It wasn’t exactly like the Cavalry riding in to the last minute rescue of the homesteaders, but action approved by the Great Bend City Council this week will allow a local family to have their home — at least to have it where they want it.
The council approved a recommendation from the Planning Commission to rezone property about a half mile east of Kiowa Kitchen, just east of Great Bend.
The issue was raised by Steve and Chad Ohnmacht who were asking to have the property rezoned as “agricultural” instead of “light manufacturing — service commercial.”
Assistant City Administrator Dawn Jaeger explained to the council that the request was made because the family wants to locate a residence on the property and under the city zoning regulations, it is not allowed to build a house in a light manufacturing — service commercial area.
However, Jaeger explained, a house can be built in an area that is zoned agricultural.
The change was unanimously approved.
In an unrelated issue, the council was told by City Administrator Howard Partington, during Monday night’s meeting, that if they seem to notice improvements to the city’s fire hydrants, that is because there is a current effort to spruce them up.
“They really look good,” he said about the hydrants around the community that have received fresh coats of paint recently.
And now there will start to be different colors on the tops of the hydrants.
That is because they are being tested and they will be “color coded” to report what the water volume at each one is. That is important information for firefighters when they need to utilize a hydrant, the city administrator explained.