Citywide cleanup goes well
The final numbers are in for the citywide cleanup that ran Sept. 24 through Oct. 2, City Administrator Kendal Francis told the City Council Monday night.
“It sounds like it was pretty successful,” he said. “By all by all accounts, it went pretty well.”
He then ran through the totals. There were 51 dumpster trips (dumpsters that were filled and dumped) equalling 59.4 tons of municipal solid waste, 75.4 tons of tires and another 4.9 tons of mattresses.
As for the cost to the city, excluding labor, the total was $19,809.28. “That was a little bit less than what I estimated that might come in at.” “It was pretty well received,” he said.
Automated water meters coming soon
Work will begin this month on the City of Great Bend’s long-awaited automated water meter reading system, City Administrator Kendal Francis said, speaking to the City Council Monday night. This is seen as a way to improve accuracy in tracking consumer water use and save the city money.
“The contractors will be here towards the end of the month working on some of the back-end stuff,” Francis said. “It looks like meter installation will take place about a month from now. Nov. 14 is kind of when we should expect the installers to be here.”
He said city officials will start getting some information out to residents in advance of that. In the neighborhoods, as they’re affected, they’ll be putting up door hangers.
“In reality, it shouldn’t take a long time to switch out a meter unless we run into some trouble,” he said.
With this system, water use for the city’s roughly 6,500 users is beamed directly to the Water Office at the Front Door Facility, he said. Usage can be read and tracked in real-time.
The cost of the system and related infrastructure came in at about $2.4 million, plus some annual maintenance expenses. By alleviating the city’s long-running water meter reading woes, it is expected to pay for itself in five to 10 years.
Justice Center project progressing
There will soon be visible progress on the new City of Great Bend Justice Center at 12th and Baker, City Administrator Kendal Francis said in his update to the City Council Monday night.
“It looked like they were on a lull there for a couple of weeks,” Francis said. But, the contractors were waiting on some rebar and some other supplies.
“I was told today they should start digging and pouring footings this week and probably have a pad by this time next month if the weather continues to hold,” he said.
Ground was broken for the nearly $9 million, 20,000-square-foot facility on Sept. 12. It will take about a year to complete.
The building will house the Police Station and Municipal Court.
State grant to help with city streets
Great Bend was the recipient of $400,000 through the Kansas Department of Transportation’s City Connecting Link Improvement Program (CCLIP) program, City Administrator Kendal Francis said, addressing the City Council Monday night.
This will be for the 2024 fiscal year. The work will include a mill and overlay of Main Street (U.S. 281) from the Arkansas River bridge north to Second Street, and a portion of Patton Road from 10th Street south to almost the city limits.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly earlier this month announced that 34 cities across Kansas had been selected to receive a total of $28.65 million for improvements to the State Highway System located within city boundaries. The funds will be directed to preserve and improve pavement, add turn lanes, and modify intersections along essential roadways in both rural and urban areas throughout the state.
