Administration:
• After 11.5 years as the City’s Finance Director, we say farewell to Randy Waggener due to his retirement effective January 6, 2023. We wish Randy the very best and thank him for his diligent work!
• Currently implementing ClearGov, the budgeting software that will be used to prepare the FY24 budget.
Police Admin:
• Meetings: Central Square, CALEA, DEA, Vollee, IACP.
Police Communications/Intelligence:
• Coordinated 448 calls for service.
• Completed 3 report requests.
• 5 firearm permits issued.
Police Operations:
• 5 Child Welfare Investigations.
• 1 DUI, 7 Traffic Stops.
• 6 accidents.
• 0 K9 deployments.
• 68 Building Checks.
• 13 Community Contacts/Business Checks.
• 0 Vacation House Checks.
• 10 Active Investigations.
• 17 Cases Resolved.
Animal Control:
• 28 Animal Calls.
• 4 Dog Impounds. 4 dogs currently in the shelter.
• 0 Cat Impounds. 1 cat currently in the shelter.
Code Enforcement:
• 1 Code enforcement issue.
Notable Service:
• Satisfaction rating 91.9%.
HR:
• Paylocity: implementation team continues to work diligently on training, data upload, and assisting employees with requests. Thanks to everyone for your patience and in helping us make needed adjustments to the system.
• Conducting applicant testing and working with department heads to fill vacancies.
• Started 3 new employees this week! The City is happy to announce Melissa Van Galder – Full Time Cook (formerly part-time RSVP Clerk), Ranee Wignall – Nutrition Site Delivery Driver, and Bailey Johnson – Museum Clerk. Welcome to our newest team members!
• Assisting auditors with requested reports and documentation.
• Initiating employee changes for 2023 Open Enrollment regarding medical, dental, vision, life insurance, H.S.A. and F.S.A. contributions.
BBDC:
• Participated in various Policy Leadership Academy meetings this week around childcare, legislation, and community for kids grant application.
• Board of Directors met Wednesday for monthly meeting.
• Met with Susan Unzicker to help finalize agenda for the January Leadership Box Butte session.
• Attended the monthly CRA meeting.
• Assisted with Essential Air Service provider interviews with Lynn Placek.
• UNL was here Friday morning to discuss next steps as part of our RDAR Grant around Community Wellness.
Airport:
• Maintenance was kept busy with snow operations this week, with the majority of the time spent on New Year’s Day.
• Conducted airline provider interviews for Essential Air Service which will be considered by the City Council on January 17th to make a recommendation. The final decision lies with the Federal Aviation Administration.
• Passenger counts for December were 319 passengers enplaned and 332 deplaned. This is a decrease from last year. Weather issues did not cause cancellations, but did cause some long delays.
Transit:
• 560 riders this week.
Landfill:
• Ongoing work to repair conveyor.
• Snow removal and mud control ongoing.
Streets:
• Snow removal. Ongoing repairs to snow removal equipment.
• Christmas tree pickup underway.
Water:
• Water line repair at Cody substation.
• Snow removal.
• Repair Elkhorn well.
• Vehicle maintenance and repairs.
All Public Works Departments:
• Ongoing snow removal and drain cleaning.
• Responding to citizen concerns.
Community Development:
• Maverik was issued a building permit for an interior remodel.
• January Planning Commission will have two items on their agenda:
o Reorganization of the Board.
o Conditional Use Permit application for a daycare at 1104 Toluca Ave. (Marian Residence).
• Year End Information:
o 294 Building Permits.
o 103 Plumbing and Mechanical Permits.
o 82 Right of Way Construction, Excavation, or Obstruction Permits.
o 58 Zoning Permits.
o 2 Demolition Permits.
o 539 Total Permits.
o $20,477,676.23 in total project valuation.
o $103,738.98 in permit fees collected or about .5% of total project valuation.
o Three houses condemned.
o Planning Commission had 7 meetings in 2022, issued 3 Conditional Use Permits, and made 7 recommendations to Council.
o Board of Adjustment had one meeting in 2022 and issued 1 variance after the applicant proved a hardship as defined by State Law.
o Both Business Improvement District Boards were disbanded for lack of interest from business owners in the districts.
Fire:
• Year-end reporting being completed.
• Quick Snap Shot:
o 1,058 total calls for service in 2022. 11% increase over 2021. 33% increase for service since 2018.
• ESO build-out continuing.
• Staff learning Paylocity system, specifically the timecard section.
• Preparing for our newest career Engineer/AEMT to start on January 9th. This brings the career staffing level to five.
RSVP:
• Served meals in the dining room and delivered for people who couldn’t get out.
• Filled the open vacancies at the Senior Center to get staffing up to necessary levels.
Parks:
• Snow removal of all the city parking lots, city owned lots, city buildings, trails and sidewalks surrounding parks, the alliance library and both museums. Cleared drives at the cemetery. Went back to clean corner sidewalks and cross walks on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th streets of Box Butte.
• Removed of snow piles at the senior center, library and public parking lots.
• Reopened sidewalks along all our parks after plows went through.
• Repaired and maintained snow equipment.
• Emptied trash containers in parks and downtown.
Library:
• Adult Services Librarian Nalani Stewart catalogued new fiction books, prepared handouts and flyers for upcoming APL events, and prepared for our “How to Combat Seasonal Depression” presentation with Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Susan Hoff. She also began an NLC Communication Course, pulled the older books from the new shelf, and brainstormed new craft programs for February!
• Children’s Librarian Cynthia Horn held two story times featuring Snow and Sparkles plus Welcome to Winter with special guests, Rylie Wright and Dave Ocken. She completed shelf reading for the Easy Fiction section, including board books, paperbacks and backpacks, catalogued new items, and compiled statistics for December.
• Technical Services Librarian Emily Nelson prepared the December Director’s Report, processed ILLs for patrons and book clubs, and prepared the weekly Book Worm. She also updated the website with programming information and a new Staff Picks page for January.
• Library Clerks Kris Wilder and Pam Becker assisted in taking down holiday decorations and are busy decorating for Winter!