Mayor Cody Schmidt is scheduled to preside over his final Great Bend City Council meeting Monday evening before newly elected councilmembers are sworn in by City Clerk Shawna Schafer. The new mayor, Alan Moeder, is scheduled to share comments toward the end of the meeting.
On the agenda are the purchase of a storage building and truck for the Great Fire Department and three vehicles for the Great Bend Police Department.
The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 5 at City Hall.
Local bidder chosen
The administration received five bids for a building at Station 2 and recommended the bid from Steel Builders Construction Inc., located in Great Bend, for $199,114. This complies with the City of Great Bend procurement policy that allows a 5% leeway for the preferred local bid.
Fire Chief Brent Smith is on the agenda to report.
The agenda notes that with the growing number of roles and responsibilities GBFD has taken on over the years, staff have had to move equipment to various storage buildings at the airport complex. With this new building, they will be able to bring response apparatus and equipment to one facility for a faster response to emergencies and they will be able to better maintain the equipment. This will also free up storage space at the airport for airport maintenance equipment.
As part of the 2026 budget process, the department met with the Finance Director and City Administrator and set the department needs for capital outlay projects that are funded by the half-cent infrastructure sales tax, which was approved by the citizens of Great Bend in November of 2024.
This multi-year plan covers the replacement of older equipment and the addition of new equipment.
Chief Smith is also on the agenda to request accepting the low bid from Marmie Motors to purchase a 2026 1500 Ram for $45,955, to replace a 2010 Ram with approximately 150,000 miles.
GBPD vehicles
Police Chief Steve Haulmark is scheduled to report on a request authorizing three new vehicles in accordance with the vehicle replacement plan and 2026 budget.
The agenda notes, “We contacted Marmie Ford in Great Bend as well as Superior Emergency Response Vehicles (SERV) in Andover to seek quotes for the vehicles. Marmie Ford was selected for an Explorer Patrol Vehicle as well as for a Detective Grand Cherokee, as they provided a lower quote. The base quote for Marmie’s for the 2026 Explorer was $45,464 for the vehicle, with an additional $2,450 for an extended service warranty, and a base price of $39,319 for the 2026 Grand Cherokee. SERV was selected for the Patrol F-150, as they had a new 2025 still in stock and by purchasing this particular vehicle, we will be able to save approximately $7,000. The quote for the F-150 shows the purchase price of $48,443 and the upfitting for $8,451.85.”
The GBPD plans to use SERV for upfitting all three vehicles. The cost will be $14,394 for the Explorer and $6,310 for the Grand Cherokee, bringing the total cost for three vehicles with upfitting, customizing them for law enforcement use, to $164,831.86.
Other items on the agenda are recognition of outgoing councilmembers, the monthly report by Great Bend Economic Development Inc. President Jason Kuilan, renewal of the contract with Kleen Smart for cleaning the Justice Center for $36,000, and acceptance of a grant offer for the runway project at the airport.
