A monitoring well will be installed on city property at the southwest corner of 10th and Morphy  to track the spread of gasoline that leaked at the site many years ago, the Great Bend City Council learned Monday night.
City Engineer Robert Winiecke reviewed and approved an application from Associated Environmental Inc. of Norman, Okla., to install a groundwater monitoring well. This was in response to a request from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to study the contamination discovered during the construction of the new Dollar General store location.
Winiecke said the site was formerly related to the Maztek Vickers facility. The gas was discovered in March of 2013 and the contaminated soils were removed in October 2013.
The intent of the well is to help establish how far the plume may extend or if it is migrating,Winiecke said. KDHE has authorized AEI to perform a contamination assessment.
Immediately prior to the Dollar General’s construction, the location was the site of a used vehicle lot. But, that is not related to the leak.
The well came up during City Administrator Howard Partington’s departmental update. Other topics included:
Police
• Lt. Scott Harper attended a “Leadership in Action” class and a “Power Communication” class held at Hutchinson.
• Kia the K-9 dog was used in a search warrant in the 1600 block of Morton Street.
• Officer Jefferson Davis concluded DARE graduations at Riley, Park, & Central Kansas Christian Academy.
Public Works
• Replaced the fuel pumps and updated the card reader system at the Public Works Yard.
• Fixed concrete on East 10th Street.
• Installed variable frequency drives at the Great Bend Airport water wells.
• Sanitarian: 955 year to date complaints, two new complaints (one complaint by citizen and one by staff), 15 complaints completed by citizens, three abatement notices sent and 10 vehicles into compliance.
Fire/EMS/Inspection
• Shifts are training with 911 to better coordinate victim location using 911 mapping.
Administration
• Great Bend will not be a recipient of a Levitt Music Series Grant, because the city’s votes were so low in the voting process. “We will still focus on our live music portion of the June Jaunt and Party in the Park just not to the caliber that we could have with the extra funding and it will not be a 10 week series of live music,” Partington said. “We might try again for this funding next year.”
• Community Coordinator Christina Hayes met with the June Jaunt communities on Dec. 11 and they will continue the fourth year of the June Jaunt on June 5-7. This year’s theme will be “heritage” and we will be adding a Barn Quilt somewhere in our community. “Each community is excited about this year’s adventure,” Partington said.
• Kansas Magazine Called and will be featuring the June Jaunt on the cover of its magazine for its January issue.
• Partington talked with each council member to get their ideas regarding the qualifications they deem most important in the selection of a new police chief.
• City officials attended a board meeting of Economic Lifelines in Topeka. “We really need to work to keep funding for our improvements to K-96 between Sterling and Nickerson” in light of the budget cuts mandated by the state that could impact Kansas Department of Transportation funding, Partington said.