Reflections for the Week of Sept. 27-Oct. 1

Police:

• Continued implementation of Viper (911) Call system.

• Officers attended Kid’s Nutrition Day.

• Officers attended Campus Kick-off.

• All officers were trained in ICAT de-escalation and anti-bias tactics.

• Chief’s interviews were conducted on police officer candidates.

Community Development:

• We have issued 695 roofing permits as a result of the July 9, 2021 storm.

• Goodwill Store was approved for a building permit at the old Alco building.

• Runza was approved for a building permit to build a restaurant north west of Holiday Inn.

• Staff attended zoning and land use training in Kearney.

• New signs for posting public hearings for Planning Commission, Board of Adjustment, and City Council were delivered.

• Aided the County Clerk by providing them some of our GIS data which they plan to use for dissemination of election information.

BBDC:

• Attended NEDA Board Meeting Tuesday, discussed 2022 Annual Conference to be held in Valentine May 11-13, 2022.

• REAP held their first ‘mobile office’ @ BBDC Wednesday (they will be here last Wednesday of each month from 12-2pm) resulting in one visit from a prospective business. More information can be found at https://www.cfra.org/

• Met with 2 businesses looking to grow substantially in 2022.

Electric:

• Performed a significant rebuild of the Box Butte-Niobrara alley from 9th to 10th Street.

• Performing the annual inventory of all warehouse items for year-end.

• We received our annual testing and certification in pole top and bucket truck hurt man rescue.

Public Works:

• Jetting of sewers is ongoing, as is pothole repair

• Crack sealing complete.

• Lift station A concrete complete.

• The Nebraska Department of Transportation continues working on concrete repair on 3rd Street.

• Heavy equipment cross training underway.

• Public Transit transported 527 riders this week.

Fire:

• Finalized preparations for Fire Prevention Week 2021. Sunday, October 3rd through Saturday October 9th “Learn the sounds of Fire Safety”.

Chamber of Commerce:

• The Chamber Ambassadors presented Western Nebraska Community College with the Spotlight Banner for October and visited the Alliance Public Library.

Finance:

• Effective October 1st, all utility rates increased by 1%. Also on that date, changes were made to eliminate sales taxes from residential water charges.

Library:

• We were honored to have the Alliance Chamber of Commerce do a “Spotlight” visit with the Library this week!

• The bookstore is now stocked with cute Halloween items! Come check them out!

• We thank our many donors who have been especially generous of late making many additional services and programs available to the public.

• Our “Gertie the Ghost” contest begins October 1st and lasts until Halloween. Children who find Gertie in the Library will receive a special prize!

• Scary books are just one of the displays we have created this week! Lots to see and choose from for a great spooky read!

• Due to its popularity, we have added a second class to train the community in macramé!

RSVP:

• We are still accepting applications for a cook for the Nutrition Site. We continue to offer onsite and delivery meals in the community.

• The RSVP clerk started in her position and is learning the program and facility.

Parks:

• All parks mowed and cleaned this week. The growth rate of the grass is slowing, which will help with our efforts.

• Both paper towel dispensers in the Central Park restrooms were stolen. Staff replaced them and will carefully monitor them. This is part of an online “challenge”. The school is also having issues with this type of vandalism.

• Staff placed irrigation rings around the trees recently planted South of the Power line school in effort to keep them well watered.

• Staff assisted with the installation of the playground at the ARC all day Thursday and half of Friday. Utilizing our equipment helped the process move along much more quickly.

Museum:

• Staff started unpacking and inventorying Christmas items for the gift shop this week.

• The Museum is moving to Winter hours starting October 1st. New hours are Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and they will be closed on Sundays.

• Staff is coordinating a meeting with an author completing research regarding churches in the State of Nebraska.

Golf Course:

• The irrigation pump was repaired and put back into operation on Monday. We were able to get this repair turned around in one day, and the weather stayed cool so there were no ill effects to the course as a result of the repairs.