By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Great Bend’s central location in the county and state can be a good thing. Not so much when county crews are working in the further reaches of a large jurisdiction. Tuesday morning, the Barton County Commission approved the extension of a lease on approximately 2.4 acres of land west of Heizer. County Works Director Chris Schartz explained why the plot is beneficial to the Road and Bridge Department.
“It’s one of the pits we use to store sand and park equipment,” he said. “This year, we’re actually using it to sand seal out of. It’s one of our remote pits that makes it closer for the sand sealing so we don’t have to come all the way back to Great Bend every time. It does help alleviate time and costs.”
The county has used the plot for some time, dating back before current owner James Murphy purchased the land. The county maintains 389 miles of paved roads. Having property spread out around the county is beneficial in many ways.
“When we do the sand and sealing, we do it by quadrants,” Schartz said. “We have a pit in Odin, we have a pit in Ellinwood, we have a pit in the northwest – just west of 281 northwest of Hoisington - then we have this one that’s west of Heizer.”
The commission agreed to extend the lease through October of 2030 with an annual payment of $1,500 to Murphy.