The weather that closed schools and canceled other events did not stop the Great Bend City Council from meeting on Monday. However, a work session that was supposed to take place after the agenda meeting was rescheduled to Jan. 20.
Councilman Cory Urban was elected to continue serving as the council president. He will preside over meetings when the mayor is absent.
Public Works Director Jason Cauley reported on the weekend storm and extended a “big thanks” to the crews that cleared the streets. They worked for 13 hours on Sunday and 11 on Monday.
“Our crews did a stellar job. I’m really proud of them,” he said. Snow routes were cleared, which allowed first responders to do their jobs.
“I know we did sock in some driveways and we got those cleared,” Cauley said.
“Now that the roads have been cleared we will start the pickup to haul snow to the compost site,” he said. He asked motorists to be attentive and patient. “In the past, we’ve had some pretty close calls from people trying to get past us.”
Mayor Cody Schmidt asked Cauley to comment on what is done on residential streets, not on the snow route.
“We try to just tackle the snow routes,” he said. City equipment would have difficulty getting to residential streets and would block a lot of driveways in the process. However, he said, “If there is a major drifting issue, call us.”
City Administrator Logan Burns gave his report, saying Christmas lights in the parks are being taken down by the Public Lands staff. The New Year’s Taxi offered by the Great Bend Police Department was a success. “Sgt. Gary Davis gave approximately 30 people rides home.”
The city accepted bids for a new rose garden to be added to the Great Bend Cemetery, 4500 Broadway. The work involved will include dirt work, retaining walls, concrete work, waterfall and stream, and a drip system. The city will have electricity and water run to the work site.
Burns reported the city received two bids. The landscaping project was awarded to the low bidder, Kyle’s Lawn & Tree, Great Bend, for $22,675.25. The City will supply concrete and some labor. Burns said the other bid was for $149,000. The work will be done in the spring using Trester Estate funds.
Brush truck
The council approved the purchase of a 2025 brush truck for the Fire Department, replacing a 2009 Ford. There were three bids and Fire Chief Brent Smith recommended the low bid from Hays Fire and Equipment, based in Hays, for $195,253. “They were our best option,” he said. The fire department has a vehicle replacement plan. This truck may not be delivered until next year. It takes about three months for a chassis to come in and then the company will need about 150 days to equip the truck.
Year-end transfers
City Clerk/Financial Director Shawna Schafer presented recommendations for year-end transfers of non-budgeted 2024 funds, which were approved. There was a $400,000 transfer from water and sewer funds to water and sewer projects and $800,000 from the general fund was transferred to the capital improvement fund, with the use to be determined later.
Mayor Cody Schmidt said last year he had asked council members for suggestions on how the transfers should be used but he hadn’t received a lot of feedback. He had hoped to discuss it at the work session that night but that session was moved to Jan. 20 due to the weather. The work session later this month will also be for the discussion of June Jaunt, Party in the Park and the Great Bend Airport Airfest.
