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Dangerous building must be repaired or razed
2421 12th
The days are numbered for this house at 12th and Odell Street. On the 12th Street side shown here, the front door is standing open. - photo by Susan Thacker

Great Bend Mayor Cody Schmidt made the following appointments, which were approved Monday by the city council.

• Airport advisory board - reappoint Max Nichols

• Commission on Aging board - reappoint Kim Stein and Shirley Williams

• Housing Authority board - reappoint Diana Roberts, Lee McVey and Leroy Keith


12th and Odell
The house at 2421 12th St., seen from Odell St.

The final date has been set to raze or repair a dilapidated house at 2412 12th St. At Monday’s Great Bend City Council meeting, there was a public hearing and then adoption of a resolution that set the date as June 8.

Assistant City Administrator Logan Burns said the house was inspected as part of a search warrant conducted by the Barton County Sheriff’s Office. He showed photos of makeshift wood-burning stoves without proper venting and ashes on the floor, exposed wiring, mold caused by the roof leaking, ceiling joist deterioration, missing shingles, boarded-up windows, a deteriorated front porch and an open front door, among other things. An accessory structure was previously approved to be repaired or razed and that date has since passed.




Langrehr-Field-diagram again
This shows the layout of the Great Bend Sports Complex, with Langrehr Field nearby.

Langrehr Field bathrooms tabled

Two items on Monday’s Great Bend City Council agenda were tabled to allow more time to gather information. One was the proposal to buy a prefabricated restroom to install at Langrehr Field. The city has received a quote but Mayor Cody Schmidt said he’d received a call with some “good ideas” for an alternative. Other council members also received emails. “We can do more research into this,” he said.

The project is set to be part of the Capital Improvement Plan in 2025 with a total cost of $200,000. The proposal that was tabled on Monday would have moved the bathroom project into 2024. Funding through the Quality-of-Life sales tax initiative is available because of another recent decision, which was tabling the Brit Spaugh Park Addition.

The other item tabled Monday was an agreement with the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) for a traffic signal upgrade at U.S. 56 (10th Street) and McKinley. City Attorney Allen Glendenning said KDOT wants to reissue the contract, so this issue will be revisited in the future. The City has applied for a transportation engineering assistance program (TEAP) grant obtainable under Federal and State Aid programs. If this is eventually approved, a left-turn arrow would be added for the McKinley turning lanes at no cost to the city.