By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Housing Opportunities, Inc. (HOI) has taken another step toward building a 28-unit, low-income housing development in Great Bend.
The Great Bend City Council voted 4-2 to approve an ordinance that annexes a
24-acre lot, behind Walmart, into city limits and being able to connect to the
city’s sanitary sewer.
RELATED STORY: Must be annexed into Great Bend, but housing development given green light
While HOI still needs to present the development to the Great Bend Planning
Commission and city council, councilmember Alan Moeder voiced concern about
rain water runoff from the development.
"We know we're in a drought now, but we're seeing severe storms popping up in certain spots," said Moeder. "I know HOI has a pit they want to put the water in, but where does it go if the pit gets full? Are we going to be liable for it then because we approved it?"
HOI received nearly $6 million from the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation
for the project.
HOI’s first of three phases calls the 28 units, known as Cambridge Park, which
will give Sunflower Diversified Services first rights to rent the apartments
for their clients with developmental disabilities. Over the span of eight to 10
years, HOI would add 64 housing units.
RELATED STORY: Barton Commission discusses possible involvement in new housing development