Council Minutes - July 7, 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, July 21

Condensed Minutes for Crete City Council regular meeting - Tuesday, July 7:

View this Meeting Agenda and attachments, entire copy of minutes available at the office of the City Clerk.

Mayor Bauer called the meeting of the City Council to order at 6:00 p.m.  Answering roll call were the following Council Members: Frans, Newmyer, Strehle, Papik and Fitzgerald Absent: Crisman

The following actions were taken at the meeting:

Approved the Consent Agenda items: Unanimous

• Meeting Minutes: June 16 City Council , June 16 Public Works Committee, June 16 Finance Committee, June 16 Legislative Development Committee, June 16 Parks & Recreation Meeting
• Treasurer’s Report 
• Claims against the City $1,639,600.35
• Mayor’s appointments:  Jennifer Robison to the Planning Commission, Adam Bauer to the Business Improvement District Board, Jim Crouse and Amanda Lopez to the Library Advisory Board, Ken Marvin, Manuel Dimas, and Liz Umana to the Economic Development Advisory Committee 

Held 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. Parcel ID: 760144138 I1 to C2. Unanimous

Approved the proposed Zoning Change Request. Parcel ID: 760144138 I1 to C2. Unanimous 

Held 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 A Tract of Land Being Part of Outlot "A", Dittmer Estates Addition Located In The Northeast Quarter Of Section 26, Township 8 North, Range 4 East Of The 6th P.M., City of Crete, Saline County, Nebraska, C1 to R3. Unanimous 

Approved the proposed Zoning Change Request A Tract of Land Being Part of Outlot "A", Dittmer Estates Addition Located In The Northeast Quarter Of Section 26, Township 8 North, Range 4 East Of The 6th P.M., City of Crete, Saline County, Nebraska, C1 to R3. Unanimous 

Held Public Hearing to hear testimony in favor of and in opposition to and answer questions in relation to amending the Future Land Use Map. Unanimous 

Approved amending the Future Land Use Map. Unanimous 

Approved the Public Works utility account write- off. Unanimous 

Approved Public Works unclaimed property. Unanimous 

Approved declaring surplus bricks for sale on surplus website and for a cost of $0.25. Unanimous 

Approved the Updated Scope and Fee Crete Park Concept Services. Unanimous 

Enacted Ordinance 2278 renumbering codes created in Ordinance 2277. Unanimous 

Approved the first reading for Ordinance 2279 regulate bicycle, E-bikes, minibikes and other motorized recreational transportation and create penalties for violation of these sections. Unanimous 

Approved the Southeast Nebraska Development District FY27 Membership. Unanimous 

Adopted Resolution 2026-16 authorizing mayor to sign Crete Area Medical Center MOU. Unanimous 

Approved the Memorandum of Understanding Between The City of Crete and Crete Area Medical Center to the commitment to provide health care services to all patients regardless of financial ability. Unanimous 

Officers’ Reports 

• Chief of Police Gary Young stated the following: 
  • Noah Zach was awarded the Nebraska American Legion Law Enforcement Officer of the Year and he is a excellent representative of the City of Crete. 
  • Zach has been helping with the car seat initiative and in June there were 9 car seats given out and 14 car seat checks with Sixpence and McKinney-Vento. There will be another car seat event in September. 
  • Young provided a summary of the event that took place at Tuxedo Park with an individual that had a camper made from an armored car and was threating to kill an officer. Young thanked the collaboration of assistance with this event of the Nebraska SWAT, State Patrol, Saline County Sheriffs Office, Lancaster County, and the Crete Volunteer Fire Department. 
• Parks and Recreation Director Liz Cody stated the following:
  • Staff are performing daily checks (M-F) on campground areas. 
  • Working park and facility maintenance issues 
  • Additional signage is being posted for dumping, parking, etc. 
  • Thanked the Council for the Ordinance on the e-bikes and mini bikes. 
  • Mayor’s Day at the Wildwood Pool will be Sunday July 12 - free admission during open hours. End of season pooch party on Aug. 2nd 3-4pm. 
  • We thank Coach Martin for her 4 years as head swim coach and are seeking a new swim coach for next season.
  • Adult Co-Ed Softball registration until July 24th.
  • IRA UCF Grant coordinator visits Crete on Wed. July 8th to review sites for upcoming grant funded tree work.  
• City Administrator Tom Ourada stated the following:
  • The warning stickers for the Ordinance on cryptocurrency are in and will be distributed to the businesses in town that have crypto ATM or Bitcoin ATM. Dr. Sarah Brown and possibly Crete News will be going as well. 
  • The City of Crete did not get the BUILD grant which an application had been submitted or an overpass. 
  • The City has submitted multiple other grants including the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Grant. 
  • Working with Nebraska Department of Transportation Infrastructure HUB on the Reconnecting Community grant that the City of Crete was awarded for a planning grant for a pedestrian bridge. 
  • Ourada and Mayor Bauer received a letter from Dr. Tom King who is the President of the Library Advisory Board and Chair of the Historic Preservation Commission. He is resigning from that board and commission since he is moving out of Crete. 
  • The City of Crete is working on the recertification for the Economic Development Community certification. The city does that every five years.
  • Keno has been strong the last couple months. 
  • Sales tax is steady. Year to date the City has refunded about $24,000 as part of the State’s incentive program. 
  • We are about 3.86% below what we were last year but 2% ahead of budget and we are stable. 
  • We are working on the new street dedication. 11th street is going through and then there will be a street in front of Blue River Meats dedicated by the various owners. Ourada stated to the Council that they can ponder a street name that starts with the letter x or y. It would be tree name to keep it consistent. Ourada stated that some name options would be presented to the council to vote on. 
  • A new Human Resources Director has been hired, and she will be starting on August 3rd, 2026. 
  • Council member Anthony Fitzgerald asked about the next nuisance hearing on Wednesday, July 29th, 2026 and if there will be meetings on a more regular basis. Ourada stated that has been addressed and hearings will be held if there are enough nuisances. 
• Mayor Dave Bauer stated that the Crete Fireworks show was great. Bauer added that it has been great to see all the departments helping each other and working together. 

The meeting adjourned at 6:46 p.m.