A pair of projects long in the planning are moving forward, the Great Bend City Council learned Monday night.

City Administrator Howard Partington said he and Police Chief Cliff Couch received and reviewed the results from the engineering survey of the Police Department building. This effort involves remodeling the 90-year-old building to bring it up to date and make better use of the space.

The city’s on-call engineering firm Professional Engineering Consultants of Wichita conducted an assessment on Oct. 21. The council voted on Sept. 19 to proceed with plans on how to best way to renovate the facility. 

Partington said he and Couch are currently evaluating the options available to the city, and will report back to the council once a set of viable options is identified.

Also progressing is the remodeling of the Clayton L. Moses Memorial Bandshell and surrounding area, as well as for the construction of the splash pad, all at the south end of the Barton County Courthouse Square. A kick off meeting for the project was held on Nov. 22.

Wiens and Company of Hutchinson is handling the work at a cost of $355,700. Partington said they have fences up and have begun the staging process with construction to begin shortly.

Partington said the Thelma Faye Harms Charitable Trust has contributed $300,0000 towards the renovations.

The bandshell dates back to the 1920s. This effort includes the removal of the water fountain, and the relocation of the vintage cannon and a buried time capsule.

Work is scheduled to be done by next May.

These updates were part of Partington’s administrative report. Other topics included:

Fire/EMS/Inspection/Code Enforcement

• Conducted annual pump testing on the trucks. 

• Participated in the Home for the Holidays Parade.

• Attended the Barton County Training and Exercise Planning Workshop meeting.

• City Inspector Lee Schneider received plans for Walmart and Dollar Tree remodels and is working on the plan reviews.

Public Works

• Repaired damaged sections of fence on flood control levee.

• Swept downtown streets, cleaned storm sewer catch basins and set up parade routes for the Holiday Parade.

• Painted two handicapped parking stalls and installed handicapped parking signs on Jackson Street north of 21st Street for St. Mark Lutheran Church.

• Finished fire hydrant project at 25th and Williams. (Removed old fire hydrant from the middle of a concrete driveway and installed a new one outside the driveway). 

Police

• Recruit Officers Ethan Henderson and Joshua Suss will graduate from the Police Academy in Hutchinson Friday afternoon.

• Before the council meeting tonight, officers participated in the Santa’s Workshop Event at the City Auditorium. They were on hand to give out candy and interact with the children attending to see Santa and Mrs. Claus.

• Monday afternoon, School Liaison Officer Paul Millard and Chief Cliff Couch attended the DARE graduation at Eisenhower School. Most of the department’s DARE classes for this year are wrapping up, and officers host a graduation ceremony for students and their families at each of the schools where the DARE program is administered. 

Administration

• Stores are overall happy about how Explore Great Bend month went and with the busyness of Small Business Saturday. The cookie contest had people out and about tasting cookies that day. 

• The Home for the Holidays Festival went off as a successful event. “Special thanks to everyone in the community who helped make that happen and to city staff for helping as well,” Partington said. 

• A retail roundtable meeting was held this Wednesday at City Hall for Great Bend businesses. Attendees set the 2017 Retail Calendar and discussed promotional ideas to help the stores. 

• “A friendly reminder to Shop Local this holiday season,” Partington said. “Support our local businesses and explore the great items we have right here in our community.”