Great Bend City Council notes:
• Uber is coming to Great Bend, Community Coordinator Christina Hayes told the City Council Monday night.
“This is exciting,” she said. So far, there are at least 10 drivers signed up to take part.
Anybody can be a driver, she said. They just have to answer some basic questions and pass background checks.
“Everything is done through a app,” Hayes said. All appointments and transactions (including tips) are handled via a smart phone application and no money changes hands.
“It will help eliminate drunk driving ,” she said. “It is a safety issue.”
She knows that Great Bend Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Emily Goad has used the service and given it good reviews. “I think it would be interesting to try out,” Hayes said.
• Current city Water Division Utility Superintendent Charles Suchy will become the new public works director. The City Council authorized Mayor Mike Allison to appoint Suchy to the post when it met Monday night. The public works director selection committee made up of Councilwoman Vicki Berryman, City Administrator Howard Partington, City Attorney Bob Suelter and Allison unanimously recommended Suchy.
Committee members felt Suchy had the best application and presented himself very well.
Suchy replaces Don Craig who retired in July after working for the city for 40 years.
The free summer outdoor movie series is over, Great Bend City Administrator Howard Partington said. This year the city put more movies on Friday nights as requested last year, however officials found out that Thursday nights had better turn out.
They assume it’s because of everyone’s busy schedules for summer weekends, he said. But, he said, Community Coordinator Christina Hayes is excited for next year’s movies, and thanked the council for its support of the showings.
Speaking of summer, Partington said the Summer Street Stroll Farmers Market has more vendors than ever. The weekly event takes place from 4-7 p.m. every Thursday in Jack Kilby Square and the last date is Sept. 8 for the season.
These were among the items on his departmental update. Other items included:
Public Works
• Helped with Party In the Park
• Worked with Wheatland Electric as they installed new power poles by providing traffic control on Washington Street.
• Working with Environmental Protection Agency and Black & Veatch Special Projects Corp. on the Plating Inc. Superfund site cleanup to collect data from city water wells, airport lagoons, Plating building and various locations for monitoring wells throughout the city and airport.
Fire/EMS/Inspection/Code Enforcement
• Captain Mark Pohlman was awarded Paramedic of the Year by the Kansas Emergency Medical Service Association at the annual conference last week. Several members of the Fire Department attended the presentation.
• The Great Bend Fire Department Technical Rescue Team is working with Bartlett Grain Company. The group is in the planning stage for training at the Barton County facility. The trainings being discussed are high-angle rescue and confined space rescue to prepare in case an event of injury or illness of an employee or contractor occurs.
• Participated in Party in the Park.
• Demolition bid opening held for 623 Baker.
Administration
• Community Coordinator Christina Hayes and Great Bend Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Emily Goad represented the city and CVB Monday at the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce’s Unified School District 428 Teachers Expo. The city put up a booth promoting Great Bend and got emails and contact information from the teachers to include them on the monthly CVB EBlast that goes out promoting Exploring Great Bend.
