts in place allowing public access.
“We want to accommodate” the city, Sparks continued. “This is something that’s good for the community if we have a strong children’s program.”
The state and federal review will focus in part on ensuring the land being traded is “of at least fair market value and reasonably equivalent usefulness and location.”
