Council Minutes - Jan. 6 and 20, 2026
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.
- Questions about agendas or meeting minutes should be directed to the City Clerk.
- Meeting minutes are published in The Crete News (local newspaper)
- Each regular city council meeting agenda also contains the minutes of recent council, committee, and board meetings
The next Crete City Council regular meeting will be on Tuesday, Feb. 3
Minutes for Crete City Council regular meeting - Tuesday, Jan. 20:
View this Meeting Agenda and attachments, entire copy of minutes available at the office of the City Clerk.
Mayor Dave Bauer called the meeting of the City Council to order at 6:00 p.m. Answering roll call were the following Council Members: Crisman, Frans, Newmyer, Strehle, and Papik Absent: Anthony Fitzgerald
The following actions were taken at the meeting:
Approved the Consent Agenda items: Unanimous
- Meeting Minutes: January 6th, 2026 City Council Minutes, January 6th, 2026 Public Works Committee Minutes, January 6th, 2026 Personnel Committee Minutes , January 6th, 2026 Finance Committee Minutes , January 6th, 2026 Legislative/Development Committee Minutes
- Treasurer’s Report
- Claims against the City $581,960.40
- Approved new volunteer member of the Fire Department: Melanie Sawtelle, Donavin Viger, Landon Widick, Mikalynn Wylie, Nathan Cochnar as new volunteer member of the Fire Department
Adjourned the City Council to a meeting of the Community Development Agency (CDA). Unanimous
- Approved the Cardinal Ventures Second Amendment to the Redevelopment Agreement. Unanimous
- Approved the Cardinal Ventures Certificate of Completion. Unanimous
Adjourned the Community Development Agency (CDA) to the City Council. Unanimous
Adopted Resolution 2026-03 master fee schedule. Unanimous
Approved the claims from Crete Ace Hardware in the amount of $1,688.25. Crisman: Aye, Frans: Aye, Newmyer: Aye, Strehle: Aye Abstained: Papik
Approved the purchase of a 2025 Mack MD6 Dump Truck Stock# N076841 in the bid amount of $125,000. Unanimous
Enacted Ordinance 2264 Amending 2-1204 authorizing the appointing authority to appoint members of the commission. Unanimous
Tabled Ordinance 2265 Amending Section 5-402 of Bureau of violations process. Unanimous
Tabled Ordinance 2266 Amending 2-1514 Dead or hazardous tree removal. Unanimous
Approved to authorize to apply for the Tree City Application. Unanimous
Approved amending the Waste Connections Agreement adding 2 carts and 3 carts. Unanimous
Approved the Crete Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department By-law concerning EMT requirements. Unanimous
Approved the Keno Audit. Unanimous
Officers' Reports
- Chief of Police Gary Young and Human Resource Coordinator Jody Fiehtner introduced the following employees:
- John Hensel as temporary Police Officer. He has experience working with Thayer County Sheriff’s Office and Saline County Sheriff’s Office and Jail Administrator Experience. Hensel is going through the hiring process with the Civil Service Commission.
- Asbel Barrientos as the new part-time Administrative Assistant at the Police Department.
- Fire Chief Tod Allen introduced the following as new volunteer members of the Fire Department; Melanie Sawtelle, Donavin Viger, Landon Widick, Mikalynn Wylie, and Nathan Cochnar.
- Phil Oelschlager is teaching EMT classes at the fire department.
- February 7th, 2026 is the Fire Department’s Dinner Dance
- A citizen donation was used for radiant heat in the department.
- Library Director Jessica Wilkinson stated the following:
- The Crete Public Library and Doane University are offering free state and federal tax assistance through the VITA program on Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. beginning January 31st, 2026.
- Parks and Recreation Director Liz Cody stated the following:
- The Lion Fountain was damaged due to high wind.
- Met with Ag Society to recruit their help in notifying PD in the event of vandalism or damage in the park.
- Youth soccer registrations opens on January 26th, 2026.
- The Tree City USA & Growth Award recognizes the City’s annual community forestry work
- 2025 IRA Urban Community Forestry Grant will begin in February and assist with this work.
- Building Inspector Trent Griffin explained the December 2025 Permit Log and the 2025 Calendar Year Permit Log. Trent explained that he is working on getting nuisance structure letters mailed out.
- City Administrator Tom Ourada stated the following:
- Had a discussion with another town about the City of Crete helping with a part-time building inspector.
- There will be a board of adjustment meeting in February.
- The Railroad Transportation Safety District didn’t meet due to not having quorum. The president position rotates from a City representative to a County Representative for 2026.
- The City is advertising for the Police Officers
- The City Audit is done and just got the draft.
- Continuing to apply for grants. One of the railroad crossing study grant match will be lower to around $135,000 and Burlington will be putting an equal amount. Currently getting letters of support.
- The Housing Study is done and will be presented soon. There were some comments with some things that were not accurate and those changes were made.
- The paving district preconstruction meeting is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, January 29th, 2026. The contractor was going to start June 1st but they are wanting to come in this week and that can not be done since people have to be notified first.
- Got competitive quotes for the City Park pavilion and restrooms. The Civic and Community Center Financing Fund (CCCFF) is one grant the City of Crete will be applying for matching funds up to $385,000. There is also a generous benefactor a local LLC that is also willing to contribute.
- Mayor Dave Bauer stated that once there is notification on this grant they will bring ideas on the project at City Park. There are stipulations on the donation that is being made for City Park.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:36 p.m.
Condensed minutes for Crete City Council regular meeting - Tuesday, Jan. 6:
View this Meeting Agenda and attachments; entire copy of minutes available at the office of the City Clerk.
Mayor Dave Bauer called the meeting of the City Council to order at 6:00 p.m. Answering roll call were the following Council Members: Crisman, Frans, Newmyer, Strehle, Papik and Fitzgerald
The following actions were taken at the meeting:
Approved the Consent Agenda items: Unanimous
- Meeting Minutes: December 16th, 2025 City Council Minutes, December 16th, 2025 Public Works Minutes
- Treasurer’s Report
- Claims against the City $1,210,629.27
- Mayor's appointment sof Jeff Wenz, Ryan Jindra, Scott Kuncl, Tom Ourada to the Planning Commission
Adjourned the City Council to a meeting of the Community Development Agency (CDA). Unanimous
- Approved the request from Cardinal Ventures, LLC to amend the Redevelopment Agreement for the Cardinal Ventures Redevelopment Project and implement the 2-year extension to the TIF timeline. Unanimous
Adjourned the CDA to the City Council meeting. Unanimous
Held a Public Hearing to hear testimony in favor of and in opposition to and to answer questions in relation to the proposed zoning change Request PID 760001529, 760001537 and 760146559 C-2 to C-1. Unanimous
Approved the proposed zoning change Request PID 760001529, 760001537 and 760146559 C-2 to C-1. Unanimous
Held a Public Hearing to hear testimony in favor of and in opposition to and to answer questions in relation to the proposed zoning change Request PID 760001510 and PID 760001502 C2 to R3. Unanimous
Approved the proposed zoning change Request PID 760001510 and PID 760001502 C2 to R3. Unanimous
Held a Public Hearing to hear testimony in favor of and in opposition to and to answer questions in relation to the following proposed Zoning Change Request PID 760131058, and the south 30 feet of PID 760148367 and the south 30 feet of PID 760130604 C-2 to R-3. Unanimous
Approved the proposed Zoning Change Request PID 760131058, and the south 30 feet of PID 760148367 and the south 30 feet of PID 760130604 C-2 to R-3. Unanimous
Held a Public Hearing to hear testimony in favor of and in opposition to and to answer questions in relation to amending the future land use map. Unanimous
Approved to amend the future land use map. Unanimous
Approved the Crete 24DTR001 119 E 13th Application and Tier II. Unanimous
Approved the Crete Municipal Airport AvFuel Agreement. Unanimous
Held a Public Hearing to hear testimony in favor of and in opposition to and to answer questions in relation to the proposed purchase of Lot 1 Jelinek Addition. Unanimous.
Adopted Resolution 2026-01 Authorizing the purchase of Lot 1 Jelinek Addition. Unanimous
Adopted Resolution 2026-02 Authorizing signatories for financial documents. Unanimous
Introduced and Enacted Ordinance 2263 Amending Salaries and Wages in Ordinance 2257. Unanimous
Approved the payment of claims from Crete Ace Hardware in the amount of $1,497.47. Voting yes: Crisman, Frans, Newmyer, Fitzgerald, Abstained; Papik
Officer’s Reports:
- Chief of Police Gary Young stated the following:
- John Hensel has been hired as a temporary Police Officer for four months and will go through the hiring process.
- The Police Officer position is now open and applications are being accepted. There has been one candidate that has been tested.
- Library Director Jessica Wilkinson stated that the 2025 reading challenge was completed. With each box checked off the list participants got 1 ticket entry into the drawing and there were over 2,000 tickets turned in. The 2026 reading challenge is now open.
- Parks and Recreation Director Liz Cody stated the following:
- Finalizing budget for 3 years of grant funds for urban community forestry activities from Plant Nebraska. We anticipate grant eligible activities will begin in February.
- Food bank distributed 3,333 boxes at the Tuxedo Park distribution Site from Jan-November – average of 303 households per month.
- Reviewing 2026 wages and fee schedules with City Administrator
- City Administrator Tom Ourada stated the following:
- The tar kettle is not here yet and the road grader is supposed to be here in February.
- City Attorney Anna Burge is back from leave and thanked City Attorney Alison J Borer for filling in. Borer is done generally but will still be helping with Tax Increment Financing (TIF).
- Mayor Dave Bauer also thanked Alison J Borer for filling in and helping.
The meeting adjourned at 7:18 p.m.