The Rundown – More housing coming to Sand Creek Station Addition

Published on December 24, 2025

At Tuesday’s meeting, the City Commission approved public infrastructure projects that will open up 71 additional residential lots in Sand Creek Station Addition.

The homes are expected to be priced at $380,000-$400,000 per unit. The addition will expand the housing development to the northwest corner of Anderson and SW 24th Street.

The Commission received the petitions from developer Gilbert Properties; authorized water, sewer, stormwater, and street improvements; and approved an engineering agreement with MKEC to prepare the plans. The improvements will be funded through special assessments paid 100% by the property owner.

Water towers

The Commission also approved designs for rehabilitation and painting of the spheroid water towers on Spencer Road and West 17th Street. The Spencer tower will have the City logo facing east and west. The 17th Street tank will have the City flag emblem facing north and south and the word Newton facing east and west.

Historically, Newton’s water towers have featured the City logo, as they are part of the municipal water infrastructure. In 2010, the City deviated from that pattern with the construction of the new 12th Street tower, which features original artwork by Phil Epp and the Newton name without a logo. After the City flag was adopted in 2020, City staff began to hear requests to include it on one or more water towers. Unlike the City logo, which is used exclusively to represent the government organization, the City flag is an emblem of the community as a whole and has been embraced as a symbol of community pride.

When considering the City logo vs. the flag for the two spheroid towers, staff chose one of each: the flag design on the 17th Street tower, which is visible behind Newton High School, and the City logo on the Spencer tower, visible from I-135.

The funding for the tower rehabilitation is part of the low-interest loan from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment that also funded construction of the West First Street water storage tanks.

Tax abatements

The Commission finalized tax abatements for Full Vision and Avcon Industries for their recent facility expansion projects.

Full Vision’s expansion included a $6.5 million, 30,000-square-foot facility and the creation of 15 new jobs over five years. The City granted a 10-year, 100% tax abatement on the increase in value from the improvements. Full Vision President Doug Scheible said the expansion has allowed the company to develop an aggressive business plan that will bring significant future job growth.

Avcon Industries purchased the former Mennonite Press building in 2024 for its fabrication and assembly of aircraft modifications, installations and repairs. They agreed to improve and equip the building and create 10 new jobs over five years. Avcon’s tax abatement is tiered over three years: 75% in the first year, 50% in the second year, and 25% in the third year.

In other action, the City Commission:

1. Approved an agreement with the Kansas Department of Transportation and GFT Infrastructure for the design of the next phase of K-15 construction. The project will include reconstruction of Main Street from 11th to 13th, including the full intersection at 12th Street.
2. Authorized bond funding for HVAC replacement and repair at Fire/EMS Station 2, City Hall, and the Newton Recreation Center. The estimated total cost is $1.6 million, to be bonded and paid from infrastructure sales tax funds.
3. Appointed Commissioner Leroy Koehn to represent the Commission on the Newton Land Bank.
4. Declined a request from New Jerusalem Ministries to waive permit fees for its reroofing project because of the precedent it would set.
5. Rezoned City-owned property located between Southeast Ninth and Southeast 12th Streets from an I-2 General Industrial to an I-3 Heavy Industrial.