Council Summaries - Jan. 4 and Jan. 18, 2022

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, Jan. 18
View this Meeting Agenda and attachments

The council approved the Consent Agenda items:

• Minutes of the following meetings: City Council Jan. 4, Finance Committee Jan. 4, Public Safety Committee Jan. 4, Public Works Committee Dec. 7 and Dec. 21
• Treasurer’s Report
• Payment of claims against the City

The Council approved the payment of $3,168.81 to Kingery Construction for demolition work on the Isis Theatre. City Administrator Tom Ourada explained this is the current invoice the city has received for demolition costs; Kingery sends invoices to BRAC (Blue River Arts Council) and they review, then approve before sending on to the city.

The Council tabled action to the next council meeting on a change order for the West Crete Sewer Project. Ourada said the incoming change order will have two items: 1) the mandatory sewer connection for the NDEE subject west end property in the West Crete area, and 2) replacement at cost of a deteriorated corrugated tube that was dug up while crossing the street for the sewer main extension.

The Council awarded funding projects for the second round of the Downtown Revitalization Program.

• Ourada and City Attorney Kyle Manley worked on these with the committee.
• Ryan Hinz, chair of the Legislative and Economic Development Committee, said projects were prioritized to this list that could have the biggest impact, but there are still a couple of buildings the mayor would like to see added. There may be funds left to add more projects to this second round of funding and hopefully the city can apply for a third round to continue the revitalization work downtown.

The Council approved Ordinance 2145 on its first of three readings: An ordinance relating to nuisances and city hearings.

• Ourada explained this is a very comprehensive ordinance that took a long time to put together with Kyle Manley doing the majority of the heavy lifting. Some of the changes existed in city code in other places, some did not, but other material existed in the property maintenance code or state statute; nuisance hearings are set up using a strictly judicial process. There is statutory authority to enact these changes.
• Hinz said this was just finished and the Legislative Committee recommended it to the council for its first reading.
• Mayor Bauer encouraged the council to take a close look at this with the time they have until a final reading.

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.

• Jerry Wilcox, City Clerk-Treasurer, passed out a copy of 2021 audit, which will be looked over by the Finance Committee.
• Tom Ourada, City Administrator:
  • he was in Lincoln today for an annual paving conference; the conference finishes Wednesday; he will attended committee meetings for MEAN (Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska), where members may look at some form of electric rate increase in the 4 percent range;
  • he will be meeting with Mayor Bauer and Park and Recreation Committee chair Kyle Frans to restart Tuxedo Park improvement meetings and invite stakeholders;
  • city officials are working on software for permits, licensing, nuisances, etc. and with the nuisance ordinance being considering will dovetail nicely; it includes an online public portal for permits, licensing, and fees; includes checklists and checks and balances and will be more efficient in tracking these types of processes and documentation; multiple city staff have taken part in preliminary training;
  • bids for the box culvert will be opened on Jan. 27; we have some easements done, with three small easements yet to get.
• Mayor Dave Bauer attended Crete Fire and Rescue’s annual dinner dance on Saturday. He said it’s always impressive the number of hours they put in for the community and he thanked them for their service.

Meeting adjourned.

Summary for Crete City Council regular meeting - Tuesday, Jan. 4
View this Meeting Agenda and attachments

Council member Ryan Hinz was absent.

The council approved the Consent Agenda items:

• Minutes of the following meetings: City Council Dec. 21, Legislative Development Committee Dec. 21, Finance Committee Dec. 21, Public Safety Committee Dec.21
• Treasurer’s Report
• Payment of claims against the City

The Council approved the payment of $120,357.00 to Dostals Construction Company for construction expenses on the Wildwood Pool splash pad as recommended by the Public Works Committee. City Administrator Tom Ourada explained this is a second large payment for this project that is not completed yet, but is proceeding according to plan for the opening of the pool season.

The Council authorized the purchase of an additional new police cruiser from AFL, LLC for $36,516 and the installation of police vehicle equipment by Jones Automotive for $11,064.08 as recommended by the Public Works Committee.

• Ourada said information on this request was sent to the council as administrative officials are considering this and other creative solutions to staffing challenges currently experienced by the department. They still have not decided to purchase this additional cruiser, however they likely will to meet the needs of the department. The council approved the purchase of a police cruiser at the Dec. 21 regular meeting, which will replace an existing vehicle in the rotation. The present request would not replace any current vehicle.

The Council authorized the payment of up to $3,500 to JEO Consulting Group for consulting services related to a new water rate study as recommended by the Public Works Committee. Ourada said JEO Consulting did the most recent water rate study, however rates have not yielded the results the city thought; this is an agreement with JEO to review that rate study immediately with a negotiated cost.

The Council waived three readings and adopted Ordinance 2144: An ordinance authorizing and directing the issuance of sanitary sewer revenue refunding bonds as recommended by the Finance Committee.

• Ourada said this item has been worked on and talked about with the Finance Committee and council; City Clerk Jerry Wilcox has handled this with the lender, First National Capital Markets; this principal amount shall not exceed $5,565,000.
• Austin Partridge and Craig Jones were present from First National’s Public Finance Team and gave the following information: The last two years have been unique in a low-interest environment. Rates are usually lower with the calendar year change when banks, typically the purchasers of municipal bonds, look at their books. This authorization is for the city’s series 2016-A sanitary sewer bonds with a current rate of 1.875%. New, lower rates could be 1.5-1.55%, for a savings of about $140,000-$150,000. This ordinance puts the city in the position to take advantage of those new rates, but does not obligate the city to move forward until rates are locked in sometime next week. They will coordinate with Jerry when the rates are locked in for final authorization.

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.

• Brian Stork, Public Works Director, reported the department is looking at purchasing new radios and a digital repeater to allow communication with all employees and the fire department in emergencies and day to day operations.
• Tom Ourada, City Administrator, reported the city received another sales tax refund request and as with all of these requests, it’s not disclosed who is making it or why; the information is part of Nebraska Advantage program through Nebraska Department of Economic Development. City Clerk Jerry Wilcox did say there are limits on each project requesting a refund. 
• Mayor Dave Bauer thanked city employees for their work in the last year, saying 2022 will also be good for the city with a lot of projects that need to get done. He enjoys seeing and hearing that departments are working together. “We are all one city, one group. Helping each other out is what we should be doing. I want to thank city employees for the past and encourage them for the future.”

Meeting adjourned.