County officials and volunteers have been working for years on a project that is finally coming to fulfilment.
This week the Barton County Commission approved plans for designing a series of memorials that will honor veterans with connections to Barton County.
Golden Belt Memorial Park will have a special veterans’ area and part of that will be a series of monuments, including ones that feature names of veterans who were somehow connected to the county.
The Road and Bridge Department will seek proposals from firms that can design the memorials.
That information will be returned to the commission and then it will discuss the options for funding the project.
One source of revenue in the project will be for the inclusion of veterans’ names on the monument, County Administrator Richard Boeckman noted, explaining that any veteran who was connected to the county somehow can be represented. “You don’t have to be buried there to have your name affixed to the memorial.”
The cost for having a name listed on the memorial has not been announced yet.
Proposals are due back by April 13.
Commissioners also approved moving ahead with the installation of water wells at the cemeteries.
In the past, the county staff attempted to water trees that were planted at the cemeteries using water tanks, with water being hauled from town.
Road and Bridge Director Dale Phillips explained it was a full time effort just to keep up with hauling water.
Phillips is seeking proposals for water well drilling and equipment installation.
There are funds that have been set aside for this project, it was noted.
The plan is to get that project done before Memorial Day.
Proposals will be accepted until March 30.