Superior adds 33 acres to Kottmeyer Business Park

Action formalized this week by the Superior City Council more than doubled the size of the Kottmeyer Business Park.

While meeting Monday evening, the five council members present voted unanimously without discussion to pay $3,000 an acre for the land at the east edge of Superior that was previously used as a petroleum tank farm and terminal. The land adjoins the northern edge of the Kottmeyer Business Park and has much of the infastructure in place for development.

The water main delivering water from the city's well field to the community runs along the north side of the property. A quality concrete street built by the petroleum company to service the installation is in place on the north side of the property. The electrical service used by the tank farm is still in place. Sewer is the only city utility that is not available on the site and it can be extended from the original Kottmeyer Business Park.

If the digital data storage now being built in the Kottmeyer park develops as expected, the available lots will mostly be filled thus increasing interest in making more land available for commercial development.

It has been about 30 years since the site was used for petroleum storage. The pipeline which served the tank farm has been removed as have the tanks.

The steel building built about 40 years ago to house the terminal's loading rack is still inplace and appears it could be adapted for a new use. The buildings which housed the terminal's office and warehouse are also in place and surprisingly, for as long as they have stood vacant, to be adaptable for reuse. Their current condition is a testament to the quality of construction and maintenance standards maintained by the original owners.

Seeking to find new markets for the products produced in its Enid, Oklahoma refinery, the Champlin company in the mid-1930s constructed a pipeline connecting Superior and the refinery. It was the first pipeline in the nation to move both gasoline and fuel oil. While pipelines are common today, when built pipeline technology was still in the development stage.

Prior to the pipeline, the company was moving its products in railroad tank cars and looking for new markets outside of Oklahoma. The company wanted to reach Superior because the community was served by four railroads with five lines connecting here. Into the 1950s, it was common to see strings of tank cars in Superior waiting to be loaded. The terminal ran around the clock seven days a week and provided employment for a number of men.

Eventually, more pipelines were built and the business here declined.

When the Enid refinery was closed in the mid-1980s, the Superior Terminal was closed. The company which operated a pipeline terminal at Geneva bought the Superior terminal and used it and a portion of the line. Eventually, the operation was totally closed and the land rented for agricultural use.

Until it is developed, the land will continue to be rented for agricultural uses.

The site has been closely monitored for potential environmental issues and it has been cleared for most redevelopment uses. One restriction limits excavation to 20 feet.

Acquiring the site has long been a goal of local development groups.

In other action Monday night, the council reviewed with Bobbie Pettit of Five Rule Planning progress on a blight study commissioned to assist with the proposed Montana Meadows housing development. The project developers would like to use tax increment financing to pay for the site's infastructure improvements.

While state rules call for a "blight study," Pettit said a better name would be "underutilized study." While not more than 50 percent of the property in a city of Superior's class can be classified as blighted, she said nearly all of the city qualified as improvements more than 40 years old meet the blighted definition.

While the farmland on which the Superior East Elevator is built was among the county's finest agricultural land, it qualified as blighted because the improvements raised its value about 10 times.

While Pettit was present, members of the council discussed with Scott Nondorf, the Superior fire chief, the need for an expanded fire barn.

Nondorf said fire trucks have grown in size since the building was dedicated in 1978 and more room is needed.

Councilmember Sandra Foote said she had inspected the building and the department was indeed out of space. Considering the need for space, the age of the heating system, the building's age and the obsolete system used to fill the trucks with water, she suggested the present building should be torn down and a new one built.

Councilmember Carrie Lemke objected, saying the departments occupying the building needed a place to be and couldn't move onto the street while a new structure was built.

But how to fund a new building?

Pettit offered two suggestions. She said there might be grants available for a multi-purpose project that included a community building and some communities had worked with rural fire districts to fund new construction. She suggested consulting with the South Central Economic Development District and asking what may be available.

City employees are getting another paid holiday. Members of the council approved adding the newest federal holiday, Juneteenth. This brings to 12 the number of paid holiday days city employees will receive each year. They include New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Presidents Day, Thanksgiving and the following Friday, Christmas and Martin Luther King's Birthday.

The on-call pay rate for the utilities departments was adjusted. On call employees will now be paid $70 per weekend and $40 per holiday.

Four curb cuts were approved for the Family Dollar store which is now under construction on West Third Street.

The council approved the resignations of two long-time members of the Superior Volunteer Fire Department, Kirk Young and Ken Rempe.

It was noted Jonah Mattson, a recent electrical department hire had completed his six-month probation period and qualified for a 50 cent per hour raise.

The council approved on the third final reading the acceptance of the final plat and annexation of the Saathoff Second Subdivision.