City fireworks display a go
Things are set to boom after the Great Bend City Council Monday night authorized the city’s fireworks display at the Expo Complex west of town on July 3.
“The community desires a firework show to celebrate Independence Day, the City has been organizing and displaying the show for two years now,” Community Coordinator Christina Hayes said. The display was moved to July 3 and the turnout “was overwhelming successful.”
The change still allowed people to have their own shows at home on the fourth and the city had the best turnout its display than it has had in years, she said.
The city’s portion of the cost is $5,000. The balance of the $15,000 needed has been raised from private donations.
City crews addressing drainage issues, water leak
During his update to the City Council Monday night, Great Bend City Administrator Kendal Francis said work on drainage issues on North Main Street at 24th street was set to start Tuesday. Work will eventually continue eastward along 24th and the U.S. 281 bypass.
Street Department crews are going to be cleaning out and regrading ditches and replacing the curb near the Mr. Burger restaurant. “We discovered a water leak that has existed there probably for quite some time.”
The leak explains why there have been continual curb problems in the area, he said. “So crews are trying to locate that and make the repairs.”
No one has complained about the leakage, he said, adding they have not found it yet. But, they believe it is the city’s water main in the area.
GBED has active projects, launches website
As of April 30, there were a couple Kansas Department of Commerce projects that were still active at Great Bend Economic Development Inc., GBED board member and City Councilman Barry Bowers told the council Monday night. He was giving the economic development update on behalf of GBED President Jessica Milsap.
One of them was named Project Milk Jug, which is a fiberglass product manufacturing facility. “There were 17 sites submitted we were one of 17, and we’re just waiting on them to kind of narrow down some of their choices,” he said.
The other one was Project Proxima, a biotechnology-related manufacturer. “They did ask for more information on the site that we submitted. So again we’re waiting for them to narrow things down,” he said.
In other news, all the Community Development Block Grants approved prior to this week are all completed and disbursements will go out this week, Bowers said. The council approved three more grants Monday night, leaving about $61,000 in the revolving loan fund.
The GBED web page, which is gbedinc.com, is up and going, he said. “It’s a work in process, which if you’ve ever had a website you know that’s a statement you’ll never stop saying, but it looks good.”
Still, there is information on there with more to come.
Bowers also thanked Community Coordinator Christina Hayes for her help on the site.
Budget planning to start with pandemic as backdrop
The Great Bend City Council was reminded Monday night that the city will hold budget work session to discuss the fiscal year 2020 budget and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on it. It will be an in-person meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12, at the City Hall, City Administrator Kendal Francis said. Social distancing will be observed.
“We want to discuss how we see this year’s budget being affected by COVID-19 and related things,” he said. It is too soon to know the extent of the damage, but the picture will be clearer by the time of the meeting.
The meeting was going to be held at the Events Center, but the social distance issues were addressed in the council chamber.
