By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The proposed idea for the City of Hoisington to renovate vacant apartment
buildings into childcare homes was met with concerns Monday night at the Hoisington
City Council meeting. The city council welcomed the Barton County Commission for a joint discussion on issues facing the community.
The city acquired the five apartment buildings on north Vine Street and was
looking to turn two of the structures into daycare units with $629,000 of
renovations. The complex could accommodate up to 84 children. The city planned to deed the property of one of the units to GPS Kids Club, a nonprofit daycare in
Hoisington, to manage the business.
Lori Mitchell runs a daycare home in Hoisington and expressed her concern of
what the proposed daycare would do to smaller operations like her own.
"This will push home daycares out," said Mitchell. "We can't compete with the rates that GPS is going to be able to charge. We can only have up to 10 kids, and that's if we don't have any infants. We can't hire 19-year-olds at minimum wage."
GPS Kids Club has a staff of 17 and will provide care to roughly 60 school-aged children this summer. GPS also manages two daycare homes where there are 10 infants to toddlers in each home.
Hoisington is seeking private donations for the project, but Barton County
could be a major financial contributor.
All of the home daycare providers present at the meeting Monday acknowledged the city could use more childcare, but were not sure a structure for up to 84 was necessary. Each provider also noted they had no vacancies at their daycare, some with waiting lists.
Stacy Weber, another daycare provider
in Hoisington, questioned tax dollars going towards a potential competing business.
"My concern is my tax money going into this daycare facility, when I have my own daycare to run," said Weber. "My other concern is if GPS doesn't charge the same for all parents. If a parent can't afford the rate, they might give them a reduced rate. I can't afford to give parents reduced rates."
Hoisington City Manager Jonathan Mitchell estimated the GPS Kids Club rate
would be $150-$165 a child, per week. The city council noted it would be wise
to make sure GPS Kids Club could not undercut other providers’ rates.
While the city still considers the plan, the city council was in favor of
having a structural engineer inspect the old apartments before moving forward.