Council Summaries - Jan. 7 and 21, 2025

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, Feb. 4

Summary for Crete City Council regular meeting - Tuesday, Jan. 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 Jan. 7, Public Works Committee Jan. 7, Public Safety Committee Jan. 7, Personnel Committee Jan. 7, Legislative/Community Development Committee Jan. 7
• Treasurer’s Report
• Payment of claims against the City 
• Mayor’s appointments to the Downtown Advisory Committee: Tom Sorensen, Adam Bauer, Paul Heath, Crystal Alarcon, Chris Linhart

The Council voted 5-0 to authorize the Crete Police Department to apply for the LARM Grant for the purchase of a ballistic vest. Police Chief Gary Young explained this grant would provide for purchase of vests once per year and the department applies every year; this pays for one and half to one and two thirds of the items. The grant requires no matching funds.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the claims from Crete Ace Hardware in the amount of $872.27

The Council voted 5-0 to authorize the Crete Police Department to apply for the Department of Justice vest grant. Young said this would award $1,500 toward the purchase of vests; the department will also purchase a carrier. This item and the previous PD grant opportunity allows the department to replace expiring vests.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the amended FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) agreement regarding the Lieutenant position.

• City Administrator Tom Ourada said they talked about activating the Lieutenant position and the FOP was generally receptive to proposed changes. This agreement includes the lieutenant wage scale.
• Young said it is seen more as an administrative position for searching out and writing grants, regular supervision over SROs (school resource officers), with some patrol responsibilities when needed.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the amended LB840 application for funds in the amount up to $150,000 from PWR & DWD Rental Properties DBA Old Main Bar & Grill, with language in the performance agreement to include proof of expenditure of insurance claim funds.

• Ourada said the Economic Development Advisory Board previously awarded $93,000 to this entity, however they considered the value in a large investment in an anchor building downtown.
• Council member Ashley Newmyer, Legislative and Economic Development Committee chair, said they asked additional questions and determined this would be a continued good use of funds.
• Council member Anthony Fitzgerald asked if the city should make sure all insurance funds had been paid to cover losses from the earlier fire.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the Master Professional Services Agreement and Work Order 001-City of Crete from Speece Lewis, a Bowman Company. Ourada said this was a typical agreement and Speece Lewis has done all of the city’s bridge inspections for years as well as having designed two bridges the city needs inspected; these are reimbursable expenses.

The Council voted 5-0 to waive three required readings and adopt Ordinance 2230 Vacating Alley. (abuts lots 7-12, Block 3, West Crete Addition). Ourada explained there are buildings on adjacent private property that occupy a portion of the platted city alley and in order to comply they need to purchase the property to align them with city planning and zoning. This item did come in front of the Public Works Committee and City Council for discussion at a prior date.

The Council voted 5-0 to waive three required readings and adopt Ordinance 2231 Sale of Vacated Alley.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the amended LB840 application from the Crete Housing and Community Development Corporation (CHCDC) in the amount of $475,000.00.

• Ourada explained CAIDC (Crete Area Improvement and Development Corporation) will contribute $25,000 and if LB840 contributes $475,000, Crete would have $500,000 to be matched four times using a workforce housing program.
• Newmyer, Legislative and Economic Development Committee chair, felt this could be used to target housing developments with units in the $200,000-250,000 range.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve Resolution 2025-1 Establishing a time and place for the hearing to address C-2 special exception request for the property at 1575 Blue Acres Drive, Crete, NE. Hearing set for Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 6 p.m. Ourada said this is a commercial building on the west side of town in a C-2 area, in which primary uses do not include churches. A prospective buyer would like work with the city through the special exception process to seek approval to use the building as a church.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the amended policy change to the City of Crete Personnel Rules and Regulations. Ourada said there was one clarification on the use of sick leave and vacation leave before and after holidays.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the Paramedic Services Agreement between Crete Area Medical Center and the City of Crete.

• Ourada said he, along with Mayor Bauer, and Council member Dan Papik met with CAMC’s Julie Lacey and additional staff on what the council requested as far as paramedic services going forward. Requests were split into two agreements; with this first agreement paramedics will receive $45 an hour on transfers when needed, with a two-hour minimum.
• Mayor Bauer said this situation all turned out well with communication between the city, fire department, and hospital. CAMC wanted a 3% increase after one year and agreed to an increase after the third year.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the Clevette Administrative Subdivision. Ourada explained this is a standard administrative subdivision, which can go straight to council for approval; it satisfies all subdivision criteria.

Petition - Communication - Citizen Concern:

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.

• Gary Young, Police Chief: 
  • Nebraska State Patrol conducted an audit on tracking from initial arrests, through jail, state, and federal agencies; results were great and will be further enhanced as the department gets into the new records management system;
  • staff completed a 300-plus task list on records management go-live goals with an all-user meeting in February;
  • Officer Noah Zach would like to work with kids and supplement what School Resource Officer Dawn Jonas is doing; the schools are the biggest concentration of people in our city during the day;
• Trenton Griffin, Building Inspector:
  • Crete Senior Villas are almost finished with last inspections upcoming; there are signs out about leasing contacts;
  • new apartments at 16th and Hawthorne may finish sooner with early equipment arrival;
  • he attended a flood plain administrators conference and brought back a lot of good information;
• Ashley Newmyer commented on new legislative bills to watch for in this session.
• Anthony Fitzgerald - asked for an update on the airport manager: Ourada said they are getting started and are talking about moving a regular event to a different space; he also said he didn’t think there will be opportunities to have big community/rental events at the airport moving forward as hangars will be occupied and interest has grown with the incoming management;
• Dale Strehle asked about the status of nuisance properties, which are moving forward.
• Tom Ourada, City Administrator:
  • he will be in Kearney Wednesday and Thursday for MEAN committee meetings and aboard meeting on Thursday; they are looking at about a 9% rate increase in wholesale power cost; it’s good the city is doing a rate study and will look at spreading any increase over a couple of years;
  • Community Assistance Director Marilyn Schacht has been busy today, largely correcting misinformation about rumors of ICE activities and contending with a lot of fear and anxiety; the city has contacts and is in communication to get relevant information;
  • we hired a new HR coordinator, with years of experience, who starts Monday, Feb. 3; there were 43 applicants;
  • Mayor Dave Bauer asked everyone to keep our board and commission openings in mind as it’s not easy to find people to serve on those; he will get a list from City Clerk Nancy Tellez and if anyone as recommendations for residents to serve, please let him know.

Meeting adjourned.

Summary for Crete City Council regular meeting - Tuesday, Jan. 7
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 Dec. 17, Public Works Committee Dec. 17, Finance Committee Dec. 17, Public Safety Committee Dec. 17
• Treasurer’s Report
• Payment of claims against the City 

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the Maintenance Agreement No. 57 between the Nebraska Department of Transportation and the Municipality of Crete. City Administrator Tom Ourada said this is the standard agreement for the section of highway in city limits.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the Special Conditions documents for Crete 24PWI004. Ourada explained these are stipulations attached to the public works grant. Legislative/Community Development Committee chair Ashley Newmyer said these are annual acknowledgments for CDBG (Community Development Block Grants) and along with the following item, are recommended for approval by the committee.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the Special Conditions documents for Crete 24DTR001. 

The Council voted 5-0 to waive three readings and adopt Ordinance 2232 - Amending telecommunications occupation tax. Ourada explained the state legislature limited this specific occupation tax to 4%; the city’s current rate was 5%.

The Council voted 5-0 to waive three readings and adopt Ordinance 2233 - Amending new deposit rate once deposit is returned. An existing ordinance had a conflict between two sections; this item clarifies city ordinance to say a paid back deposit would be at the current rate class.

The Council voted 5-0 to authorize the Crete Police Department to apply for the Law Enforcement Hiring Bonus Grant. Police Chief Gary Young explained this grant is offered through the Crime Commission for up to $7,500 to newly-hired officers who are able to be certified; Jaden Acevedo is Crete’s current officer candidate.

The Council voted 4-0 (Papik abstained) to approve the claims from Crete Ace Hardware in the amount of $1,102.91. 

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the Airport Manager Contract. Ourada said the new manager Justin Haack, and his wife, Samantha, are eager to get started; he brings an FBO (fixed base operator), avionics, and mechanic business to the airport.

Petition - Communication - Citizen Concern:

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.

• Gary Young, Police Chief:
  • A recent LARM review for our risk management insurance carrier resulted in no urgent issues, however, revealed a couple tasks for the department to look at updating, several of which can be accomplished using the new records management system being put in place;
  • noted a recent social media issue on a Crete community chat Facebook page where a comment about the department not assisting in unlocking a resident’s car - two decades ago we did open cars, however, current technology and plastic use in car manufacturing has taken the ease of this away from us;
  • commented on two recent hit and run incidents: 1) the nature of the injury is such that we can’t say for sure if it was a medical emergency or he was hit; this is ongoing; 2) early morning New Year’s Eve a car hit 3 parked cars and Officer Jeff Kramer diligently hunted and found a car offset in a driveway; he matched damage heights and talked to the driver who said they did it; through his doggedness he solved this damage case for 3 different vehicle owners and identified an issue with the driver and her parents, who knew about it and didn’t report it;
  • dispatch switch update - we are working with the Saline County Sheriff’s Office’s head of communications, Jon Baumann, as well as on the city’s end with Mike Kalkwarf and Emerson Aschoff, on licensing and telephone switchover; we are still projected for a March 31 start and our contract ends with Beatrice in September; certain trained officers in our department, including Matt Jonas, who came over from Saline County, have been helpful in the process;
• Jessica Wilkinson, Library Director:
  • introduce the library’s new stuffed dog mascot - “Sodapop Curtis,” a name suggested from the book “The Outsiders” by a library patron;
  • the library made over $1,200 at the December book sale; 
  • programming - 969 attendance for the month; staff gave away books at the annual community Breakfast with Santa; The Polar Express movie showing at the Isis Theatre drew 116 people; 15 teens at after hours event;
  • we’ve switched to a new meeting room software;
  • 100 book reading challenge for 2025 including a challenge sheet and a drawing for prizes;
  • we received $800 for a Youth Grant for Excellence and will use it to purchase books with audio recordings to read to patrons;
  • Youth Librarian Maridza Vasquez will attend the American Library Association LibLearnX conference in Phoenix this spring;
• Tom Ourada, City Administrator:
  • we are working on the police Lieutenant position with an item for council action at the next meeting;
  • CHDC - our housing development group is working on a grant application for a 3-1 match for workforce housing funding where we want to take LB840 money and parlay into $1M; we are in conversations with potential partners; we’re looking at building housing units in the $200-$250k range;
  • at our recent city leadership meeting I asked department heads and leaders to attend one each of standing board and commission meetings this year;
  • our downtown building is likely sold and we will return money to LB840, which sunsets in 2025; we need to work on the council authorizing putting a renewal measure on the ballot in the spring;
  • Blue River Arts Council has an open seat for a city representative;
  • airport hangar grant update - the FAA stated they don’t consider heat as an eligible expense, however the state depart of aeronautics is working with us to get it included; this is a $1.4M double box hangar to be designed in 2025 and constructed in 2026.

Meeting adjourned.