Council Summaries - Oct. 3 and 17, 2023

Joint meeting with Planning Commission, Oct. 3

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 on Tuesday, Nov. 7. 

Summary for Crete City Council regular meeting - Tuesday, Oct. 17
View this Meeting Agenda and attachments

Anthony Fitzgerald, Council Member Ward I, was absent.

The council approved the Consent Agenda items:

• Minutes of the following meetings: City Council Oct. 3, Finance Committee Oct. 3, Personnel Committee Oct. 3, Public Safety Committee Oct. 3, Public Works Committee Sept. 19 and Oct. 3
• Treasurer’s Report
• Payment of claims against the City 
• Approve Blue River Arts Council LB840 Grant Reimbursement Request totaling $108,761.47.  

The Council voted 5-0 to approve a CDGB contract amendment to extend the contract end date to November 2024 for the completion of the City's Downtown Revitalization project. City Administrator Tom Ourada explained this is a request for a one-year extension on projects to allow current applicants to complete work and a recently added project to start and be completed by a new deadline.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve Resolution NO. 2023-20 Accepting The Work In Street Improvement Projects Nos. 2021-1,2,3,4 and 5; Establishing A Time And Place For The Hearing On Special Assessments In Such Districts; And Related Matters. Meeting date was set for Nov. 21, 6 p.m. Ourada said this is the start of a process where the city council sits as the Board of Equalization to determine benefits to properties for paving assessments in the 2021 gap paving projects.

The Council voted 4-0 (Papik abstained) to approve approving payment of claims to Crete Ace Hardware in the amount of $1,268.66.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve a motion to ratify all actions of Tom Ourada, our LARM Board representative, identified in the minutes of the Annual Members Meeting of the League Association of Risk Management on September 27, 2023, including the election of nominees to the LARM Board of Directors. Ourada said he participated as the city’s representative at the LARM annual meeting, voting on various agenda items; all board members have to go through this with their councils to ratify actions.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve authorizing submittal of a letter of interest to participate in the Thriving Communities Program grant application. Ourada said this application is for grant writing assistance in all types of instruction over the course of the next several years; it elevates chances of grant approval from 2% to significantly higher depending on application.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve Gordon Bridges as a new volunteer firefighter. Mayor Dave Bauer said Bridges is a current city employee and was on the department in the past.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the City of Crete Drug/Alcohol Testing Program Policy with the requirements of the Department of Transportation (DOT). To take effect in calendar year 2024. 

• Ourada explained the city as been working on the DOT policy through various personnel changes since November 2017 and it is now ready for council action.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve a recommendation to the City Council on the City of Crete Non-DOT Anti-Drug Plan & Non-DOT Alcohol Misuse Plan. To take effect in calendar year 2024

• Ourada said this policy differs from the more rigid DOT plan, which is dictated by federal law. This item will do pre-employment screening, testing for cause, and testing for suspicion, which requires two people to validate reporting. That way, a person cannot target another person based on personal issues.

The Council voted 5-0 to waive three readings and adopt Ordinance No. 2180 Relating to Business Registration; To Amend Section 10-301 Of The Crete Municipal Code To Include Businesses Transacting In The City Of Crete, Nebraska. Ourada said this amends an existing ordinance, where instead of referencing a business located in the city, it references businesses transacting in the city.

The Council voted 5-0 to waive three readings and adopt Ordinance No. 2181 Relating to Business Registration; To Amend Section 10-302 Of The Crete Municipal Code To Define Transacting Business. (Amends definitions to include “transacting business”)

The Council voted 5-0 to waive three readings and adopt Ordinance 2182 Amending Ordinance 2177 Non-Bargaining Unit Officer and Employees Salaries & Wages Salaried Positions.

• Ourada explained one change adds the Library Aide position, which is not an additional staff position, but would take the place of a librarian not working at that time; the pay is a little under the position for which they are filling in. The other change is with the Parks Seasonal Laborer, Transfer Station Attendant, and Public Works Seasonal Laborer so they are consistent with each other.

The Council voted 5-0 to waive three readings and adopt Ordinance No. 2183 Relating to Solid Waste Rates. This item codifies rates which were already approved as part of the Waste Connections franchise agreement.

The Council voted 5-0 to waive three readings and adopt Ordinance No. 2184 Relating to Consumer Deposits; To Amend Section 3-121 Ourada said this is a small change that alters the way deposits are calculated when someone has a deposit returned to them and then their account is in arrears; this updates the new service deposit amount.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve authorizing a contract for TraCS to provide e-citation services for the Police Department.

• Police Chief Gary Young explained the situation on current failures with Brazos software, a subsidiary of the department’s record keeping software. This recommended replacement, TraCS, “is a known commodity” and was designed to integrate with reporting requirements per state statute. The department would like to switch to this for e-citations; they are also already using a version of TraCS for accident reporting.

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. 

• October 3, 2023 Planning Commission Meeting minutes 
• September 12, 2023 Library Board Meeting Minutes
• Joy Stevenson, Library Director:
  • Saturday’s (Oct. 14) eclipse party was held without the eclipse visible, however, the library had plenty of other activities for over 100 people gathered;
  • Sunday, Oct. 22 - the library is hosting Crete Reads! author, Ellen Marie Wiseman, in a virtual program; lunch is catered by Calabria’s for advanced ticket purchase;
  • Upcoming events: Oct. 26 - crazy scientist teen night; Nov. 14 - puzzle race party at The 1206; Nov. 18 - Pinkalicious party for kids and families; Nov. 19 - Nebraska State Poet Matt Mason; Nov. 30 - teen night, beginning crochet;
• Gary Young, Chief of Police:
  • the department’s traffic grant was approved by the state - $77,490; Captain Jon Pucket perviously explained the we can use this for traditional traffic grants throughout the year to allocate overtime hours and for additional, specific events like trunk-or-treat, etc., as long as we have a traffic safety message; we received the entire amount requested and are putting together a plan for the entire year; Officer Dawn Jonas has already started Halloween safety programs with the schools;
  • Sgt. Colin Gaman is moving to Houston and wants to stay in law enforcement; he was an outstanding performer for the police and fire departments;
• Liz Cody, Parks and Recreation Director: 
  • attended Lifeguard Instructor Certification in Ogallala;
  • looked at York’s ADA accessible playground for ideas in Crete;
  • Library Park - working with Parks Groundskeeper Aaron Steffensmeier and Joy to enhance the green spaces; added a retaining wall to work on drainage; also looking at the west side for additional landscape changes;
  • closing down the pool - winterizing, landscaping; we are waiting on more estimates for replacing the bathhouse roof;
  • City Park - construction may be wrapping up and we are looking at what we can get done this fall as far as landscaping and maintenance in the new area;
  • Tuxedo Park - Boy Scout Tyler Ward has proposed an Eagle Scout project to restore the walking trails in the wooded area and along the river; we are working with our staff and other volunteers;
• Tom Ourada, City Administrator:
  • we have nuisance hearings this Wednesday (Oct. 18) starting at 4pm;
  • our large water grant and loan program is being deferred in order to expand the project; the  loan is less than 1% over 30 years and we want to take advantage of that as well as finish the water remediation project, the grant could be an additional $400,000 and the loan a little over $1 Million;
  • Burlington Northern Railroad provided their project calendar, which shows replacement of the Maine Street crossing all of next week (starting Oct. 23), I am apprehensive about sharing this as BNRR sometimes has had issues staying on schedule;
  • Iris traffic - we have placed temporary stop signs and are gauging effectiveness while looking at the next steps; we are gauging how effective it is for pedestrian traffic and gathering a lot of information before moving forward;
  • we are looking at additional gap paving on the north side where there are still opportunities; we’ll continue to discuss reconstruction on East 15th Street as well as other ways to deal with reconstruction projects in the near future;
  • City Park - the expansion project is nearly done; we would like to add infrastructure with public bathrooms in the park in order to move those out of City Hall’s ground floor; future use of this building space would include moving the Community Assistance Office and Building Inspector to have more space for public access;
  • likely Nancy Tellez will be in the City Clerk’s spot at the front council desk for meetings going forward;
  • the Mayor, City Clerk/Treasurer Jerry Wilcox, and I went to the grand opening of Calabria’s Italian Restaurant at College Heights Country Club; it’s nice to recognize businesses opening in Crete and the story also made the tv news;
• Mayor Dave Bauer
  • the Burlington crossing replacement is a major thing for Crete; I can’t count the number of calls I’ve received about the crossing’s condition over the years;
  • I want to first thank everyone, as far as city employees, for the pumpkin festival contributions, from the library, City Hall, police and fire; this is a big thing for Crete. I also want to thank all the Public Works and Parks departments staff for their help to get ready for it; we  greatly appreciate it. And an extra thank you to the Doane students, who volunteered at the start of their fall break; it’s really appreciated and nice to see the community all come together.

Meeting adjourned.

Summary for Crete City Council regular meeting - Tuesday, Oct. 3
View this Meeting Agenda and attachments

(Note: The first part of this meeting was a joint session with the Planning Commission; all proceedings were held in the Crete Carrier Community Room at Crete Public Library, 1515 Forest Ave.)

Crete City Council and Planning Commission joint session:

Comprehensive Plan update presentation by Chris Shires from Confluence, who shared highlights of the plan draft, scope and schedule, and the next steps in the five phases of the comprehensive planning process. The plan draft is phase 3. Four chapters were developed in the draft, which included the following topics and future considerations:

• 1) Community Vision - guiding principals, ideas;
• 2) Community to Live In - housing needs at all levels, affordability of existing housing, expanding types of housing, strengthening neighborhoods, rental housing inspections, housing education campaigns; parks and recreation - trail system, park makeup, level of service analysis, walk-time analysis of recreation areas, size/acreage needs and existing park land, needs for regional park, recreation center, continued neighborhood park needs; community connectivity - sidewalks, trails, multi-use paths, conceptual athletic complex, and community character;
• 3) Community to Work In - economic development, business growth, transportation, industries and jobs today (highest percentages are manufacturing, public administration, education), where the community is seeing growth, commuters in and out of city limits; look to commuters as potential new residents; steady population growth, existing businesses and new business development areas including near the airport, downtown core, highway frontage; street categories - arterial, collectors, local streets, and paved vs gravel; sidewalk network - priorities and improvements; creative ways to add sidewalks; connecting newer neighborhoods and limiting dead end streets and cul de sacs; good walking path network and how to push transit services by working with partnerships for on-call and fixed transit routes; potential pedestrian overpass - Boswell and Highway 33/103;
• 4) Community to Grow In - future land use plan and existing land use; currently a healthy mix of land use; looking towards 80% single family housing, 10% semi-detached single family, 10% multi family; land use categories and the planning boundary - the city wants to plan for the future and may not annex areas shown outside the boundary, but should look to how it could be used; north and the east could be the corridor taking advantage of the traffic patterns; suggesting more dense, gentle density in newer housing, such as semi-detached, not as much single family; priority A area - east toward the airport; priority B area - northeast ag land; priority C area - north and east along highway/north of highway.
• What’s next: Public Open House is on Monday, Oct. 16, 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Crete Public Library. Individuals may come and go during that time; there is no formal presentation. The plan draft will be shown in different stations, with goals, policies, and action items; boards and displays will be bilingual as much as possible; Update will also be on project website.
• Mayor Dave Bauer encouraged everyone to come to the open house on Oct. 16 and help get the word out to the community.

Planning Commission portion of the meeting was adjourned.

The council approved the Consent Agenda items:

• Minutes of the following meetings: City Council Sept. 19, Public Safety Committee Sept. 19, Personnel Committee Sept. 19, Finance Committee Sept. 19, Public Works Committee Aug. 15 and Sept. 5
• Treasurer’s Report
• Payment of claims against the City 
• Nebraska Broadband Availability Map

The Council voted 6-0 to approve a 4-year service agreement for the Fire Department's Lifepak AED's. 

The Council voted 6-0 to approve the purchase of a chassis for the Fire Department brush truck.

• Fire Chief Tod Allen and Assistant Chief James Yost discussed this item explaining they have found this chassis for sale now in Snyder and would like to move on it quickly given the current timelines in new equipment production. This is for a 2023 Dodge 5500 chassis for which the department would have a back end built for it. This would replace a 1996 grass rig.

The Council held a Public hearing to hear testimony in favor of and in opposition to and to answer questions in relation to the Petition ZOA23-03 To Amend The Zoning Ordinance.

• City Administrator Tom Ourada explained there is a person who wants to construct a building on this I-1 zoned property. Current setbacks on this property means they won’t be able to use the property in any meaningful way as it’s too narrow. It’s located along Highway 33/103 north of the concrete plant. They are requesting a change to C-2; is contiguous with C-2. The Planning Commission addressed it favorably and recommended to change that portion from I-1 to C-2.

The Council voted 6-0 to approve the Petition To Amend The Zoning Ordinance application number: ZOA23-03

The Council voted 6-0 to recommend the application for a Retail Liquor License from Casey's Retail Company DBA Casey's 4303 located at 2151 Cardinal Ln, Crete, NE.

The Council approve the Ramaekers Addition Administrative Subdivision. Ourada explained this is about a half mile south of Crete, across the river and east of the roadway. This request conforms with the city’s ordinance on administrative subdivisions and was recommended by the Public Works Committee.

The Council held a Public Hearing to hear testimony in favor of and in opposition to and to answer questions in relation to the following proposed regulations: Chapter 11 Article 5 Fencing Standards. 

• Ourada clarified this was discussed at a previous committee meeting and went to the Planning Commission. This was not prompted by any singular issue, but through discussion with the building inspector and himself over the course of several years. There was a request from one individual who wanted to put an 8-foot fence in a front yard. 
• City Attorney Anna Burge said the only true language change focuses on what materials can be used in construction of fences, mostly to prevent potentially dangerous materials.

The Council voted 6-0 to waive three readings and adopt Ordinance 2179: An ordinance to amend Section 11-502 of the Municipal Code to change design standards for fencing.

The Council Consider authorizing the Police Department to apply for the Highway Safety STEP Grant.

• Captain Jon Pucket said this item reflects a change in the grant application process from Highway Safety. There will now be one grant form for highway safety grants for the year, including Click It Or Ticket and DUI enforcement grants, in which the department regularly participates. The department can be reimbursed for overtime for hours involved in events promoting safety messages and enforcement campaigns.

The Council voted 5-0 (Papik abstained) to approve payment of claims to Crete Ace Hardware in the amount of $204.28

The Council voted 6-0 to approve approving Old Main Bar & Grill as a contractor for Crete Keno. 

• Ourada said the council, as the governing body, has authority to grant keno outlets. The local provider, Crete Keno, was approached by new entity, Old Main Bar and Grill, to be a third outlet in Crete.
• Kyle Frans, Finance Committee chair, said they are excited to have third vendor in town and recommended approval.

The Council voted 6-0 to approve the Contractor's Application for payment from Constructors, Inc. in the amount of $343,495.75

The Council voted 6-0 to approve the Change Order #13 on the Isis Theater Phase I. Shay Smith, Blue River Arts Council Executive Director, said this was for a little structural addition above the restrooms to make sure they meet weight-bearing needs for decoration purposes and this change is paid for from funds they already have.

The Council voted 6-0 to approve an agreement for Isis Theater Phase II. Smith said last year they phased the project due to higher cost estimates and now need to close out Phase 1 (lobby and restroom construction) in order to close out foundation grants funding those costs. They would proceed with Phase 2, which includes the auditorium.

The Council voted 6-0 to approve the Interlocal Agreement between the City of Crete, Nebraska and Saline County, Nebraska to provide for pavement construction on Boswell Ave and County Road 2300 from BNSF railroad north of Highway 33 to E. 29th St. Ourada explained this is between the city and Saline County for a paving project, which is structured into thirds along with Nestle Purina. Burge pointed out that if Nestle does not participate, the city can restructure the agreement.

The Council voted 6-0 to move forward negotiating an MOU and purchase agreement for lots 5-6 and lots 7-8 Block 99. Ourada said they are working with a local developer and have an idea on the amount, but don’t want to disclose in the midst of negotiations. This item seeks authorization for the mayor and city administrator to finish negotiations.

The Council voted 6-0 to approve Resolution 2023-19 for a detour from NDOT on South 103. Ourada said NDOT will perform construction in the Smithfield area of Highway 103 South for 30-45 days and want to divert traffic into Crete on Main Ave; this was recommended by the Public Works Committee.

The Council voted 6-0 to approve amending Section 4.05 of the Personnel Rules and Regulations to clarify the use of time banks when using FMLA  and/or Disability Benefit Plans Ourada said this adds clarification on policy. The city’s policy currently has a particular order for using time off for requested FMLA which differs from the city’s provider for short-long term disability, which disallows the use of sick time to be used. This clarifies the city will comply with the provider before the city policy takes affect.

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.

• Shay Smith shared a couple of big events coming up this month - Oct. 20: bilingual DJ and food truck at the 4-H building in Tuxedo Park; Oct. 27 - 90’s band at the 1206 downtown.

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.

• James Yost, Assistant Fire Chief: reported on the department’s call total so far this year at 695; and they have 1 application pending for an associate membership, while 3-4 people have reached out for details.
• Liz Cody, Parks and Recreation Director: 
  • NRPA (Nebraska Recreation & Park Association) conference was helpful and she brought back a lot of new ideas;
  • Tuxedo hosted Crete High’s annual softball tournament and more campground management has progressed with some help from the police department;
  • bathrooms located at the city tennis courts, Rotary Park, and Tuxedo Park will be closing soon for the season;
  • she has had walk-throughs of the City Park expansion project.
• Tom Ourada, City Administrator:
  • on the next council agenda will be a $735,000 grant for a new water well, including a  low interest (0.6%); project will include $1.4M on water mains connecting the new well to existing water mains in Crete;
  • the city will start nuisance hearings again, with three in the next few weeks; the nuisance hearing board includes the Mayor and two council members from the Public Works Committee;
  • Crete Public Schools is asking for city personnel to help on traffic control on Iris Ave.; he has talked with engineers on traffic signals and with NDOT on traffic features in the area; The school inquired about a four-way stop on 13th & Iris. We looked at that and a roundabout and NDOT was not receptive to the roundabout and our traffic study didn’t support a four way stop. We may look at stop signs at the school intersections instead of expending city staff time every day for school traffic and pedestrians. That should indicate if signals would be a viable alternative.

Meeting adjourned.