As a follow-up to its tour of the former Great Bend Police Station and Municipal Court at 1217 Williams at its Jan. 2 meeting, the City Council Monday night after its agenda meeting held a work session to discuss the fate of the aging structure. The Police Department and Municipal Court are now relocated in the new Justice Center at 12th and Baker.
Although no official action was taken, it was the consensus of the council to move forward with remodeling the facility into expanded city office space at an estimated cost of $39,316. The plan includes room for the Inspections, Public Works and Property Maintenance departments, as well as handicapped-accessible restrooms, storage, and meeting rooms for city departments and the Planning and Zoning boards.
The main entrance will remain the same, Burns said. There will be secured internal doors, and the south and north old court entrances will not be open to the public.
“The good thing is that a lot of this is cosmetic,” said Assistant City Administrator Logan Burns. Using a color-coated schematic of the plans, he took the council on a tour of the changes.
An engineering study done a few years ago found the building to be structurally sound. So, the work will include mostly new paint and carpet, as well as moving some walls to make offices more usable.
Of the cost, the flooring was the biggest share at about $14,000. Second was the Americans with Disability Act upgrades which are figured at $8,000.
A lot of the furnishings will be reused, and most of the needed technology is already in place, Burns said. And, he added, they believe they’ve found the source of the sewer-like odor that permeated the structure, and it won’t be as big of a deal to fix as they thought.
But, while some of the HVAC equipment is fairly new, some is not, Burns said. There may be some costs down the road to replace the older units.
“I know we can’t build (new) this kind of office space for what we are spending on this,” said City Administrator Brandon Anderson.
At this point, other than maybe removing some walls, they plan to leave the second floor vacant for now, Anderson said.
This will allow for a savings on utility costs, he said.
By making these improvements, Anderson said it will free up space in City Hall. It may also provide room to add a new person in the Finance Department under City Finance Director Shawna Schafer, a much needed staff addition.
The old building was built in 1938 and once also housed the Fire Department. The Police Department outgrew it, examined how it could be adapted, but has sought for several years to relocate, a goal realized now.
Great Bend City Council meeting at a glance
Here is a quick look at what the Great Bend City Council did Monday night:
• Held a public hearing for an unsafe and dangerous building at 750 Jefferson.
At the commercial structure (the former Price Trucking Line building), “an investigation was conducted from public right-of-way on the structure. Deficiencies include the roof being open, damage to cinder blocks at openings and broken windows/overhead doors,” Assistant City Administrator Logan Bums said.
The owner of record is Toon Investments LLC. It was noted that some progress has been made on improving the property.
• Set a public hearing for an unsafe and dangerous building at 2421 12th St. for 6:30 p.m., Monday March 4.
With this accessory structure, “an investigation was conducted from public right-of-way on the accessory structure. Deficiencies include leaning walls due to braced wall conditions, deteriorating materials and roof exposure,” Burns said.
The owner of record is John Paul Melton.
• Set a public hearing for an unsafe and dangerous building at 1622 19th St. for 6:30 p.m., Monday March 4.
At this garage, “an investigation was conducted from public right-of-way on the accessory structure. Deficiencies include overhead door damage and roof structure exposure from missing sheathing,” Burns said. There also missing shingles and sheeting over the rafters.
The owners of record are Lakeyia Jones and Sandra Wright.
• Approved the purchase of a new staff vehicle for the Great Bend Fire Department.
The department has in place a vehicle replacement plan that enables them to set aside money annually into capital outlay to replace aging vehicles, Chief Brent Smith said. This allows the fire department to replace vehicles at an age and mileage to keep maintenance costs down and receive maximum trade in value every six years.
By using this plan, the fire department is scheduled to replace its 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe, used by the fire chief. “We reached out to Superior Emergency Response Vehicles in Andover (the company that provides vehicle outfitting for the Great Bend Fire and Police departments) to see if they had a demo unit that might be available this year,” he said.
“They did advise that they would have a demo unit available for a late February delivery,” he said. It is a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado crew cab 4x4 up-fitted with a lights and siren package. The price including trade-in of the 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe will be $49,131.90.
“We also reached out to Marmie Motors and received a quote on a 2024 Ram 1500 crew cab 4x4 with comparable options,” he said. They also priced a light and siren package, and with the trade, the cost was $56,201.40.
This vehicle purchased will have a five- to six-month delivery date and then would need to be taken to Superior to have the lights and siren up-fitting completed, Smith said.
• Approved contracting with JEO Consulting Group for city on-call engineering services.
The cost is a $900 monthly retainer fee. The contract period will be for two years and will be reviewed and renewed after the period accordingly.
• Held a 15-minute executive session to discuss information deemed privileged in the attorney-client relation. Included was the council, Mayor Cody Schmidt, City Administrator Brandon Anderson, Assistant City Administrator Logan Burns and City Attorney Allen Glendenning.
After reconvening in open session, no action was taken.
• A work session to discuss the use of the former Police Station.
• Heard an update from City Administrator Brandon Anderson.
• Heard an update from Christina Hayes, community coordinator and Convention and Visitors Bureau director.
• Approved abatements for garbage and refuse violations at: 223 Holland, owner Bibiana Romona Cabrales; 2420 12th, owner Jeff Hood; and 2525 16th, owner Joseph E. Peshchka Jr.
