Council Summaries - April 2 and 16, 2024

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, May 7 

Summary for Crete City Council regular meeting - Tuesday, April 16
View this Meeting Agenda and attachments

Kyle Frans, Council Member Ward 2, was absent.

The council approved the Consent Agenda items:

• Minutes of the following meetings: City Council April 2, Parks and Recreation Committee April 2, Public Safety Committee April 2, Public Works Committee April 2
• Treasurer’s Report
• Payment of claims against the City 
• Approve Karson Cowan, as a new volunteer member of the Fire Department.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve Resolution 2024-05 Recognizing Terry Petracek's 50 years of service to Crete Fire and Rescue.

• Mayor Dave Bauer recognized Terry for his dedication and commitment to the Crete Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department, noted by his continued, active service for 50 years. Terry often makes more calls than many of his fellow members and has through the years. Terry has touched a lot of lives and left quite a legacy of leadership, reinforcing the mayor’s frequent comments that he would put the Crete department up against any in the state for volunteer service. When Terry is first through the door on a call, he puts family members at ease by the way he treats people and talks to them. He has taught a lot of young people in the department what it means to be a good leader. The approved resolution also states an emblem of a golf ball and tee will be placed on the department’s rescue units in honor of Terry’s service, including years as Rescue Captain.
• Terry Petracek thanked the mayor and council for the recognition, saying he was proud to serve. He also thanked the department members of 50 years ago who wanted him as a member. He wants this recognition to encourage people in the area to think about their ability to serve as a volunteer firefighter because 50 years goes by fast but you feel it in your heart.
• Terry received a standing ovation from the mayor, council, city officials, guests, and fellow CVFD members present.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the appointment of Jessica Wilkinson as Library Director. Director Joy Stevenson submitted her resignation in March and her last official day is April 30. Wilkinson will start on May 1; she comes from Columbus where she was on staff at the Columbus Public Library.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve pension plan changes.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the payment of claims to Crete Ace Hardware in the amount of $2,468.99.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve adopting Resolution 2024-04  Authorizing the termination of the Emergency Dispatch Service Interlocal Agreement with Beatrice and the City of Crete. 

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the Master Fee Schedule amendment. City Administrator Tom Ourada said the change is primarily for the garbage rate, adjusted annually, if the council chooses to approve it by franchise agreement.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the Mutual of Omaha Insurance contract changes. Ourada said this item was recommended by the Personnel Committee to change the renewal date to 7-1-24, instead of 10-1-24.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the SCADA System.

• The Public Works Committee heard this item for discussion. The replacement system is in the $250,000 range with Kidwell doing the hardware and firmware tasks, Olsson Associates doing the programming work. This system controls the electric, water, and wastewater systems of the city.
• Dale Strehle, committee chair, said the existing SCADA system is nearly 18 years old and the support is not there to sustain this system.

The Council voted 5-0 to approve the Drug and Alcohol Policy for Part-Time and Seasonal employees. The Personnel Committee recommended this item, the substance of which is to test only by cause from either accident or incident.

The Council voted 5-0 to deny the liquidated damage proposal. Ourada explained the general contractor for 22nd Street triple box culvert project incurred significant liquidated damages for late completion of this project; the contractor proposed trading resources in lieu of cash payment.

The Council voted 5-0 to ratify LARM's insurance action on the North side of 15th St.

• This and the following item first went to the city’s insurance carrier and again when the city received a determination from the risk management group.
• Strehle said the Public Works Committee did have lengthy conversations with the property owners and it’s not an easy decision in situations like this, but the committee recommended to deny the claim and ratify LARM’s insurance determination.

The Council voted 5-0 to ratify LARM's insurance action on the South side of 15th St.

The Council opted to seek additional information on the Family Learning Community Network Commitment Agreement.

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.

• Laura Renker, Assistant Library Director updated on recent library announcements and events:
  • “A Tree Grows in Crete” program was held in March and the library now has the free trees available for people who attended and made a tree selection;
  • Staff and patrons celebrated National Library Week last week, including a solar eclipse program with the telescope from the NASA@ My Library program;
  • Library volunteer Carol Vlasin was recognized for her efforts with the 2024 Outstanding Library Volunteer Award by the Nebraska Library Association in March;
  • six outdoor yard games have been added to the Library of Things;
  • the library hosted another successful puzzle race with 19 teams; the next one is in June for a family puzzle race with two puzzle sizes; there are many upcoming library events through August;
• Gary Young, Police Chief:
  • there was an update to the records management system at Southeast Communications in Beatrice which ended up shutting us down; thankfully we have city IT staff Mike Kalkwarf and Emerson Aschoff, who worked diligently with Beatrice and are doing a great job to get us up and running;
  • testing for sergeants is set for April 30;
  • Jaden Acevedo goes to the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Academy this month; he has been doing a lot of in-house instruction on some topics to prepare;
• Tod Allan, Fire Chief:
  • thanked the mayor and council for the resolution to Terry; the department is hosting an open house on Sunday, April 21 from 1-3 p.m.;
  • members will take a rig to the funeral on Friday for Ceresco’s Officer Bartlett, who was killed while on duty last week; he was also a member of their fire department;
  • our ambulance has been requested by the manufacturer to go to fire school for demonstrations in May;
  • introduced Karson Cowan, our newest member; he has been hanging out at the station since he was a kid and now going to SCC;
• Liz Cody, Parks and Recreation Director: 
  • returning to the pool this summer are Luke Bonifas, as a pool manager, and Kourtney Martin, as swim team coach; there is a swim team parent meeting on April 17 at 6 p.m. in the community room at the library; we are still looking for assistant swim team coaches;
  • Dan Dunaway is looking for volunteer coaches for t-ball;
  • we have 55 applicants for summer pool positions;
  • she heard from council members on some park concerns and will be addressing those;
• Tom Crisman, Council Member Ward 2, shared his thanks on behalf of the American Legion post; the Legion conducts the Junior Law Cadet Program where each of 15 districts can send 2 boys and 2 girls, high school juniors. Officer Audrey Arbuckle served on this district’s selection board and introduced them to K9 Hunk and explained what her job is like. We want to thank Chief Gary Young for assisting us with this and let you all know what a great, dedicated  officer she is and did this on her own time.
• Council members Ashley Newmyer - Ward 3, Dale Strehle - Ward 2, and Dan Papik and Anthony Fitzgerald - Ward 1, all welcomed the new library director and fire department member.
• Tom Ourada, City Administrator:
  • the city received a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request from Kathryn Doll of Blair, who wanted to know our relationship with Welcoming America; we responded to that and redacted any personal information; the city gets these requests from time to time;
  • we have a subdivision request for the Planning Commission, which is still incomplete, but there is interest in the northeast area of Crete and falls into some development discussion we’ve had;
  • reminder of three nuisances to prosecute;
  • the bid opening is on April 26 for the city farm property;
  • we are close to purchasing an ADA playground structure for City Park and are working out funding details.

Meeting adjourned.

Summary for Crete City Council regular meeting - Tuesday, April 2
View this Meeting Agenda and attachments

The council approved the Consent Agenda items:

• Minutes of the following meetings: City Council March 19, Parks and Recreation Committee March 19, Public Safety Committee March 19, Finance Committee March 19
• Treasurer’s Report
  • Sales tax receipts
  • Keno Report - Feb. 24
• Payment of claims against the City
• Approve JEO Invoice No: 149048 in the amount of $4,239.50

The Council voted 6-0 to approve the application SE24-01 for the Chamber of Commerce Cinco de Mayo Celebration. Ashley Newmyer, Parks and Recreation Committee chair, said they talked over the details of this third annual celebration and recommended approval to the council.

The Council voted 6-0 to approve the Crete Urban Area Map. City Administrator Tom Ourada said the state sends out changes to the urban area map; the city did contact the state to note the population line was incorrect, however it wasn’t an issue for the state.

The Council voted 6-0 to authorize the Mayor and City Administrator to provide a termination notice to Beatrice.

• Ourada explained this aims to formalize the termination notice now that the city will begin incurring costs related to switching dispatch communications to Saline County.
• Dan Papik, Public Safety Committee chair, said they recommended this item after discussion.

The Council voted 6-0 to approve the RMS Quote. 

• Ourada noted this is related to the previous item as it contains costs to the city for computer software and the dispatch switch.
• Dan Strehle, Council member - Ward 2, said the committee discussed contract language and terms involved moving forward.

The Council voted 5-0 (Papik abstained) to approve the payment of claims to Crete Ace Hardware in the amount of $336.91

The Council voted 6-0 to waive three readings and enact Ordinance NO. 2197 Relating To The Vacation Of Streets or Alleys. Ourada explained this follows the council’s act to vacate Quince Ave north of 9th Street, reserve the utility easement, and move to sell the vacated property to abutting property owners at $1 per square foot.

The Council voted 6-0 to waive three readings and enact enacting Ordinance NO. 2198 Amending Plat Requirements. Anna Burge, City Attorney,  said this advises changes to plats to allow the Saline County Clerk and Register of Deeds to stamp the front page without blocking other information; and state statute requires printed names of signatories applicable to the document.

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.

• Liz Cody, Parks and Recreation Director: 
  • recreation swim team and t-ball signups are open now through May 3;
  • Crete was again notified of Tree City USA designation;
• Gary Young, Police Chief:
  • he recognized Sgt. Ron Koch for his 33+ years with the Crete Police Department and pending retirement on April 6, stating Koch is all the things you’d hope for in a patrol leader;
  • Mayor Dave Bauer presented Koch with his retirement badge stating the sergeant has done a lot for the community and all officers serving under him have earned a lot.
  • Sgt. Koch said he appreciated working with councils and mayors in the past and currently and thanked them all for their support. He thanked Chief Young who he has worked with through many roles and ranks in the department. “I think this department is being left in exceptional hands.”
  • Council members offered congratulations and appreciation to Sgt. Koch.
  • he noted issues in Tuxedo Park recently that have sparked discussion with the city attorney, Parks and Recreation Director, and City Administrator; they will be looking at ideas moving forward;
• Anthony Fitzgerald, Council Member - Ward 1, asked about a light pole that fell on Boswell Ave between 6th and 7th streets; Chief Young said it was hit by a vehicle; Ourada did note the city does annual inspections of utility poles;
• Tom Ourada, City Administrator:
  • sales tax is down 6.7% for January - March, and the lowest return since July of 2022; the city refunded $6,650 back to the state this month; next month the city will refund $84,000; through the Nebraska Advantage Act people in Nebraska can get refunds on the backs of municipalities and the state will not tell us what the refund is by state law; when they renewed this initiative, it was pushed for disclosure of refunds, but it didn’t pass that way;
  • the newly formed local RTSD board (Railroad Transportation Safety District) will meet in May;
  • we are interviewing library directors on Thursday; there are two exceptional candidates;
• Mayor Dave Bauer gave an update on City Park projects and ideas. His goal has been to do something between the new parking lot and the existing playground itself, partly encouraged by a little girl who wrote him a letter advocating for ADA play equipment; parents have also come in asking about these additions. They have a meeting on Wednesday at 2 p.m. on park ideas. He and Tom have met with a contractor on a partial wall sign on East 13th Street as far as costs and design styles. The Crete Community Foundation has a donation of $45,000 from an individual and the CCF will put in $55,000, too. The donor had an idea of what she wanted that involves changing the bandstand; it’s currently not ADA accessible among other usage limitations. We can look at replacing it with something more usable. We are also getting bids on restrooms. He would like to keep the existing green space, work on weeds, and in all, better serve needs of park visitors. He also noted city government doesn’t work as fast as if a private business wanted to do something like this; the city is restricted by laws, bidding process, etc.

Meeting adjourned.