At the May 7th Great Bend City Council meeting the governing body passed a resolution scheduling a hearing for the dangerous structure at 819 Adams Street. Parts of the house are rotting, there are broken windows, holes in the roof, electrical issues, the floor has been ripped out, and the south side is gutted open.
The public hearing was held Monday night where the Council heard from Code Enforcement Officer Stuart Baker. Baker noted the structure is still in the same state with not much movement expected from the owner.
Stuart Baker Audio
The owner came into City Hall and filed for a demolition permit to demolish the structure himself on June 15, but noted it would be roughly 60 days until he was able to raze the building.
Great Bend City Attorney Bob Suelter recommended setting a date of July 16 for the owner to have the structure demolished, noting the City would move forward with state statute to be ready to take the matter into their own hands if the owner fails to cooperate.
Bob Suelter Audio
Suelter noted the owner paid the first half property taxes on the land in 2015 but has not paid the taxes since.
Other City Council news from June 18, 2018…
– Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo Curator Sara Hamlin promoted “Plastic-free July,” noting the negative effects of plastic that are not good for the environment and constant amounts of plastic trash that blows into the zoo.
– Great Bend Community Coordinator Christina Hayes touched on a dangerous crash that occurred at the SRCA Dragstrip this past weekend where emergency crews responded correctly and timely and the driver avoided serious injuries.
– Vickie Dreiling with Adams, Brown, Beran & Ball presented the 2017 annual audit report. Dreiling said overall, the financial outlook for the City looks good and received a good rating.
– The Council approved a waterline project change order not to exceed $294,597 for additional improvements. There are roughly 30 service lines that need to be modified or repaired that were not expected.
– The Council voted 6-1 to change the start time of future meetings from 7:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. A formal ordinance for approval will be submitted to the Council at the next meeting, July 2 to officially move up the start time.