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City Council to hold STAR Bond hearing, consider $9M waterpark grant tonight
City Hall has a new exterior 2024
City Hall has a new exterior look.

The Great Bend City Council meets tonight at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, with a full agenda that includes a public hearing on a major economic development plan and consideration of nearly $634,000 in equipment purchases.

The council will hold a public hearing on adoption of the STAR Bond Project Plan covering the Great Bend Municipal Airport/Expo Complex and the 10th Street Redevelopment District at 3017 10th St. After public comment, the council will consider Ordinance 4473 adopting the plan, which requires a two-thirds majority vote. The plan is described as a major multi-sport athletic complex alongside a commercial entertainment and tourism district that would include enhancements to the SRCA Dragstrip, a dragstrip racing museum, an event center, a hotel, and related restaurant and retail development. Adoption would not bind the city financially — the plan's financing structure still depends on voter approval of a sales tax in November.

Also on the agenda is a resolution authorizing staff to apply for a $2 million Land and Water Conservation Fund grant through the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, to help fund an approximately $9 million redevelopment of the Wetlands Waterpark. The project would replace the original 1936 waterpark with a modern aquatic facility featuring new amenities and ADA-accessible improvements.

The council will also consider several equipment purchases: a 2019 Ford F750 dump truck for $56,999, a grapple bucket for Public Works loaders at $33,337.50, security camera and access control upgrades at the Wastewater Treatment Plant for $49,109.50, and a replacement vacuum truck for the Utilities Department at $494,064.47 — bringing the combined total to roughly $633,500.

Other business includes a resolution to allow alcohol consumption at Al Burns Field in Veteran's Memorial Park during Great Bend Bat Cats games in May, June, July and August, a monthly report from Economic Development Inc. Executive Director Jason Kuilan, and a proposed revision to the city's Employee Handbook, last updated in 2023.