Other highlights of Great Bend City Administrator Howard Partington’s departmental update included:
Public Works
• Participated in Youth Academy
• Repairing the concrete street in the 5900 Block of Birchwood.
• Maintenance on all traffic control cabinets.
• Started painting street markings.
• Started mowing flood control levee.
• Repaired damaged levee fence at Second and Frey.
• Continue spraying for mosquitoes.
• 2016 consumer water confidence report covering calendar year 2015 is now available on the city’s website.
• Sanitarian: 237 year to date complaints, 29 new complaints (eight by citizens and 21 by staff), 26 complaints completed by citizens, 14 abatement notices sent, five abatements performed and 10 vehicles brought into compliance.
Police
• Sgt. Jason Settle did a vulnerability study and conducted an active shooter class for Wal-Mart.
• Settle gave the Children’s Clinic a talk on current firearms laws.
• Appointment of Paul Millard to school liaison officer position. Former liaison officer Jefferson Davis has been promoted to corporeal.
• Held a retirement reception for Capt. Bob Robinson
• Patrol conducted the Police Department portion of the City Youth Academy with a K-9 demonstration, TASER demonstration and department vehicle and equipment display.
Fire/EMS/Inspection/Code Enforcement
• All three shifts conducted a building tour of the Heartland Community Church (old Food-4-Less building).
• Each shift received training on the new air packs.
• Participated in the Youth Academy.
• Code Enforcement:
– 27 open cases
– Four cases closed this month (2 structure demos, camper and mobile home removed from same lot, 1 dilapidated residence brought into compliance)
– 32 follow-ups with property owners
Administration
• Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Emily Goad attended a Tourism collaboration meeting on June 9 in Pittsburg to network and share ideas with other Kansas convention, visitors and tourism directors.
• Working on promotions of upcoming summer events, partnering with the Barton County Fair for movie night on Wednesday night, the two-day Summer Sidewalk Sale event, and the Party in the Park which is scheduled for Aug. 13.
The fifth-annual June Jaunt is in the books and it was another great year for the event, Great Bend Community Coordinator Christina Hayes told the Great Bend City Council Monday night.
“It was another grand success,” she said. “It was the biggest year yet.”
Hayes clicked through photos taken during the three-day festival that ran Friday, June 3 through Sunday, June 5, in downtown Great Bend and at Veterans Memorial Park. She also showed a video highlighting the activities which included aerial footage shot from a remote-control drone.
On Friday, there were 60 cars for the car show on the Courthouse Square. That number is down a little from previous years due to the Lucas Oil races that weekend, but those attending thought it went well.
There were also 400 spectators for the showing of the film “Little Rascals” in the square. This was a record-setting audience.
Then on Saturday morning, the police and fire department badge hunt started. By Sunday, children had found three police and two fire department badges.
Also on Saturday, the vendors, entertainers, over-sized games (new this year were Battleship, Jenga and Left, Right, Center) and the annual Business Olympics (winning again was the Fuller Industries men’s team) brought thousands of people to the square, Hayes said. “The venders were happy and the stores were happy.”
Later in the day, the band Homebrew and the beer garden attracted 500 visitors.
On Sunday, the venue switched to Vets Park. There were seven teams in the sand volleyball tournament and the United Way of Central Kansas reported its best hotdog feed ever.
“It was a nice, relaxing, family-friendly event,” Hayes said.
Hayes said she was meeting with representatives from the other June Jaunt communities this week to discuss the jaunt’s future. She did say that Leoti has said it won’t participate next year.
This marked the fifth year for June Jaunt which featured art, entertainment, cuisine and culture along a 176-mile long stretch of the K-96. Communities along the route include Tribune, Leoti, Scott City, Dighton, Ness City, Rush Center, Great Bend and Ellinwood.
The towns signed on to hold the event for five years.
