Monthly Report for December 2025
Community Development 2025 Year End Information
Permitting:
• 77 Building Permits for a total estimated improvement value of $4,110,875.21 and a total of $19,723.73 in permit fees collected.
• 33 Right of Way Construction, Excavation, and Obstruction Permits totaling $825.00 in permit fees.
• 2 Building Demolition Permits totaling $50 in permit fees.
• 136 Plumbing and Mechanical Permits for a total permit collection fee of $3635.00.
• 28 Zoning Permits for a total estimated improvement value of $30,650 and a total of $700 in permit fees collected.
6 Planning Commission Meetings Held for:
• Jelinek Rezone from Ag to Heavy Commercial.
• Annexation of the Westco Tire Shop Property.
• Block 28 Original Town Rezone from Heavy Industrial to Downtown Commercial.
• Training on the Floodplain Ordinance and Subdivision Regulations.
• Karell Addition plats.
• Conditional Use Permit for Accessory Dwelling Unit at 712 W 16th Street.
• 2025/2026 City of Alliance Capital Budget
• 10 Blight and Substandard Studies.
Board of Adjustment: One Meeting for Annual Training.
Nuisance Abattement : 808 Completed Nuisance Abatement Cases.
Facilities Maintenance: 332 New Facilities Maintenance Work Orders with 313 Completed.
IT
• Rolled out ArcGIS Online to departments to access their mapping online instead of relying on paper maps.
• Cleaned up the patch cables and equipment in the server room at the Library and Municipal Building.
• Rolled all City facilities into a 500Mbs connection speed contract with Allo and shut down the 10 Mbs ELAN resulting in faster connection speeds between all City facilities and the server.
• Annual computer replacement of 10 computers.
Human Resources
• Onboarding new employees including day 1 training and orientation regarding City of Alliance Policies and Procedures, drug and alcohol testing and drug-free workplace, harassment prevention, and use of the HRIS system for Timekeeping, benefit enrollment and personnel information.
• Configuration and design of the new Recruitment module. This new module will redefine how the City hires and manages applicants for all vacant positions. HR is currently in the process of duplicating the Job process both on paper and electronically to ensure a smooth transition in 2026. More information to come soon!
• Open Enrollment: HR has spent significant time to complete the Open Enrollment process for 2026. This includes updating all new rates for each benefit available to employees based on enrollment and benefit type. New rates and designs were updated for Medical, Dental, Vision, Employee life, Dependent Life, Employee AD&D, and Dependent AD&D, as well as supplemental benefits like HSA, FSA, and Colonial Life insurance. HR then approved all enrollments and updated each employee record to accurately reflect the new premiums for 2026. This process also includes working with our third-party vendors to update their records as well for employees who enrolled in their benefits. HR will now be auditing records during the first two weeks of January to ensure that deductions and earnings are reflected appropriately.
• HR is assisting the EAC in preparation for the Employee Recognition Banquet being hosted by City Council on January 16.
• Advertising and interviewing for open positions including Public Transit and Public Safety Dispatcher. The City is excited to welcome our newest employee Lynn Dykes to the Public Transit department! All open positions are currently advertised on our website at www.cityofalliance.net The Public can also contact us at 308-762-5400 or stop by 324 Laramie with questions.
Landfill
• Processed and bundled 534 bales
• 640 customers assisted
• 1,675,600 lbs of material processed
• Received new Bomag compactor
• Began placing new commercial refuse dumpsters
• Reconfigured debris fencing for MSW
• Cleaned up windblown debris around neighboring properties
• Renewed state burn permit through NDWEE
Water/Sewer-
• 45 locates and 150 work orders completed
• Wells 4 and 6 rehab projects completed with passing samples
• 4” water main abandonment project on 2nd St completed
• 2nd St sewer main extension complete
• Replaced chlorine injection pump at Elkhorn well
• Less than 150 radios left to install for 100% completion
• Updated water sample site locations with State of NE
• Read 4 water meter cycles
Streets
• Hauled rock and formed road at Gold Course
• Completed street sweeping
• Serviced all trucks and equipment
• Received new tractor and installed box scraper
• Completed loader training for new employees
• Replaced faded signs
• Graded dirt roads
• Patched potholes
• Picked up Christmas trees
Museum
• Hosted the 29th annual Holiday Festival at the Museum. Attendance at that event over the eight-day event is approximately 200 people per day.
• Hosted a children’s craft event during the festival
• Museum staff hosted three adult craft events during the Holiday Festival
• Hosted the City of Alliance Employee soup luncheon on Wednesday during the festival • Hosted a teacher’s social event in the facility
• Hosted the Sandhillers history group for their monthly meeting
• Hosted a piano recital for a local private piano instructor
• Hosted State of NE meetings with property owners regarding designated flood plain changes
• Received and sorted several large collections of local memorabilia including a large cowboy collection. Donations from several of these individuals continue. • Hosted many visitors to the museum who were in town for the holidays
Electric Department
• Operated one generator at Cody plant per our MEAN monthly requirement
• Rebuilt a section of 3 phase line between Rock Road and Sarpy Road west of Highway 385
• Rebuilt a section of 3 phase line south of York Road and CR 59
• All personnel attended monthly NECC safety meeting
• Quinton Walker completed all required hours and competencies to advance from Apprentice Lineman to Journey Lineman
• Repaired several “issues” after the numerous days of high winds
• Removed and/ or repaired several Christmas decorations damaged from the high winds
• Had a contractor “bore” pipes under Highway 385 and Jefferson Road and started the rebuild project to put the power lines “under” the Highway, eliminating a problem area on rural system
• Prepared information for Council meeting on Old Power Plant asbestos abatement project
• Working with Farris Engineering to prepare a packet of information for Council on alternate power costs and time frame
Utilities Billing Services
• Implemented Council approved Refuse rates for FY
Accounting and Finance
• Annual Financial Audit with AMGL
• All Council approved claims processed for December
• All payrolls completed for December
• Series 2025 Airport Bonds Complete
• Series 2025 Refuse Bonds Complete
• General Fund Certificates of Participation complete
Police Department
• Took delivery of our new drone and drafted a drone policy. We currently have three officers licensed to operate the drone.
• New Bola Wraps have arrived. Officers who are not currently certified will not be issued a Bola Wrap until they have completed both the in person and virtual training to achieve certification.
• New vehicles should come off the assembly line by the end of the month and be delivered to Rapid City for upfitting
• All new mobile radios have been installed
• Officer Laake graduated from NLETC and is currently in his first phase of FTO training.
• APD participated in the annual Christmas Parade and also delivered Christmas baskets to families in need in partnership with the United Way.
Airport
Capital Project Updates:
• Electrical Project – Waiting for a proposed start date from contractor. A pre-construction meeting should be held in the next couple of months with anticipation of a spring start date.
• Terminal Windows – Specifications are being started with a formal bid to be advertised as soon as possible.
• Fuel Farm Upgrades – One contractor has been on site to look at it and awaiting an estimate. Have found another contractor that we can reach out to. Once we have a rough idea on cost we can move forward with quotes or bids.
• Water/Sewer Upgrades – Engineering contract has been signed and design is in process with bids to follow.
• Terminal Upgrades – This is the possible changes that may need to be made if TSA requires larger screening equipment that will not fit in the current space. The upgrades would be for changes in current space and possible creation of more office space from current storage space. These items require coordination with TSA and waiting to hear from them after the government shutdown.
• Airport Layout Plan – Rolled over FAA project from last budget year. Ain initial meeting with engineers and committee has happened. A draft airport summary is being looked at to submit to FAA. Two more meetings will happen and then a final presentation for council before the Airport Layout Plan is approved by the City then it must be approved by the FAA.
• Snow Plow Assembly – Rolled over project from last year and expect to have it delivered in April or May of this year.
Day-Day updates:
• Tumble weeds have been a weekly/daily issue at the airport. We have never dealt with this much consistent high wind that requires continuous clearing of fences. We currently have roughly 19 huge piles of tumbleweeds on the airfield.
• Maintenance shop door repaired. Replaced lighting fixtures in the FBO hangar. Adjusted warehouse doors on building #3004.
• Snow removal was required one weekend which consisted of broomed the taxiways and then monitoring.
• MALSR maintenance and semi-annual inspection occurred.
• Realigned the T-hangar gate and the maintenance gate due to high wind. Conducted bi annual maintenance on all three airfield automatic gates.
• Repairs made to ARFF truck identified during annual inspection. Conducted semi-annual foam test on the ARFF truck.
• Replaced battery on small plow truck.
• Working on completing the all annual warehouse inspections.
• Gathering required quotes for Prairie Dog Poisoning. Continue to conduct wildlife control as necessary.
• Completed self-inspections on all runway and taxiway lighting due to high winds and fixed any findings.
• Serviced all overhead doors in Maintenance shop and ARFF station.
• Participated in monthly ARFF training.
• Conducted Winter Operations Training with airport staff.
• Completed all wildlife annual reports and submitted application to renew depredation permit for the new year.
• Title VI community participation plan has been approved and awaiting approval on the Title VI Plan.
• FAA project for installing fiber out to the airfield has been completed. Airport staff had to be with the contractor anytime they were out on the airfield.
• Working on coordinating annual wildlife training, ARFF live burn training, airfield and ARFF station generator annual inspections, and a 5-year inspection on the sprinkler system piping for obstructions.
• Participated in the monthly Prairie Dog Advisory Board meeting.
• Work continues on current and upcoming leases. Started working on auction or silent bid for all grazing land and haying of the airfield. All five year leases were done at the end of September and the new leases will begin on May 15, 2026.
Alliance Public Library
December was a great month for the Alliance public Library. In December 2025 the staff circulated 4,633 items and served 2,563 patrons, in comparison to December 2024, the library circulated 1,274 more items and had 565 more patrons. I attribute the increase to the addition of the holiday backpacks, an increase in adult services programming and the very welcoming atmosphere created by library staff. December 2025 also saw an increase in the use of our digital collection, with 1,237 items being checked out by our patrons from Libby.
• In December the Alliance Public Library Foundation held their annual Literary Basket auction and sponsored many prizes for our reading contests.
• Children’s Librarian Cynthia Horn’s Story Time sessions featured Authors & Illustrators, Time to Rhyme and Hooray for Holidays! Story Timers also enjoyed decorating the Christmas Tree in the Children’s Room, making Handprint Christmas Trees with Granny B, Sparkly foam ornaments and Holiday Snow Globes. Cynthia shared holiday Story Time with three Head Start classrooms as well as announcements on KCOW Radio. LEGO Club worked on their creations, including Christmas trees and snowmen. Preschool through second grade searched for Holiday Snoopy to celebrate 75 years of Peanuts characters by Charles M. Schulz. Third through twelfth grade youth participated in the Gingerbread Journey Scavenger Hunt, searching for seven library items in the stacks. Digital Detox Fridays featured intergenerational events of Holiday Crafts and Christmas Around the World, including Show & Tell holiday traditions, Power Point presentation, holiday treats of various countries and more! The Adventure Book Club shared festive family time with favorite books, snacks and a Talent Show. Cynthia’s Wiggleworm on the website features Festive Holiday Reads and window book display of Deck the Halls with Books of Jolly. In addition to compiling items for Book Mobile, the 2026 schedule is complete. Her ongoing projects include cataloging, backpack maintenance, monthly Stats, book displays and preparations for upcoming events.
• Adult Services Librarian Stephanie Hamilton had a busy and productive month at the library and is excited to share that our adult programming did well this past month. We had over 100 participants partake in a variety of offerings in December’s adult programs that included the Nebraska Department of Labor job search assistance program to those who put together puzzles at table set up for patrons to relax and enjoy. We also added another group to our library book clubs, the Mystery Book Club, making a total of three now currently offered. We had a good showing of 6 who attended this first of what we hope to a successful and enjoyable monthly Tuesday Night Mystery Book Club. We met in the library’s Heritage Room from 5:30-6:30. Those who attended and those who plan to attend in the future but were unable to make this first time meeting, indicated looking forward to reading January’s book (we have copies to check out available at the front desk upon request), The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave and are anticipating many enjoyable future mystery reads including intrigue and suspense as well as cozy mysteries. For the most up to date information on all our library book clubs and programming be sure to visit our website and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. In addition to our regularly scheduled programming, adult services had some special holiday activities including a special Christmas book club event featuring Jennifer Chiaverini’s novel “Christmas Bells” that shares the name of the traditional Christmas carol based on the poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The group shared discussions as well as cookies in a
cookie exchange. Adult services also co-hosted a Christmas program for families that featured cultural traditions from around the world and the ways people celebrate the holidays in other countries. The group enjoyed cookies and treats from different places of origin and audience members contributed to the program by sharing their family heritage traditions passed down through the generations.
• Technical Services Librarian Mason Trumble has been busy with all the behind-the-scenes stuff it takes to keep the library going and our patrons informed. Mason creates slides promoting all our programming and does updates and maintenance on our website and social media platforms. Mason also helps other City departments with their technological communications and maintenance. Mason continued with the book deliveries for the bookmobile and ran countless errands for the library staff.
• Library Clerks Pam Becker and Carolyn Hamel are always busy at the desk processing new materials, keeping contest records, and helping create all the materials required to pull off all the events we have going on here. Their efforts are endless and are so much appreciated by the rest of the staff who could not implement their ideas without the help of these two great ladies!
Parks Division
• Took delivery, unloaded and stored the new playground equipment for Central Park. This equipment will be installed in the Spring.
• Started gathering purchase information for the Parks Division Mowers. Hope to finalize those purchases in the next month.
• Worked with engineers regarding specifications for the pool repaint and pool filtration system replacement
• Cut up and hauled a tree that came down on the conservatory block and a large spruce tree at the cemetery.
• Removed trash and tumble weeds that get caught in the ballfield fences, 3rd St underpass, and 10 St overpass.
• Replaced alternators on two of the Parks trucks.
• Continue cleaning up the parks parking lot and block building.
• Started servicing all Parks vehicles and machinery.
• Closed the public restrooms for the season.
• Worked three funerals in December.
• Attended the Rocky Mountain Turfgrass Association Expo in Denver.
• Picked up branches after numerous wind storms.
• Worked on several pieces of snow equipment in preparation for upcoming storms.
• Started geese harassment at Laing Lake that will continue through spring.
• Weekly trash can checks in the parks and downtown.
• Trimmed trees along snow routes.
• Winterized the well valve box at Laing Lake.
• Helped The knight Museum with their Christmas displays.
• Worked on replacing the roof on one of the front end mowers.
Golf Course
• Staff started up the irrigation system to water to maintain the condition of the fairways during the unseasonably warm weather. The course was closed to allow watering during the day while temperatures were conducive to water absorption. Staff then winterized the irrigation system for a second time this season.
• Worked with engineers to develop bid specifications for the irrigation pump station bid process. Work is expected next fall/winter.
• Daily tasks include servicing equipment, sharpening cutting units, and trimming and removing dead trees.
Alliance Chamber of Commerce
December Digital Sign: 16 flyers
Relocation Packets: 13 distributed
Phone Calls: 885 Incoming Calls & 777 Outgoing Calls
• Updated and filled free community information holder outside of the office.
• Updated our community Calander to better post events happening in town.
• We will be having our annual awards banquet at the West Side Event Center on Jan 29th starting at 5:00
• Ag Committee had 1 meeting- will continue to offer ag scholarships for 2026
• Chamber Board had 1 meeting for continued operation of the Chamber.
• Leadership Box Butte will be attending a conference in Lincoln on January 27-28th. 7
aspiring leaders from Alliance will be attending with other leaders from the panhandle.
• We will be working in collaboration with BBDC and Tourism to promote and support Alliance initiatives going forward.
• We received 13 applications for our assistant position and completed 10 interviews, will be hiring for that in the next week or so.
• Parade was a HUGE success. Had 23 participants, which was up 9 from last year. BIG thank you to the City Electrical Department for helping get the Santa house electrified, and making sure we had power for our announcer.
• I am waiting to hear back from Fraizer shows on the set in stone dates for Heritage Days, so I will update the City when I get that information.
Tourism
• Collecting bids to install a digital kiosk at Carhenge that will allow us to highlight other attractions and businesses in town as well as sell advertising to other regional attractions. Exploring lots of options for better exploit CH.
• Developing an event to make Carhenge a regular stop for bikers on the way to Sturgis each year. This will be integrated with the Carhenge murals and feature the work of at least one of last year’s artists(Fat Cap Sprays). Plan is developed enough to pursue Harley Davidson as to sponsor but still in initial meetings.
• I have solid proposal to create a digital calendar for Alliance that will make it easier to highlight attractions. Will meet again with the Chamber to gauge their interest in adding a local event calendar to supplement the tourism calendar.
• Attending board meetings and hosting informational meetings for Panhandle Frontier Finds (PFF). This is a 3-day event of coordinated antique sales and garage sales that will take place the first weekend in June (coinciding with the car show in Alliance). This is the first year for this event and current focus is attracting vendors and planning infrastructure.
• Cordinating with the Route 385 Cruisers to ensure that PFF and the Car show are complimentary events.
• Starting to co-ordinate with Highland Park to generate a few events to compliment the drone show planned in May.
• Finalizing the artist roster for this year mural fest.
• Launching call for artists for the Carhenge Quilt Challenge that will show during Autumn in Alliance.
• Launching the Call for Artists for the Carhenge photo contest that will be shown during the Mural Fest in July.
• Exploring the possibilities of a Carhenge music series. Starting with local musicians (Alliance/Scottsbluff) about a low cost, low fuss options Probably bi-weekly, “bring your own chair”, acoustic shows. Just touched base with Omaha Street Percussion, who were a big hit at the PAC last year, about a show, and The Corn Belt (a well established open air music series that across Nebraska).
• Meeting with the Nebraska State Poet to plan a stop in Alliance for her Homegrown Event Tour.
• Attending Western Nebraska Tourism Coalition meeting in Kimball.
• Writing sponsorship grant for MTN paint for the Mural Fest.
• Applying for the National Mural Awards Community Award for the 2025 year.
• The Carnegie just opened their new show: Brian Stephenson, Age is Just a Number
• The Alliance Arts council will host Wendy Bantam for a musical performance on the 30th.