By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
With $75,000 set aside for lights to be installed around the walking trail
at Veterans Memorial Park in Great Bend, the project is expected to come in under
budget. Interim City Administrator Logan Burns said a quote to purchase 20
poles is $23,060, leaving a balance of $51,940 for installation. Burns didn’t
expect much maintenance for the LED lights, but the Quality of Life sales tax
master plan does budget for project upkeep.
"The line item for equipment and maintenance in 2023 is $5,000," said Burns. "Every year after that, there is $10,000 allocated. This could be for a light that goes out or something that needs fixed. That would be allocated towards quality of life projects."
The utility expense for the lights would fall back to city’s park department
budget. The Vets Park trail is 9/10 of a mile, or 4,752 feet. The 20 poles,
each 20-feet tall, will be spread along the path, leaving 77 feet of unlighted
area between each light.
"One of the questions I had from nearby neighbors was how much light pollution we were going to have from the lights we picked out," said Burns. "There's very little light pollution. I've talked to those neighbors. If we need to space them out more we can."
The lights would be on a timer for certain evening hours and would be shut off
during the holidays for the city’s Christmas light displays. Great Bend is
seeking quotes for the labor and installation cost.
Improving the lighting at the walking path is part of a list of projects from the
.15% quality of life sales tax.