Of all the calls the Great Bend Police Department received over the extended Fourth of July weekend, about a fifth of them had to do with fireworks it was reported at the City Council meeting Monday night.

A report from Chief Cliff Couch related by City Administrator Howard Partington noted that from 7 a.m. July 3 through midnight on July 5, there were a total of 173 calls. Of those calls, 37 were fireworks related and most all other calls were noise related.

In addition, an arson case was taken at 7:10 p.m. on the fifth at the 5200 block of Quail Creek. A mailbox was blown up and a car was damaged from debris from the mailbox, and fireworks are suspected.

Here is a breakdown of the calls from July 3–July 5.

• July 3 – 62 calls, of those, 15 were fireworks related.

• July 4 – 56 calls, of those, 14 were fireworks related.

• July 5 – 55 calls, of those, 8 were fireworks related. 

Couch said was the department was busy over the weekend, but not busier than expected for the holiday. There were extra officers on duty to help with the call volume.

The police report was included in Partington’s departmental update. Other highlights were:

Administration

• Summer Street Stroll’s have been going well this year, Community Coordinator Christina Hayes said. Every Thursday there are vendors set up in Jack Kilby Square selling fresh vegetables, fruit, honey, breads, baked goods and more. 

• The city’s second outdoor movie will be shown Thursday, July 16 in Jack Kilby Square. The feature will be “ET” and the United Way of Central Kansas will have a hot dog feed in the courthouse before the movie. 

• The next Retail Roundtable meeting is set for this Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. here at City Hall. This is a good chance for retailers to help guide and share ideas with Hayes. Meetings are usually kept to an hour. 

• Hayes and her staff will host the Ellinwood Business Olympics in Ellinwood at 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 16, as part of After Harvest Festival. 

• Hayes has also been working on the planning of the third-Annual Party in the Park. The reality TV show “Street Rodding American Style” will be present. 

• City Clerk Amit Patel and Partington have been spending a lot of time on the budget. The budget work session is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 15.

Fire/EMS/ Inspection

• Cut drainage ditch at south end of Canterbury to holding pond in Amber Meadows 

• Sprayed for mosquitoes 

• Set forms and poured concrete for new GBPD K-9.

• Repaired water main hit by contractor at 10th & Kansas.

• Esfeld Construction finished sanitary sewer manhole on Kiowa Road 

• Esfeld construction started replacing storm sewer on 16th Street Terrace West of Patton Road 

• Mayer Specialty Services started rehabilitation on all Kiowa Road manholes leading into the WWTP.

• Sanitarian: 508 year to date complaints, 30 new complaints (9 by citizens and 21 by staff), 28 complaints completed by citizens, 15 abatement notices sent, 6 vehicles into compliance and 9 Overgrown Vegetation abatement notices sent.