By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The July 16 wind and hail storm that passed through Great Bend is the gift that keeps taking away. At Tuesday's Barton County Commission meeting, the board approved the replacement of a large steel building used by the Road and Bridge Department. Commissioner Donna Zimmerman said the timing was right.
"I think this building was already on your replacement plan, right?" she asked. "So it was scheduled to be replaced and we're just lucky to have some insurance to help us cover the costs."
The current steel structure was erected in the 1950s and was already deteriorating before the July 16 storm that caused further damage to the roof and destroyed four garage doors. The county received three bids for the work and approved the low bid of $316,420 from Steel Builders Construction, Inc. for a 50 x 180 x 16-foot Behlen All-Steel Building. The current structure is 35 feet deep and 105 feet long, so the new structure will better accommodate the county's dump trucks. County Administrator Matt Patzner explained the move to pay for the new structure.
"Currently, the road and bridge capital improvement fund has about $103,000 in it, dedicated road and bridge," he said, "but the equipment replacement line has about $967,000. We're asking you to approve a transfer of $316,420 from the road and bridge equipment replacement line to the road and bridge capital improvement line. This transfer has to be done by resolution, so that's why we're doing it this way."
The county will receive approximately $60,000 from insurance reimbursements to help pay for the replacement.