In other business, the council:
• Approved an abatement request for 133 Maple Street, owned by Donna Adney, for accumulation of refuse.
• Approved a host of business licences for garbage and refuse collections, a junk yard, a pawnbroker, a taxi service, sidewalk dining, and tree and shrub trimmers and treaters. There were also several cereal malt beverage licences approved and renewed. These are actions taken by the council annually.
City officials cautioned those looking for a tree trimmer to call the city first to see if the person they are looking at is licensed. If not, any damage caused by falling limbs may not be covered by the homeowners insurance.
• Following the agenda meeting, the council held its annual goal-setting session. This is the first step in the budget planning process.
At the Great Bend City Council meeting Monday night, Community Coordinator Christina Hayes said the first-ever June Jaunt lived up to its hype.
“Overall, the weekend was a success,” she said of the three days of events that ran June 1-3. “There was an excitement in the air.”
The event was billed as a tourism-building project for communities along K-96 from Tribune to Ellinwood. This was the first of five years for the event and Great Bend activities took place at the Brit Spaugh Zoo and in the Barton County Courthouse Square.
“People were excited about it,” Hayes said. She met with representatives from the other communities in Ness City June 11 to debrief and begin planning for 2013.
“We don’t want it to just die,” she said. Great Bend is the largest city on the route and the other towns are excited to know it is fully behind the effort.
“It was wonderful for Great Bend to collaborate and promote all the activities for the weekend which appealed to many different types of people,” Hayes said. Instead of competing with the other events going on in the community, organizers promoted the weekend together and bolstered turn-out for everyone.
Highlights of these include:
• Human (e) Motion at Great Bend Regional Hospital had 214 participants
• Nextech Zoofest had 3,150 people
• Hap Dumont baseball tournament had 42 teams
• Sidewinders Poker Run raised $1600 for Relay for Life of Barton County
• Barton County Historical Society had a packed house for their Good Ol’ Summertime event, and attracted 42 antique cars
• Van tours for the Kansas Wetlands Education Center were full on Friday and Saturday
• Straw bale building tours at Heartland Farms had 34 participants
In addition, Hayes said people were shopping. Stores reported having seen different shoppers and others like Perks Coffee Shop reported double the normal sales on Saturday.
On another note, she said the Bottoms Up Outdoor Show this past weekend also went well. It had 7,000 attendees and should be a go again for next year.
Hayes also plugged the continuing Summer Street Stroll farmers market and arts and craft fair Thursday nights in the square prior to the City Band concerts, Thirsty Thursdays the upcoming Renaissance Fair June 30-July 1 at the Expo Complex and the Barton Community College production of “The Pirates of Penzance” June 30 at the square.
She also promoted the World War II-themed Air Show and Big Bend Bike Rally on the same weekend in September.
