The Barton County Memorial Parks Advisory Committee along with the Road and Bridge Department have been busy preparing the Golden Belt Veterans Memorial Friday’s activities.
The dedication of the second memorial stone at the memorial is set for 2 p.m., Friday as part of the community’s observation of Veterans Day.
The monument is located at the Golden Belt Memorial Park, 59 NW 50 Road north of Great Bend. The public is invited and encouraged to bring their own seating.
As part of this prep work, fences at the memorial park have been replaced and other beautification work has been done.
The update on the festivities was part of the bi-weekly departmental update presented the County Commission Monday morning. It was presented by commission Chairman Don Davis.
Other items mentioned include:
Road and Bridge Director Dale Phillips
Road and Bridge
• Road and Bridge staff is winding down major summer projects.
• Mowing continues along the western and northwestern asphalt roadways of Barton County. Four weeks remain to complete the final mowing.
• Sign replacement has slowed as there were fewer cases of vandalism over the reporting period.
• Work continued on tree removal on Northeast 60 Road and Northeast 20 Avenue. Culvert work was started as well to help rebuild the road and correct drainage.
• Snow training was held at the Barton County shop Nov. 3 and 4. Classroom training, hands-on training and driving were worked on. All staff participated in a mock winter storm rodeo for equipment familiarity.
• Staff prepared for the Nov. 11 stone dedication at Golden Belt Memorial Park.
• Sand hauling continued from Ellinwood to Great Bend as time permitted.
• Asphalt patching continued as staff was available.
• Major asphalt work for 2016 is now complete.
County Engineer Barry McManaman
• Attended a Cow Creek Floodplain Mapping meeting Oct. 27 in Hoisington.
• Reece Construction began the concrete box culvert extension project three miles north of Redwing – the technician is doing the inspection.
• Met with a representative from a feedlot concerning a floodplain development permit and followed up with the engineering firm that designed the project.
• Coordinated the Cow Creek Working Group exchange of information with the Division of Water Resources.
• Kirkham Michael began marking sign locations in the county for the new sign installations that will be done by Road and Bridge.
Solid Waste Director Phil Hathcock
In the past reporting period, the Barton County Landfill took in:
• 869 tons of municipal solid waste
• 572 tons of construction/demolition waste
• 80 tons of special waste
• 593 loads of waste received for disposal
• $56,286.95 of revenue generated through disposal fees
Solid waste staff has been busy with routine operation of the landfill and preparations for winter weather.
Emergency Risk Manager Amy Miller
On Oct. 4, the Barton County Local Emergency Planning Committee, sponsored by Barton County Emergency Management, held its fourth quarterly meeting of 2016. Jan Peters, Great Bend Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development president and CEO, gave a presentation on the Great Bend Transload Facility that is in the process of being built at the Great Bend Industrial Park west of the city of Great Bend.
In other business, Chairman Amy Miller requested the committee approve the publication of a Public Notice to inform citizens on how to access information about hazardous substances within Barton County; and heard a report from Miller concerning site specific forecasts from the National Weather Service Office in Wichita.
County Treasurer Kevin Wondra
The Treasurer’s Office processed a total of 2,238 motor vehicle transactions between Oct. 20 and Nov. 2. Of those, 1,772 were vehicle renewals and 206 were new titles. In the past two weeks the department has also renewed, registered or updated five commercial vehicles.
Staff is currently preparing for the 2016 tax season. Work involves printing, sorting, folding and mailing statements.
The bookkeepers are in the process of reconciling the bank accounts. All daily work is current.
Juvenile Services Marissa Woodmansee
• The fifth All-Stars class was taught to two classes at Riley Elementary school in Great Bend.
• Juvenile Intake and Assessment has completed nine intakes since Oct. 28 and 166 for the first quarter.
• Juvenile Intensive Supervised Probation and Case Management currently are supervising 61 youth from the 20th Judicial District.
• Project Stay is the Case Management program for youth who have truancy issues and currently provides Case Management for 30 youth in the Judicial District.
• Teen Court is held every month and currently has 17 active cases.
