Progress continues to be made on plans for major projects in Great Bend, City Administrator Logan Burns said Monday.

The swimming pool, hotel/restaurants on 10th Street and the dragstrip were mentioned during his Administrator Report at the Feb. 2 City Council meeting.

Burns welcomed everyone Monday to the first 5:30 p.m. meeting of the council, which previously started its meetings at 6:30. The council meets on the first and third Monday of most months. However, because Feb. 16 is President’s Day, the next meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17, at City Hall.

Swimming pool

The protest period on the prospect of seeking bonds for a major renovation of the municipal swimming pool has come and gone, Burns said, describing that as “great news.”

With no petition filed, a bond won’t have to be voted on.

“This allows us to move forward with pool design and construction at the end of the year. (Engineering firm) JEO also has completed the survey on the pool. We are looking to do the kickoff meeting for pool design on Feb. 19.”

Hotel/restaurant construction

The Planning Commission met on Jan. 26 to go over the Great Bend Lodging final plat, Burns said. “This is the hotel and restaurants next to the Events Center. At that meeting, we discussed the overall plan, the drainage study, and it was recommended for approval.” It will come before the City Council for final approval on Feb. 17. Construction is expected to start in April.

Dragstrip

At the dragstrip, structural steel was delivered Monday morning, and crews will start erecting the tower this week. “I would imagine they’re probably going to get a lot of that steel up this week,” Burns said. “We’re also continuing to watch the weather for paving as temperatures are starting to climb this week. We are hopeful that they will start paving as temperatures allow.”

Here are other highlights of the Administrator Report from Burns:

• Jefferson Davis with the Great Bend Police Department is the City’s Employee of the Month.

“Jefferson exemplifies outstanding leadership and dedication in service to our community,” Burns said.

• There were kudos to departments who worked during the extreme cold on the weekend of Jan. 24. The Fire Department battled several fires and Public Works got out early and cleared the roads.

“A big big thank you goes out to them for their service that they continue to provide to the community,” Burns said of the firefighters. As for Public Works, “They were able to get out early, get the roads cleared. We had some additional spots as the week went by; I thought they did a very good job.”

• The City Council will have a work session on Feb. 17 after the regular meeting. Engineering firm JEO will present on the pavement management program and answer any questions the council has. The plan is to work on a large number of streets this year. “We will be working on some estimates ... and we’ll be bringing that back to the council for approval here at a later date.”