A rezoning request that came before the Great Bend City Council in July was back on the Aug. 5 agenda because of an error.
Jesus Carbajal requested a zoning change at 1013 Hubbard St., which was approved Monday by a 6-1 vote. Councilwoman Lindsey Krom-Craven voted no and Jolene Biggs was absent.
The ordinance changes the zoning from R-3 (multi-family) to C-2 (general commercial), so that Carbajal can build a shop for storage equipment.
City Attorney Allen Glendenning explained why the item was back on the agenda.
At the July 15 meeting, the Planning Commission’s recommendation to pass Ordinance 4438 was presented to the council, which voted 4-2 in favor of approving it. Two council members were absent that evening.
Five votes are required to pass an ordinance, so Glendenning initially told council members that the motion did not pass. Unfortunately, he later retracted that, mistakenly stating there was an exception for zoning ordinances.
“I looked at the statute again,” Glendenning said Monday. “The bottom line is, the ordinance didn’t pass.”
To clear things up, the question was revisited.
Dangerous buildings
The council members also dealt with two dangerous buildings at Monday’s meeting. They held a public hearing Monday and declared a dangerous building at 1441 9th St., and they scheduled a public hearing for a building at 2521 12th St.
Assistant City Administrator Logan Burns (who has been promoted to City Administrator starting Aug. 12), shared photos and information.
The accessory structure at 1441 9th St. has a collapsed roof, with an exterior wall missing so it is not secure from entry. It is owned by Thomas Pearson, who now has until Sept. 7 to repair or raze it.
The house at 2521 12th St. has similar deficiencies as well as broken windows. A public hearing to officially declare this an unsafe building will take place during the Sept. 16 city council meeting that starts at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.
Vacation Buy-back
In other business, the council approved an employee incentive that will allow any City employee who has between 200-240 hours of accrued vacation leave (or 300-360 hours for the fire department shift employees) to participate in vacation buy-back. They may buy back up to 40 hours of vacation time (60 hours for the fire department), to be paid in November. This policy was approved on a 6-1 vote, with council Cory Urban voting “no.”
Alleyway improvements
The council approved asphalt improvements to residential alleyways. The work will be done by Venture Corporation, which submitted the only bid, for $146,430. City Administrator Brandon Anderson, attending his final city council meeting, said the City has a larger street project coming up.
Council Alan Moeder expressed a concern about alleys that are damaged by utility work. “If utility companies tear these up, shouldn’t they repair them?” He was advised that yes, according to the City right-of-way ordinance, companies need to report damages they create.
Executive sessions
The council met in executive session for 20 minutes to discuss personnel. When the regular meeting resumed, the council voted 6-1 to promote Burns to City Administrator. Councilman Davis Jimenez voted “no.”
The council then met in executive session for 15 minutes to discuss as matter deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship. The Human Resources Director Randy Keasling, City Attorney Allen Glendenning, City Administrator Brandon Anderson and Administrator Logan Burns attended. Mayor Cody Schmidt said the meeting would adjourn after the executive session with no further action.
