The wheels are turning to find a replacement for the resigning Great Bend City Administrator Kendal Francis. First, the City Council Monday night approved contracting with Selected was Strategic Government Resources of Keller, Texas, to handle the search, and it also approved naming current Assistant City Administrator Logan Burns to fill the post as the interim administrator during the hiring process.
As for the headhunter, Mayor Cody Schmidt presented a list of seven proposals prepared by Ward 2 Councilwoman Jolene Biggs and Ward 3 Councilman Cory Urban. Biggs had been involved in the search committee for Francis in 2018.
“I do want to tell thank you for what you did for me ,” Schmidt said of Biggs’ and Urban’s efforts. “I appreciate your help with all this.”
Based on this research, the Mayor proposed hiring SGR.
“As you can see , it comes with a pretty good price tag of $8,500, not to exceed $24,009,” he said. “I believe we’re making this recommendation based on their qualifications. This is one of those deals where you get what you pay for.
“The firm comes highly recommended,” Schmidt said. I’m hoping this is a one-and-done for us. We can hopefully hold a lot of candidates.”
Great Bend is competing with some other cities that also have administrator openings, the mayor said. “So we have to do our job of selling what makes Great Bend great.”
In addition to the fee, there will be additional expenses, including the cost of bringing job applicants to town.
To find Francis in 2018, the city hired Slavin Management Consultants of Atlanta, Ga., at a cost of $15,500, plus the incidental expenses.
Interim administrator
Then, following a half-hour executive session, the council reconvened and approved Burns as the interim administrator with Police Chief Steve Haulmark as his consultant.
“We did reach out to four other candidates in search of an interim and did not gain any traction with that,” Schmidt said. “So at this time, personally I feel it was our best situation to name Logan as the interim and keep our city moving forward.”
Both the hiring of SGR and the appointment of Burns passed unanimously.
Earlier this month, Francis announced he was leaving Great Bend to accept the city manager’s job in Hutchinson. His resignation is effective Friday, Jan. 6, 2023.
Francis took the Great Bend job in July 2018. He previously served as city manager in Coffeyville and city administrator in Lakin.
He took over for Interim City Administrator George Kolb, who filled in following the retirement of Howard Partington in August 2017 after holding the post for 36 years.
Great Bend City Council meeting at a glance
Here is a quick look at what the Great Bend City Council did Monday night:
• Approved a new lease for Blizzard Energy Inc.’s location at the Great Bend Municipal Airport.
The current 10-year lease will expires on Dec. 31. Blizzard suspended operations during COVID because they couldn’t sustain a workforce and are attempting to restart. It calls for a one-year term, with four renewable one-year options. Initial rent is $1,779 per month. This amount will remain the same from their current agreement. Rent increases 5% each renewal. Rent will increase to $2,850 per month upon return of the facility to full-time operations (eight hours per day, five days per week), said City Administrator Kendal Francis.
• Approved a Rural Housing Incentive District resolution for Amber Meadows.
At the Nov. 7 work session, the council was presented with information regarding RHIDs. Additionally, it was proposed that the undeveloped, city-owned property at Amber Meadows be designated an RHID to promote future housing development.
The council gave consensus to move forward with seeking an RHID designation for that property. The first step is to pass a resolution requesting the Secretary of Commerce to approve the designation.
This designation does not commit the city to any future expenditures, but simply provides this incentive for developers., City Administrator Kendal Francis said.
“This is just the first step,” he said. “It just puts the incentive in place.
Although unlikely, there is a chance the Kansas Department of Commerce could deny the request.
• Approved a rezoning and final plat for Housing Opportunities Inc.’s Brynwood Addition.
HOI has filed an application to rezone the behind Sixth and Grant streets from agricultural to planned unit development within city limits. This first phase of development will be named Cambridge Park, said Assistant City Administrator Logan Burns.
• Approved a city boundary resolution that expands the city limits to include the Brynwood Addition.
State statures require the governing body to declare by resolution the entire boundary of the city before the last day of December in any year in which territory has been added to the city. The city annexed the Brynwood addition this year and the governing body, therefore, needs to update the boundary resolution to include the new territory, City Attorney Allen Glendenning said.
• Approved a fixed-base operator lease assignment for the Great Bend Municipal Airport .
Under the current FBO agreement (July 2020), P&N had appeared to assign the agreement to another entity (Coulson Corporation). Without city consent, this would be a violation of that contract, airport Manager Martin Miller said. In response to the City Attorney Allen Glendenning’s letter, P&N is requested the city’s approval to assign the agreement to Coulson, subject to the transfer of ownership of Coulson Corporation to Ryan and Ashley Coulson.
This request has the unanimous support of the Airport Advisory Committee, Miller said.
• Took no action on a master fee schedule resolution. The council still has questions and concerns regarding new use fees for the Events Center. Council members wanted to “go back to the drawing board” on the proposal.
• Tabled the purchase of a 2023 Vac-Con Freightliner combination truck for Public Works at a cost of about $500,000.
The Public Works Department is looking to purchase a 2023 Vac-Con Combination truck on a Freightliner chassis. The department would replace a 2001 Vactor combination truck that has a vacuum fan that has delaminated making the truck unusable. Parts for replacement would cost $50,000 which would be equivalent to an annual payment.
• Approved the hiring of a city administrator search firm. Selected was Strategic Government Resources of Keller, Texas.
• Held a 30- minute executive session to discuss the assistant city administrator position. Upon reconvening in open session, the council approved naming Assistant City Administrator Logan Burns as interim city administrator with Police Chief Steve Haulmark as his consultant.
• Approved changing the date of the next council meeting from Monday, Jan. 2, to Tuesday, Jan. 3, due to the observance of the New Years holiday.
• Heard a report from City Administrator Kendal Francis.
• Approved abatements for trash and refuse violations at: 1416 11th St., Stueder Rentals LLC.; 1400 12th St., Carolyn Stacey Farris; 215 Hubbard St., Jesus and Maria Olave; and 2535 21st., Evan Keenan.
• Approved abatements for motor vehicle nuisance violations at: 1614 Morton St., Moses Properties LLC.; 1208 Morphy., Kenneth and Bonita Thomas; 235 Maple St., Zaira Huitron; 21 2 Chestnut St., Sandra F. Bank Alarcon ; and 404 Plum St., Juan Carlos Zamarripa
