Council Summaries - Feb. 7 and 21, 2023

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.

The next Crete City Council regular meeting will be Tuesday, March 7.

Summary for Crete City Council regular meeting - Tuesday, Feb. 21
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 Feb. 7, Public Works Committee Jan. 17 and Feb. 7, Finance Committee Feb. 7, Personnel Committee Feb. 7, Public Safety Committee Feb. 7
• Treasurer’s Report
• Payment of claims against the City
• Cline Williams Invoice #355562 
• Right-of-Way Permit for Unite Private Networks on Boswell Avenue.

The Council held a Public Hearing on the One and Six Year Plan.

• City Administrator Tom Ourada explained this is a statutory requirement for First and Second Class cities and as a certified street superintendent, is authorized to complete the One and Six for the City. The 1-year plan contains north side gap paving projects and a possible roundabout at 13th and Iris; the 6-year plan includes reconstruction of 15th Street from Boswell to Iris.

The Council voted 5-0 to adopt Resolution 2023-04; a resolution approving the One and Six Year Plan.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve a franchise agreement  with ALLO Fiber regarding services in the city of Crete.

• Dave Miller, General Manager for ALLO in Eastern Nebraska, was accompanied by Al Schroeder, Director - Outside Plant Engineering, and Kayle Henderson, Sales Representative. Miller explained it has been about 6 years since they first talked to Crete about bringing ALLO, an all fiber optic telecommunications service provider into town; their goal is to substantially build out within city limits so that everyone has an opportunity for ALLO services. ALLO is backed by Nelnet and SDC Capital Partners, LLC - New York, NY. Miller said ALLO is also interested in a potential local storefront to serve residents and businesses directly in Crete and they also want to get involved in the community, working with nonprofits, schools, etc., as well as hire from within the community. ALLO participates in the Affordable Connectivity Program - a federal program from COVID that provides connection services to residents who qualify under low income restrictions. During the construction phases, a webpage will be provided for residents to see the progress; ALLO also plans to communicate through other means, such as  door hangers to let people know where they are working. 
• Mayor Dave Bauer said that on behalf of city "we are very excited for you to come to Crete. Partnerships are great within the community and the financial commitment you are making is important.”

The Council voted 5-0 to table this item to a later meeting date: property owner's request to vacate Locust Street north of Fairchild Drive in Lothrop Heights.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the HD Big Blue Addition Administrative Subdivision. Ourada said he worked with Cline Williams attorney Alison Borer to finalize this subdivision and the following, similar item.

The Council voted 4-0 (1 abstention, Crisman) to approve the Alden Cihal Addition Administrative Subdivision.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the Addendum to the Criminal Interdiction Task Force MOU with Homeland Security Investigations. Crete Police Captain Jon Pucket said this allows the PD to sign on with the Criminal Interdiction Task Force - West with Seward and York County Sheriff’s Offices; this task force has been the top seizure team in U.S. and Canada.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve an application for "U-Drive, U-Text, U-Pay" Traffic Enforcement Grant for the Police Department. Pucket explained this is another traffic enforcement grant that reimburses for overtime pay incurred by officers conducting special enforcement activities. These grants allow the department to have more of a presence for community protection.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve a Change Order No. 1 to the new ambulance contract with Danko Emergency Equipment for the amount of $70,994.

• Fire Chief Tod Allen explained the fire department was notified by their ambulance builder, Danko Emergency Equipment, that the Dodge chassis they expected would not be supported during the next year. Rather than wait, they found a different chassis in Utah that increases the chassis cost from about $54,000 to $70,994. The department also received notice they were awarded a $75,000 grant by Department of Health and Human Services toward new equipment.

The Council voted 5-0 to adopt Resolution 2023-03: A resolution declaring the official intent of the City of Crete, Nebraska to reimburse certain expenses in connection with the box culvert project from the proceeds of bonds issued by the City. City Clerk/Treasurer Jerry Wilcox explained this allows the city to reimburse itself for costs already expended on the box culvert project on 22nd Street when the funding process for the project is wrapped in with other BANs (bond anticipation notes).

The Council voted 5-0 to approve Ordinance 2164 on its first of three readings: An ordinance to annex Area #6 into the corporate limits of the City.

• Alison Borer explained this is the Cardinal Ventures property (former Jones property on the east edge of Crete south of 13th Street). The council passed the resolution to consider this annexation and this is the first of three readings to make annexation official. A second reading will be on the March 7 meeting agenda, along with a public hearing.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the report on the audited financial statements from the independent auditor AMGL.

• Ourada explained Marcy Luth, of AMGL, presented highlights and benchmarks of the city’s audit report to the Finance Committee, who also had the complete report. She said the city was in good financial health; there were a couple of deficiencies in the electric and water departments, Ourada noted that, when considering recent rate increases in those departments, the entire audit could be considered in good health.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the amended Disadvantage Business Enterprises Program for 2022, 2023 & 2024 required for City control of the Municipal Airport. Ourada said this and the following item are additional requirements for the city to inherit and operate the airport as a department of the city; both items were recommend by the Public Works Committee.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the Assignment and Assumption Agreement required by the Federal Aviation Agency for City control of the Municipal Airport.

Petition - Communication - Citizen Concern: 

Citizen testimony may be limited to 3 minutes per person. Please do not repeat testimony that has already be heard. No action can be taken on matters presented under this title except to answer any questions or to refer the matter for further action.

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.

• Tod Allen, Fire Chief: 
  • reported the new wildland fire gear is here, a project in cooperation with UNL Forestry Services; the department will receive a check back for 75 percent of the purchase cost; members will wear this when not wearing their structural gear; 
  • the tanker truck is back after a plumbing repair;
  • the benefit for member Brad Elder was a success with the department and Doane University; raised about $17,000 for his medical and recovery expenses.
• Wendy Thomas, Human Resources Director, introduced Liz Cody as the new Parks and Recreation Director;
  • Liz shared that she had been meeting with Tom and Wendy prior to this point,  specifically with Tom, over the last 4-5 months. She has previous experience working with the city over about 4 years through the Southeast Nebraska Development District and enjoyed that time greatly as Crete is a community that stands out from many in the state for its ability to provide services its citizens want, an efficient government, and consistency in communication from Tom. She believes she has a unique set of experiences to succeed in this role and be responsive to the needs of the residents; she is very excited to take on those conversations. She will assume the director role full-time after the current UNL semester, where she currently works in campus recreation.
  • Mayor Bauer said he is excited as well as she will bring a lot of new ideas that have been lacking in the past.
• Jack Oelschlager, Council Member - Ward III, thanked city employees for their work during last week’s snow storm.
• Tom Crisman, Council Member - Ward II, wanted to know about progress on the chicken ordinance; Ourada explained he has talked with the Legislative and Economic Development Committee chairman, Dan Papik, who wanted to gather more information and is not yet prepared to have an ordinance written; Mayor Bauer said they are still gathering information from other communities and have communicated the process to interested members of the public.
• Tom Ourada, City Administrator:
  • Wednesday and Thursday this week is strategic planning at MEAN (Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska); next week staff will be at League meetings;
  • he testified to the Legislature’s Urban Affairs Committee on LB 224, a proposed grant opportunity for first class cities; Crete, Papillion, and Ralston, all testified in support; he said some projects you can’t plan for or have contingencies for, such as in Crete, the West Crete area service expansion and East Crete area for future services;
    • LB 224, introduced by Senator Terrell McKinney, would create the Aid to Municipalities Act. “This Act would allow for grants that would pay for infrastructure projects within municipalities of any class. These grants may only be used to pay for construction or bonds. Once instituted, the Legislature would appropriate $15 million each fiscal year towards the Act."
    • We had been talking with ALLO for 5-6 years in trying to make it work economically to get them into Crete; who knew having ALLO come in would take a partnership with Doane as well as the City; we are excited to have this project get started;
• Mayor Dave Bauer:
  • thanked the Street Department and Public Works, who all did a great job during snow removal; 
  • he also commented that building relationships in our community is very important, noting the Doane, ALLO, City partnership but also the benefit for Brad Elder including the fire department, community, and Doane; in the future we will have a lot more relationship building.

Meeting adjourned.

Summary for Crete City Council regular meeting - Tuesday, Feb. 7
View this Meeting Agenda and attachments

The council approved the Consent Agenda items:

• Minutes of the following meetings: City Council Jan. 17, Public Works Committee Dec. 20 and Jan. 3, Personnel Committee Jan. 17, Legislative and Economic Development Committee Jan. 17, 
• Treasurer’s Report
• Payment of claims against the City
• Mayor’s appointments: Appoint Jerry Wilcox as the City's representative on the Blue River Arts Council.
• Approve Application for Payment No. 3 to General Excavating in the amount of $64,060.40 for the East 22nd Street project.
• Communications regarding the Isis Theater. 

The Council voted 6-0 to approve the bid from Constructors Inc. of $1,905,856.85 for the 2022 Street Improvements on recommendation from the Public Works Committee. City Administrator Tom Ourada said there were two bids for north side street projects and the bids were within one percent of each other. Both were well below the engineer’s estimate.

The Council voted 6-0 to adopt Resolution 2023-01: A resolution proposing the annexation of Area #6 and adopting a plan for extending services to the land.

• Alison Borer, city legal counsel from Cline Williams, explained this action sets forth approvals to annex the property described and adopts the plan for extending services to this area. It also sets a public hearing date for March 7; the Planning Commission will meet in advance of that date.

The Council voted 6-0 to waive three readings and enact Ordinance 2162: An ordinance authorizing and directing execution of the Green Energy Program Subscription Confirmation with the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska. 

• Ourada also discussed this item with the Public Works Committee, explaining the city had an agreement for wind energy rates as a member of MEAN, however these agreements have been discontinued. The Green Energy Subscription has been implemented to replace those agreements with a new rate scheme for green energy initiatives.

The Council voted 6-0 to waive three readings and enact Ordinance 2163; an ordinance amending the City Officer and Non-Bargaining Unit Employee Salary and Wage Exhibit.

• Ourada explained there was an oversight when they created the Police Captain position in place of the existing Police Lieutenant. Then Sgt. Jon Pucket applied and was selected as Captain, which did not turn out to be a raise in pay for him. The anomaly was discovered and should be fixed using this proposed change as presented to and recommended by the Personnel Committee.

The Council Consider approving the Memorandum of Understanding between the Crete Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations designating Crete Police Department employees as customs officers (Excepted).

• Ourada explained through this program some police department activities and labor can be reimbursed; they are not acting as ICE agents, but will offer assistance that is primarily technical in nature and deals largely with human trafficking prevention activities.

The Council voted 6-0 to engage Gilmore & Associates for a utility study on the east side of Crete at a cost of $24,000.

• Ourada stated any annexation has to have an improvement plan for utilities and as the council is looking at annexations on the east side, generally if the city plans to make improvements, they need to create an improvement district. In this case the district could extend beyond the specific areas the city is looking to annex to prepare for future growth. Considerations include the cost of improvements, size of the district, and percentage each property may be responsible for as improvements are made.

Petition - Communication - Citizen Concern: 

Citizen testimony may be limited to 3 minutes per person. Please do not repeat testimony that has already be heard. No action can be taken on matters presented under this title except to answer any questions or to refer the matter for further action.

• Sharon Kovar, of Crete, asked for an update on the council’s consideration for allowing chickens in the city.
• Ourada shared the current process to gather information for the Legislative and Economic Development Committee to consider, including how other towns deal with the issue, relevant ordinances used, monitoring, and possible enforcement. They should be meeting in a couple of weeks to go over materials and interested parties will be notified of the public meeting.

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.

• Wendy Thomas, Human Resources Director, introduced two new positions in the Crete Police Department; Civil Service Commission completed their eligibility lists and presented them to the city administrator, who is the appointing authority:
  • Current officer Colin Gaman was selected and promoted to Patrol Sergeant; he has been an officer in Crete since December 2017; and
  • Drew Smith was hired to fill an open officer position; he previously served as an officer in Crete from February 2014 - April 2020, and was most recently with the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office.
• Tom Ourada, City Administrator:
  • we have hired a Parks and Recreation Director and under terms we talked about will also do some grant work, but will not start full time until this summer; she was with SENDD (Southeast Nebraska Development District) for a time and is currently running programs for UNL Recreation; we’re excited to have her;
  • 13th and Iris roundabout discussions - people either love them or hate them, but if there was ever an intersection that needed one, this is it; we will meet with JEO to put finishing touches on an 80/20 application with Federal Highway that JEO thinks we have more than an even chance to get to help pay the estimated $1.2 million cost;
  • I testified in front of the legislature’s Natural Resources Committee as the vice chair for MEAN; LB289 is a proposal that would allow MEAN to provide technical and security services for municipalities in Nebraska - small municipalities that can’t afford to do these things on their own. Senator Tom Brandt is on this committee and asked great questions; I believe the bill will pass.

Meeting adjourned.