By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Even before Logan Burns became Great Bend Assistant City Administrator in November 2022 and started overseeing the code enforcement department, he never liked the name. Burns felt code enforcement was an aggressive department name and gave the wrong message to citizens.
Burns announced code enforcement has been renamed to property maintenance. The switch is a step toward more communication and working with residents on potential abatements.
"We're going to be knocking on doors and communicating," said Burns. "We'll tell them what we're seeing and if they want us to take care of it. If it's something that they can't take care of then we can pass it on to Project Clean Sweep. If it's something as easy as a branch, we can throw that in the back of our truck. We have to change our image to these citizens. We're going to be more accountable and communicate with them."
Project Clean Sweep is an initiative from the Great Bend Police Department to help identify citizens in the community that need help or do not have the ability to take care of trash and refuse.
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Burns said while the city’s property maintenance staff will work with and be reasonable with citizens, there is still a court appearance option for lingering, habitual violators.
"There was one property from 2016, and we habitually mow it," said Burns. "They don't even attempt to mow it. I think we've mowed the property 19 times. Okay, you're going to have to go tell a judge why you're having the city do it. This also makes them accountable at the same time."
Procedure will have city staff knock on the door of houses with ordinance violations. If no one is home, a placard will be placed on the doorknob describing the violation. If 10 days pass with no contact from the property owner, a certified letter will be sent to the address. Following another 10 days, the city has the option of presenting the abatement to the city council.