The Wayne City Council now has eight members, following the appointment of Dwaine Spieker to fill the remainder of the term of Cale Giese.
Spieker was sworn in during Tuesday's meeting of the Wayne City Council and will represent Ward 3 until 2020. Giese was recently sworn in as Mayor of Wayne, creating the vacancy. Newly elected Council member Chris Woehler, who was unable to be present at the last meeting, was sworn in prior to the start of the meeting.
In addition to the adding of the new members, Tuesday's agenda included a wide variety of topics ranging from the presentation of a state certification to the sale of electricity to the property and casualty insurance package for the city for the coming year.
Lyndsy Jenness with the State of Nebraska Department of Economic Development was at Tuesday's meeting to make a presentation.
Jenness commended the community for its economic development efforts and noted the city "supports large and small businesses." She said the city earned re-certification as a Certified Community, an accreditation the city has had for the last five years.
Following a public hearing, the council approved a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) loan in the amount of $250,000 to Talon Capital, LLC to be used toward the purchase of Frye-Tec, Inc., a manufacturing business located at 701 Centennial Road.
Jeff Christiansen with the Northeast Nebraska Economic Development Office, explained to the council the details of the financing of the $5.6 million project. He said the CDBG loan would be a 20 year loan, at four percent interest. It would be combined with bank financing, Small Business Administration financing and owner equity.
The plan calls for the current employees and staff at the business to retain their jobs in Wayne.
An electric rate increase was approved at Tuesday's meeting. This comes after a rate study indicated that there is a need for an average 4.3 percent increase to cover the current costs, including upgrades to the infrastructure.
The rate increase will also include a service charge increase and will result in a slight decrease in summer rates and a larger increase in winter rates. This will result in more stable electric costs throughout the year.
The rate increase will take effect with the June 2019 billing (reflecting electric usage from April 15 - May 15).
Cap Peterson with Northeast Nebraska Insurance presented information to the council on the city's property and casualty insurance coverage.
Peterson explained the coverage in the package and how the city's Workers Compensation rates are determined.
The total cost for the city's coverage, which includes property, the Power Plant, autos, the umbrella package and Workers Compensation is $343,149. Council approval was given for the coverage, which covers goes into effect in January.
Several agenda items dealing with electricity also received approval during Tuesday's meeting.
These included a resolution to approve a capacity purchase agreement between the city of Wayne and Northeast Nebraska Public Power District (NNPPD) and Big Rivers Electric Corporation. The agreement will allow the city to sell excess capacity to NNPPD.
Also approved on first reading was an ordinance approving a negotiated agreement between Big Rivers Electric Corporation and the city of Wayne. The agreement is for eight years, with the City of Wayne selling power at one rate for the first four years and at a higher rate for the final four years.
Additional ordinances receiving first reading approval deal with amending the city code in regard to changing language from a "snow plow alert" to a "snow or winter weather emergency" and regulations dealing with keeping the streets clean of snow, mud and other debris.
Council members approved a payment in the amount of $20,600 to Milo Meyer Construction for the Ditch Grading Project south of Grainland Road and praised the work of Steve Meyer in getting the work completed and at considerably less cost than the original estimate.
Due to the New Year's holiday falling on a Tuesday, the Wayne City Council will next meet in regular session on Wednesday, Jan. 2 at 5:30 p.m. in council chambers.
