Public Works Director Jason Cauley has taken a position in Goddard. His last day in Great Bend will be July 2. Cauley’s resignation was announced by City Administrator Logan Burns at Monday’s City Council meeting.
“We’ll take this time to thank Jason for his 22 years of service for the City of Great Bend – how he’s come up through the department and his dedication to the city. He will be greatly missed. We appreciate you and everything that you’ve done for us,” Burns said, before asking Cauley to speak.
“After 22 years, I’d like to thank everybody for having the faith in me to do this job and your support,” Cauley said, also thanking the people he supervises. “I couldn’t do this by myself. Without a doubt, we’ve done a lot of good work, and I cannot take credit for all of it by any means.”
Cauley said “They are doing a really great job” and the department will be in good hands.
“I will miss the city of Great Bend. It’s been my home for 22 years; we moved here when my daughter was a few weeks old.”
Burns also announced the appointment of Addison Crites as the public relations director for the city. She is a graduate of the University of Kansas and will start July 7.
Crites is also a graduate of Central Plains High School and Barton Community College.
Waterpark Feature
Burns continued his administrative report of city departments, including Public Lands, where there is a problem with a play feature at the Wetlands Waterpark. The feature in question is the small orange slide.
Public Lands Superintendent Scott Keeler and his crew got the feature back up and going after a problem was detected, but the work isn’t done. “We had four pipes that were coming out of that play feature; three out of the four checked out with the pressure test,” Burns said. One of the pipes requires more investigation. If the pipe is under concrete, that slide will likely be closed for the rest of the season.
Heizer Park
Improvements to Heizer Park in southeast Great Bend are “coming along nicely,” Burns reported. The addition of security cameras was to be wrapped up Tuesday and then Nex-Tech would be out there for internet service. Irrigation started Monday after the plumbing was finished.
A mini-pitch double soccer court was installed this Spring and the courts are seeing plenty of use, Burns said.
“I did see on social media this weekend they had a tournament,” he said. After further discussion, council members said it would be a good idea to come up with a plan so groups can reserve the courts for tournaments. Burns said it is first come, first served at present. He agreed that is something that should be considered.
Burns was also asked how the paint was holding up. Mayor Cody Schmidt said he saw photos on social media. “There was some areas that could have been mud, but it just looked like it was already beat up, pretty good.”
“There are definitely scuffs,” Burns said. “We’ve had to chase a few kids off with scooters and rollerblades. I think somebody had a skateboard out there.” He said Public Lands Director Scott Keeler is doing a good job letting people know that scooters and skates aren’t allowed on the acrylic surface. “We’re getting signs made up as well.”
Fire Department
Staff did their final inspection Monday on a brush truck in Hays that will be delivered Friday. It will be put into service on July 4.
Public works
Work continues at 10th and Patton on a storm inlet being replaced and then Venture Corps will start this week with the milling and overlay on both Patton Road and Main Street.
Dragstrip
A request for bids on the demolition package at the dragstrip was put out last week and bids should be back by June 26 for City Council consideration at the July 7 meeting. Contractors will be at the drag strip for a good part of the day on Thursday for an on-site meeting.
Budget
The City is still waiting on property valuations from the county which they hope to get this month. There will be a budget work session on July 14.
Council reports
Council members are also invited to make reports or comments at the meetings.
Councilman Gary Parr said he’d been asked “at least a couple hundred times” about the vacant assistant city administrator position. It has not been filled since Burns took over as city administrator on Aug. 12, 2024.
“We took 27 applicants and did seven interviews and then landed on no one. People are asking why,” said Parr, who joined the city council in January.
Mayor Cody Schmidt said the council was in agreement when it promoted Logan Burns to the administrator position but the council did not agree on the assistant’s position. “That’s why it was put to the back burner.” He added, there are eight council members and, “If somebody wants to bring it back up, we’ll re-post and start all over again.”
Meanwhile, the money budgeted for a salary since last August remains in the general fund, Burns said.
CVB report
Amanda Gaddis, executive director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, reported on CVB news.
“The Big Bend Bash was a huge success. The City portion of that was the bounce houses, where we sold over 250 wristbands for kids. Our magician was a huge hit. He had parents asking him if they could pay him to figure out how he did some of the acts that he did.
The Jumbo Monopoly downtown sales promotion was also back. People visited stores to fill out their Monopoly-themed entry form. Gaddis said participation was the best they’d seen in several years. Twenty people turned in their entry forms and 17 had stickers from 10 out of the 19 participating stores. Council members were then asked to randomly select five of those entry forms. Each winner received a $50 gift certificate to the store they wrote on the back of their Monopoly board.
In other news, KSN television would be in Great Bend on Tuesday for their Summer Road Trip; baseball is in full swing with the Hap Dumont tournament this weekend, followed by the USSSA 11 U baseball next weekend (with the Great Bend Bombers) and the Barton County Fair is June 25-29.
