By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The need for emergency services rarely gets smaller. Great Bend had one fire station, then a second station was completed on the west side of the city in 2003. Even then, the need for equipment has outgrown the two facilities. Great Bend Fire and EMS has been using storage at the Great Bend Airport Complex for years, but Monday night, the Great Bend City Council approved a new storage facility to be located at Station No. 2. Fire Chief Brent Smith said that will address the department's needs.
"With the growing number of roles and responsibilities the fire department has taken on over the years, we have had to move equipment to various storage buildings out at the airport complex," Smith told the council. "With this new building, it will allow us not only to bring our emergency response apparatus and equipment to one facility for faster response to emergencies, but it will actually allow us to better maintain the equipment because we'll have it on site every day."
Smith said the 50-foot by 80-foot structure will have the added bonus of freeing up space at the airport for airport use. The building will have four bays with the ability of housing all GBFD equipment should something happen at another location.
The city received five bids for the project, including three local. Steel Builder Construction, Inc. did not submit the lowest bid, but because their bid fell within five percent of the low bid, Smith recommended the council accept that bid to keep the project local. The council agreed.
The new storage building will cost $199,114, and will be paid for by the half-cent infrastructure sales tax that was approved by citizens in November 2024.