Stop signs, ransomware and establishing an ordinance to deal with a lift station emergency at the wastewater treatment plant were all debated during Tuesday's meeting of the Wayne City Council.
An ordinance was presented which would have allowed for the installation of stop signs at the corner of Sixth and Windom Streets on Sixth Street.
Council member Matt Eischeid said that "the more stop signs we add, the less people will abide by them. Putting stop signs everywhere will not solve the problem."
Council member Jason Karsky said that "when we change traffic signs, drivers take other routes and go faster. Specifically, when the stop signs were installed at Ninth and Pearl Streets, drivers started going faster on Lincoln Street."
Mayor Cale Giese said in response to the request, "everybody wants slower traffic in front of their house. There is no easy answer to this problem."
City Planner Joel Hansen explained where stop signs are located on city streets and listed streets that have been designated major streets. These include Fourth Street, Windom Street, Oak Drive and Providence Road. He told the council that drivers are using Sixth Street to avoid traveling on Seventh Street.
Following debate, council members voted 4-3 against moving forward with the ordinance.
Brian Kesting, Technology Support Specialist, gave an update on the city's recent encounter with a ransomware virus.
Kesting told the council that on Feb. 18 he was notified by the police department that there were problems with the city's computer system. He said he determined the city was the victim of a ransomware attack that affected nearly all of the city's software.
At that time, a ransom of $500,000 was requested to release the city's computer system.
"I have wiped nearly all of the city's computers. Fortunately all our backups were good and have been re-installed," Kesting said. "As far as I can tell, nothing in our system was compromised because of the attack."
Kesting said that he "won't have 100 percent of the answers on what happened until the forensics reports come back. I know what happened, but don't know exactly for sure how it happened."
Going forward, Kesting told the council, the user stations will be "a little more locked down." Ideas have been discussed on possible changes to the city's system in the future.
An update was presented to the council on Lift Station No. 2 at the wastewater treatment plant.
Casey Junck, Water/Wastewater Supervisor, told the council that approximately two weeks ago, his department determined that something had broken in the lift station. He explained what had happened and the steps taken since that time.
While the exact cause of the problem can not be determined until water can be removed from the station, it was noted that the result of the lift station not working has created what has been deemed "an emergency."
This action allowed the council to move forward with the passage of an ordinance creating the emergency and approving a contract with Hawkins Incorporated to make the necessary repairs.
Council members voted to take no action on the recommendation for the application for a liquor license. Kyle Schellpeper, who was recently hired as the manager of the Wayne County & Golf Club is seeking the license. Schellpeper, who lives in Pender, spoke to the council on his experience with the golf business.
Wayne Police Chief Marlen Chinn told the council he had reviewed the application and had a question that neither he, nor the Liquor Commission, could answer at the present time.
It is anticipated that the process of approving or denying the application could take up to 60 days.
Council members approved a request to close off a portion of East 10th Street. The request was made by Anthony Cantrell on behalf of Wayne High School for the Electric Vehicle Energy Research of Nebraska for the Power Drive State Championship on Saturday, May 2.
The request was to close off the street from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. from just east of Angel Avenue to Hillside Drive and asked the city provide portable restrooms for the event.
Wayne Area Economic Development Director Luke Virgil gave a report to the council on LB 840 activity. Virgil said in the last six months $240,000 had been loaned out, with money going to ACE and Johnnie Byrd.
Council members also set a date of Tuesday, April 21 to have a town hall meeting in regard to the annexation of property. The meeting will be held at the Wayne Fire Hall and in conjunction with a regular city council meeting.
The Wayne City Council will next meet in regular session on Tuesday, March 17 at 5:30 p.m. in council chambers.
