The repair of the trail near Logan Creek, the city's property and casualty insurance and a request for LB840 Revolving Loan funds were among the items before the Wayne City Council on Tuesday.
David Wiggins, Senior Civil Project Engineer for Leo A. Daly, spoke to the council on the status of the 2019 Wayne Trail Repair project. Portions of the trail were damaged during the March flooding this year.
Wiggins told the council that the construction documents have been finished and he has been in contact with the Army Corps of Engineers to answer questions about the project.
"With the upcoming holidays and the probability of no progress made during this time, we are looking to bid the project out in mid February and construction to begin in May," Wiggins said.
He also explained various parts of the project and the plan to reconstruct the area in hopes of preventing the trail from being damaged by flooding in the future.
Following Wiggins' presentation, the council voted to approve Resolution 2019-73, which will reaffirm the project engineer and approve the plans, specifications and estimate of cost for the project.
Cap Peterson with Northeast Nebraska Insurance presented information to the council in regard to the city's property and casualty insurance. He thanked the city staff for their work and cooperation in the process.
Peterson explained the various parts of the coverage package and how rates are determined, especially for Workers' Compensation. He praised city's safety committee for working to keep the city's experience mod lower, and as a result, save the city money in premiums.
He said that while the rural fire district's vehicles are included with the city's policy, the rural district pays their portion of the premium.
Following the presentation, council members voted to approve the package at the cost of $356,694 for the coming year.
A loan request of $40,000 from the LB840 Revolving Loan fund was approved for Johnnie Byrd Brewing Co.
The money will be used to purchase the real estate at 121 Pearl Street and make minor improvements to the building. The purchase will include only the west portion of the building and does not include the 1912 building.
Greg Ptacek, owner of Johnnie Byrd, spoke to the council on his request for funding, the repayment terms and the interest rate for the loan. These will be based on the private bank financing.
Ptacek said one of the things he hopes to do is install air conditioning in a portion of the building.
In other action, the council accepted the membership of Sumaya Ibrahim to the Wayne Volunteer Fire Department. Ibrahim is a sophomore at Wayne State College.
Council members gave third reading approval to an ordinance that will amend the city code dealing with the moving of mobile homes, both within the city and into the city.
City Administrator Wes Blecke told the council there had been some updates in the language of the ordinance since the second reading, with a goal of making it easier to move mobile/modular homes within the city. The changes would also protect the home owners in the neighborhoods where these homes are located.
BJ Woehler spoke to the council, stating he was opposed to the wording in the ordinance and asked the council to stop the process of amending the ordinance until they had more time to discuss the issue.
Council members voted to move forward with plans and specifications for the Senior Center Freezer/Pantry Storage Addition project.
Roger Protzman with JEO Consulting told the council the plans and specifications for the project are complete and it is anticipated a bid could be awarded at the Jan. 21 meeting of the council.
Council members discussed several aspects of the project, including getting bricks to match those that are currently on the building.
Resolution 2019-75 was approved. It will allow WayneNet, LLC to use city utility poles for work being done. This will involve mainly the downtown area.
Also approved was Resolution 2019-76, which authorizes an administrative service agreement with ICMA Retirement Corporation. The four-year contract comes with a reduction in fees to those who use these services.
A letter of intent will be sent to the Nebraska Department of Economic Development to apply for an award through the Community and Civic Center Financing Fund program. At this time there is no actual commitment from the city on where the funds would be used; however, discussion centered on renovation of portions of the Community Activity Center.
The Wayne City council will next meet in regular session on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 5:30 p.m. in council chambers.
