Aug 17, 2022

Great Bend to offer city-wide cleanup to dump trash for free

Posted Aug 17, 2022 12:00 PM

By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post

A city-wide cleanup in Great Bend has been scheduled for Sept. 24 - Oct. 2 where citizens will be able to dump a variety of items for free.

Separate dumpsters for mattresses, metals, tires and trash will be set up at Sunflower Diversified Services' parking lot at 5605 10th Street.

While operation hours still need to be determined, City Administrator Kendal Francis said city staff will be on hand to assist anyone unloading their trash.

"We do intend to staff it during its open hours," said Francis. "We know there will be some that you will have to have equipment to load it into those higher dumpsters. As far as the overtime, we'll have some hours on the weekends we'll have to cover."

Following a “quality of life” online survey, the number-one vote-getter from Great Bend citizens was to create a city-wide cleanup. Francis estimated the cost to the city will be between $15,000 - $20,000.

"We don't have a guaranteed price," said Francis. "We're basing pricing off of the numbers we know from the dumpster rentals and information from the county landfill for the discounts they will provide to us for dumping fees. We're basing it a little bit off of what Ellinwood spent on their similar timeframe of a cleanup."

Sept. 24 is also “Damn It, Do It” day in Great Bend, a day where volunteers give houses in a specific residential block a makeover. Francis has discussed the possibility of getting volunteers on Sept. 24 to collect the trash from the elderly or those unable to perform the labor.    

There will be select items, hazardous items, that will not be allowed to dump.