Council Summaries - Oct. 5 and Oct. 19, 2021

Individuals and media outlets are encouraged to contact the City Administrator for additional details or clarification on the following material. Regular meetings of the Crete City Council are held on the first and third Tuesdays of the month at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall; Council Standing Committees may meet prior. View a list of City Officials and current council and committee meeting agendas.

Summary for Crete City Council regular meeting - Tuesday, Oct. 19
View this Meeting Agenda and attachments

Council Member Dan Papik was absent.

The council approved the Consent Agenda items:

• Minutes of the following meetings: City Council Oct. 5, Legislative and Economic Development Committee Oct. 5, Public Works Committee Oct. 5
• Treasurer’s Report
• Claims against the City

The Council approved an agreement with Olsson to provide professional services, on a time and expense basis not to exceed $8,000, for the installation of new equipment at the Main Lift Station. City Administrator Tom Ourada explained this will provide control of lift station equipment on site using the SCADA system; currently operators have to control equipment from the plant.  

The Council approved an agreement with WesTech in the amount of $28,926 for a new gauge and green filter media sand at the water treatment plant.

• Ourada explained this purchase is for filter media sand, which is used to filter out iron and manganese at the main water treatment plant; and a backwash gauge to aid in an efficient backwashing of the system. All of the water issues over the last few months can be attributed to this, he cautioned that it is only the start to the solution; a labor contract to replace the sand and numerous plastic screens will come at a later date.

The Council approved the Library Board's recommended changes to the Crete Public Library's Patron Code of Conduct.

• Library Director Joy Stevenson explained this closes a hole in the library’s code of conduct and is a response to a series of situations at other public libraries where individuals try to film people inside and claim first amendment rights. Tom noted there are numerous videos on the web about interactions with government officials and police. 
• Council member Ryan Hinz said the Legislative and Economic Development Committee’s question was answered about the need for this change.

The Council authorized the Police Chief to apply for a NDOT Highway Safety grant as part of the national Buckle Up, Every Trip, Every Time campaign. Lt. Gary Young explained this was an enforcement grant from the state for overtime which the department incurs for extra enforcement of a seatbelt use grant; this runs through the Thanksgiving weekend.

The Council entered into the 2021 Rural Fire Protection agreement with Saline County Rural Fire Protection District. The Public Safety Committee recommended this action. Fire Chief Tod Allen explained this annual agreement means “they’ll come when we need them and we’ll go when they need us,” in terms of helping at fire emergencies in the county.

The Council approved the employment of new firefighters Tiffany Carnahan, Hayden DeBoer, Alex Miguel-Jacinto, and Carissa Moore and adding them to the City's insurance roles.

• Hayden DeBoer was present to address the council. He is a junior at Doane University on a pre-med track and spoke about the fire department being a great opportunity to serve the community. The other newly approved members will appear at later council meetings.

Officer Reports:

Reports may be given by Officers, Departments, Committees, or Council members concerning the current operations of the City. No action can be taken on matters presented under this title except to answer any questions or to refer the matter for further action.

• Lt. Gary Young reported on the Community Trunk or Treat on Friday, Oct. 29 from 4-7 pm in the Crete High School parking lot; the school has also offered the commons area inside in case of bad weather.
• Tod Allen, Fire Chief, reported on the anticipated delivery of the department’s new tanker this month. 
• Joy Stevenson, Library Director, reported on the ‘Conversation with Mark and Andy’ event and fundraiser, which raised $7,500. It was a fun night of which she’s heard nothing but positive comments. All the quilts were sold and two people purchased the “Ode to Libraries” quilt for $1,500 and donated it back to the library for display. She also shared Carrie Wilsman is the new Friends of Crete Public Library President.
  • Mayor Dave Bauer added the event was a nice evening and an example of something different that doesn’t happen often in Crete. He said people need those types of events and the Community Room was a great place to have it.
• Tom Ourada, City Administrator:
  • 22nd and Ivy bridge meeting with Speece Lewis; they are 60% done with plans and the project could be started and finished next year, including paving the whole road; he also met with Juriceks two weeks ago who agreed to sell adjacent property for an amount still to be determined;
  • planning started on the site of old library where large bushes were removed and a discussion was had with NDOT to see where the city wants additional highway access next to the existing Public Works drive-thru;
  • building access via chip card training starts tomorrow at the library and fire department; with other municipal buildings to follow.
  • discussions are starting about replacing the red aggregate at the library in the front Pinnacle Pavilion and the Story Walk path in Library Park, which was meant to be something different at the time of design; there are issues with it washing out in the rain; he called Kieth Gilmore to see what could replace it and he’s putting preliminary plans together;
  • bids will be taken to replace red concrete downtown; this project will be done in late spring to avoid frost/freeze issues;
  • Wendy Thomas, HR Coordinator is organizing interviews for the Public Works Office position and for the newest police officer;
  • he sent a Tuxedo Park master plan Kyle Frans and the Mayor; it will also go to the council for comment;
  • a request was made to change Dogwood Ave to 35 mph and will be on the next council agenda; Tom thought this was probably a reasonable request as the road has turned to residential now and cars coming out onto the road need sight visibility;
  • the sister city consultant will come down and meet with the Legislative Committee and council members at the next committee meeting;
  • gWorks is moving forward with redistricting details;
  • the Mayor wants to move to open the community room, which involves the LB 357 committee. Tom will look back on the composition of the committee and discuss with the mayor.

Meeting adjourned.

Summary for Crete City Council regular meeting - Tuesday, Oct. 5
View this Meeting Agenda and attachments

Council member Kyle Frans was absent.

The council approved the Consent Agenda items:

• Minutes of the following meetings: City Council Sept. 21, Legislative and Economic Development Committee Sept. 21, Public Safety Committee Sept. 21 
• Treasurer’s Report
• Claims against the City 
• Approve the Mayor's appointment of Greg Hier to the Airport Authority for the term ending 12/01/2024.

The Council renewed the City's membership with Southeast Nebraska Development District. City Administrator Tom Ourada clarified this is an annual membership and each year the city reviews the value of being a member. 

• Ward II Council Member Ryan Hinz explained the Legislative and Economic Development Committee looked at this and discussed how SENDD helps with applications for grants and could contribute as the city looks at adding housing program components. This  membership is still valuable and frees up city staff to do the things they need to do.

The Council entered into an agreement with gWorks to develop a redistricting map for the City's election wards.

• Ourada explained after each 10-year census political subdivisions have to look at redistricting and it will be quite different because of how COVID affected people last year, including Doane University. Ward 1 was 600 people short of what they were in 2010. He has talked with city officials and Mayor Dave Bauer about how there may have to be a radical realignment of Crete’s Wards due to population shifts and having an outside party create a redistricting proposal would be highly advisable. He explained that if we were to engage gWorks, after their initial work was completed, a recommendation will come back to the city for committee and city council vetting before any official action. Ourada said the public has to have confidence that the process was done objectively and without political influence.
• Mayor Bauer agreed this process could get political and having a third party make a recommendation would be the best course of action.
• Hinz said the Legislative and Economic Development Committee agreed that given the fact that gWorks specializes in this and Crete may have a dramatic redraw of the Ward lines, having an outside party seemed like the best idea.

The Council waived three readings and enacted Ordinance 2141: An ordinance relating to accessory buildings in the A-1 Agricultural District.

• Ourada explained this action would amend the ordinance on accessory buildings in the A-1 zone, which had previously limited the size of accessory buildings to the size of the principal residence, mainly affecting acreages in the city’s extra-territorial jurisdiction. City Attorney Kyle Manley rewrote the ordinance that the Planning Commission and city staff then discussed. The Planning Commission and Legislative Economic Development Committee both recommended this change, which basically exempts the size of accessory buildings in the A-1 zone, but all other compliance articles for those buildings stay.

The Council approved Black Hills Energy's new tariff rate and Small Volume Interruptable contract. Ourada said this was presented in August the first time and generally provides new terms for the interruptable rate. This is revenue neutral as the city leases the power plant to MEAN and is reimbursed when it is called to generate; all fuel costs are passed through to MEAN.

The Council waived three readings and enacted Ordinance 2140: An ordinance relating to the management and operations of the electric department.

• Ourada said these ordinance changes dovetail with changes two weeks ago relating to the Public Works Director job description and adds flexibility for the city administrator and council; this gives latitude to either have the Public Works Director take on electric department duties or not depending on the candidates that would be considered to fill the position. Traditionally, public works directors oversee water, wastewater, usually streets and rights of way, and sometimes parks, but only occasionally include electric utilities.

Officer Reports:

Reports may be given by Officers, Departments, Committees, or Council members concerning the current operations of the City. No action can be taken on matters presented under this title except to answer any questions or to refer the matter for further action.

• Jack Oelschlager, Ward III Council member, asked about any communication with Burlington about the Hawthorne crossing work by their crew, which has not yet started after it was announced in August. Tom said there was no new information; Burlington had also announced work on the Main Ave crossing would start in October. Tom reminded the Council that Burlington’s timelines are almost never accurate. Mayor Bauer recalled the West 13th Street crossing timeline was months to over a year off from their original timeline.
• Tom Ourada, City Administrator
  • Behlolavy Estates is paved and dirt work needs to be done before the next phase;
  • he is nearly done with the electric substation RFP;
  • the city is currently looking at zoning, with an eye to the rewrite of comprehensive plan for which RFP solicitations will go out in October; discussions with the building inspector and city attorney have included new styles of housing and annexation, with more information to come;
  • box culvert at 22nd and Ivy - this project is still in the design phase; Tom has a meeting Wednesday with adjacent property owners on property acquisition for a lift station and recreation possibilities;
  • Wendy Thomas, Human Resources Coordinator, is working with the Civil Service Commission on the new police officer hire;
  • a meeting of the city’s non-profit housing corp. included an application which proposed using housing grant money the city had applied for; the application was rejected because it did not include a payback provision;
  • Public Works Director job is posted and a position in the Public Works Office will soon be posted;
• Mayor Dave Bauer offered his appreciation to people from the city on down for their efforts during Crete’s Great Pumpkin Festival, saying it takes a lot of people to put that on and their work was very much appreciated by himself and the community. Tom added that in the City makes substantial investments in labor and City resources in all departments to help make these events successful.

Meeting adjourned.