Housing Opportunities Inc. (HOI) is planning for a housing development outside city Great Bend city limits and has requested to connect to the city's sanitary sewer.
The four-phase project will be directly east of The University of Kansas Health System - Great Bend Campus and south of Walmart. HOI received nearly $6 million from the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation for the project, referred to as Cambridge Park.
HOI projects an approximate 10-year timeframe for the full buildout. At which time, engineers have projected the development to have a maximum flow of 50,000 gallons per day.
City team members were concerned about the capacity of the lift station serving that area as its Wet Well was not built as large as designed. The city installed monitoring equipment to calculate the station pumps' run time and its capacity for additional flows. The report indicates that Cambridge Park's additional flows would not significantly impact the lift station.
One caveat is that this lift station services a large portion of the western half of the city, including the industrial park. Any new development in those areas will feed into that lift station. The city recommends considering a long-term plan for upsizing the lift station to accommodate future growth.
City officials recommend allowing the Cambridge Park development to connect to the city's sanitary sewer and potable water system following completion of all associated permitting and payment of fees.
Phase one of the development includes a 28-unit, low-income project that would give Sunflower Diversified Services first rights to rent the apartments for their clients. Sunflower helps children and adults with developmental disabilities.
The city council will discuss the topic and request at the Monday, Oct. 3 meeting that begins at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.