By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The hot topic at Wednesday's Barton County Commission meeting was not even on the printed agenda. To begin the meeting, the commission approved a new discussion item pertaining to the proposed Brynwood subdivision development directly east of the University of Kansas Health System-Great Bend Campus and south of Walmart.
Conversation ultimately turned to the county's responsibility in the project. County Engineer Barry McManaman and Environmental Manager and Zoning Administrator Judy Goreham both spoke about possible county involvement and explained the difference between the proposed Brynwood subdivision and previous developments.
"It just seems like this thing got out of hand as far as what the county's responsibilities are," said Commissioner Kirby Krier. "The responsibilities are we sign off on a platte for a subdivision, and that's it.
"I appreciate all this information," Commission Chair Shawn Hutchinson said. "This is stuff we needed to know. I'm not sure why we're even involved with it at this point, though, because it sounds like it's completely a city decision."
Goreham agreed it is a city decision, but because of the location of the subdivision and its proximity to the city of Great Bend, several entities were involved in the discussion. Hutchinson stated whether or not the city decides to annex the land in question, the commission still may not be involved.
"This is a great opportunity for the public to understand the process and for all the different entities that are involved right now to understand the pieces of the puzzle," Goreham said. "We all have to work together or it doesn't happen."
Commission Jennifer Schartz agreed that, even if the county has no vote in the matter, the governing body could still be part of the conversation.
"I'd agree with you, Jennifer," said Commissioner Jon Prescott. "The communities, the residents, our constituents, have said we need housing. So I'm pretty excited this could be a housing solution for our community. We need to walk very carefully."
Then the conversation warmed up as Prescott spoke of the city's study on a lift station to determine if the sewer system could handle a new subdivision. He asked the commission if the city decides not to annex, would the county get involved to keep the development moving forward.
"Jon, I appreciate your comment about how carefully we need to walk when dealing with the city, but I've received multiple phone calls from city council members that said you did exactly the opposite of that when you were at their meeting," Hutchinson said. "I'm very disappointed with your actions."
Prescott is the former CEO of Sunflower Diversified Services. Phase one of the Brynwood subdivision, referred to as Cambridge Park, includes a 28-unit, low-income project that would give Sunflower first rights to rent the apartments for their clients. Sunflower helps children and adults with developmental disabilities. Prescott presented information, on behalf of Sunflower, at the Great Bend City Council work session July 18 discussing the project.
Housing Opportunities, Inc. (HOI) purchased the 24 acres of land from a group of local doctors that currently sits out of city limits. Receiving funds and tax credits from the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation, HOI recognized the tax rebate program is more beneficial to stay within the county and not be annexed into Great Bend city limits, but there is a need to tap into city utilities.
Schartz closed the conversation Wednesday by stating because of the complexities of the subdivision lying within Great Bend's three-mile zoning radius, further exploration may be needed.
"One of the things we need to look at is, Great Bend has not grown for a long time," she said. "I think that if we are on the edge of some really great things with economic development, we need to look at a bigger plan. Because the county surrounds Great Bend, we have a pony in the race. I think it would be a good idea, for us, at some point, to get a committee together to look at how Great Bend wants to expand, and the need to do so, and what the county can partner with in making that happen."
Other items addressed in the conversation included the size of each parcel and the impact that would have on drilling water wells and septic tanks.
"Not one parcel or platted piece of property will be 3.0 acres or larger," Goreham said. "So what this means is, if this stays in the unincorporated area of the county, no water well can ever be issued on these parcels for irrigation."
McManaman also explained the difference between the dirt roads at the Martin Meadows subdivision and the proposed paved streets in the Brynwood subdivision, and how that might impact the township.
"That's probably a tough chore for a township to maintain that, budget-wise or they probably don't have the manpower and equipment to do it themselves," he said.
"You'd think concrete streets are going to last 20 or 30 years, but look at the blowup they had south of the middle school a couple of weeks ago. You can go in and construct these concrete streets and a year from now we have a heat wave and it buckles. There needs to be some involvement with the township, in my opinion, in these discussions. If we're ultimately going to say they're a township responsibility, they need to be included."
Listen to the full conversation from Wednesday's meeting below.