By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Great Bend City Council member Brock McPherson had a request for City Sanitarian Austin LaViolette to enforce cleanup of scraps and wooden pallets just to the east of the Great Bend Public Library.
McPherson stated he drives be the lot on Williams every day and the wooden pallets and debris are worse than some of the other abatements that are brought up at the meetings.
"We are trying to do economic development, and we are trying to make things look good," said McPherson. "This looks bad. We need to do something."
LaViolette told the city council he talked to the owner earlier this year about getting the property tidy, but because the lot is located in a commercial zone, the owner is allowed to have the pallets near the building.
"They are stacked there so when they get enough for a load to take to recycling or the dump, that is when they take them," said LaViolette. "The ordinance does allow them on site as long as they are stacked and organized."
McPherson suggested a change in the ordinance to not allow the items piled up along the building. City Administrator Kendal Francis says staff is looking into revising some ordinances that could make it tougher for businesses to leave piles outside their buildings.
According to the Open Records of Kansas Appraisers’ search, the property at 1410 Williams Street is owned by Kustom Floor Designs Inc.