By Lucky Kidd
GREAT BEND, Kan. — Three weeks after failing to gain approval, the Great Bend City Council last night approved commercial solar regulations for the three mile zoning jurisdiction around the city. At the December 16th meeting the Council was one vote short of the five votes needed to approve the regulations.
Council member Jolene Biggs, who voted against the ordinance at that time, asked this be brought back for reconsideration, saying “regulations and zoning should track that of (Barton) County to minimize conflict, but should also reflect the difference between remote rural areas and those within three miles of the city, and its urban residential and commercial zones.”
While Biggs would have preferred a larger setback requirement, the Council on a 5-2 vote agreed to the one thousand feet setback requirement that is in Barton County’s zoning regulations.
The Council also approved purchase of a new brush truck for the Great Bend Fire Department. The truck is being purchased through Hays Fire Equipment at a cost of just over $195,000 with delivery expected in about a year. The unit this will replace will be traded in or sold following city Policy.
Commissioners also approved year-end non-budgeted transfers amounting to $1.2 million, and elected Cory Urban as vice mayor of 2025, who presides over Council meetings in the absence of the mayor.
