The Great Bend City Council voted unanimously Monday to a settlement agreement with Suchy Construction in the matter of problems at the SRCA Dragstrip.

Arbitration with Suchy is done. There is still a lawsuit with Evans, Bierly, Hutchinson and Associates Consulting Engineers of Great Bend (EBH), which handled the engineering for the project, said City Attorney Allen Glendenning.

The vote to approve the settlement came immediately after a 15-minute executive session where the council and Mayor Cody Schmidt met with Glendenning to discuss a legal matter deemed privileged under the attorney-client relationship. When they returned to an open meeting, Schmidt asked Glendenning to speak.

“Mayor and council, as you know we’ve been engaged in attempting to resolve the lawsuits and the arbitration claim on the dragstrip through mediation,” he said. “Last week, and then finally today, we’ve come to a tentative settlement agreement, which we discussed with you all in executive session, with the Suchy side of the case. We would recommend that you approve this settlement agreement and authorize the mayor to sign it.” The vote was 8-0 in favor of the settlement.

No details of the settlement were disclosed Monday night.

Background

The City owns the dragstrip. In July 2020, the council approved a bid from Suchy Construction of Great Bend for $1,601,206.54 for a full-depth replacement of the entire track at the Great Bend Expo Complex west of town. This was part of the Kansas Department of Transportation Cost Share program, along with work on 10th Street which dated back to 2019.

Upon completion of the project in 2021, SRCA found several “high spots” existed in the racing surface that caused dragsters to shake and their wheels to leave the track.

Eventually, the SRCA, and its volunteer board, canceled the 2023 race season because the racing surface was unsafe and needed substantial remedial work. It remains closed.  (See https://www.gbtribune.com/news/local-news/council-irked-dragstrip-bumps/)