Reflections for the Week of Dec. 13-17

BBDC:

• Hosted Perfect Blend Tuesday with guest speakers Greg & Lisa Carter of Carter’s Home Hardware & Appliance.

• Hemingford received their plaque for Leadership Certified Community (recertification) Tuesday from Department of Economic Development.

• Attended Rural Rendezvous Zoom meeting on SourceLink Nebraska Wednesday.

• Attended the Heartland Expressway monthly meeting in Chadron with Mayor Dafney Thursday.

• Friday submitting our Rural Fellows Community Application to host 2 interns Summer 2022.

• Dec. 20th-24th – BBDC Office Closed.

Chamber of Commerce:

• Chamber Ambassadors visited Heartland Real Estate & Appraisals as the January Spotlight Business.

• Attended the Activate Alliance meeting.

• Attended the Autumn in Alliance planning meeting.

• Finalizing the details for the Parade of Lights Scavenger Hunt on Monday, December 20th from 5 to 7 pm.

Electric:

• Replaced a streetlight pole on West 3rd street that was knocked over from an auto accident.

• Installed alley lights for the BNSF parking lot in the 100 block of Box Butte.

• Repairing/replacing streetlights where needed. Performing maintenance on various pieces of our rural and urban system.

• Built/replaced two irrigation well transformer banks.

Public Works:

• Landfill continuing to clean up following the fire earlier this year. 97 customers 157 tons of refuse received at landfill this week.

• Sewer Department cleared a sewer backup last Sunday.

• Lift Station “A” work nearing completion, with the last pieces – piping and electrical, nearly complete.

• The new Public Works building will finish installing heaters, electrical and doors next week!

• Transit 588 riders this week.

• Water Emergency Response Plan under final review.

Police:

• Department wide meeting regarding police theory.

• This week: three accidents, two mental health holds; one burglary; and one theft of firearm, which was recovered.

Code Enforcement/Animal Control:

• 5 dogs impounded and returned to their owners.

Fire:

• Had 2 phone conferences with Fire Training Structures (FTS) on our new training facility. Community Development Director Kusek participated in one of the phone conferences.

• Chief met with HR on the hiring process for the Fire Apparatus Engineer/EMT position.

• Submitted 3rd quarter NFIRS report to the Nebraska Fire Marshal.

Parks:

• Staff cleaned the Sallows roof and drains to ensure melting water doesn’t leak into the building over winter. Moved downtown furnishings around to make room for snow removal when necessary.

• Staff is cleaning up both shops in anticipation of moving to the Street Garage when the new

building is done.

• Prepared two funerals.

• Pruned and watered plants in the greenhouse.

Museum:

• Staff continued sorting and packing up Christmas stuff.

• Several individuals were in the Heritage Room researching family history.

• Database review and development continued.

RSVP:

• The nutrition site received a large donation and worked with non-profits to get the donated items to individuals in need.

• Staff continued to serve meals at the site as well as deliver as necessary.

Golf Course:

• Weather has slowed play significantly.

• The pro shop continues to operate on limited hours to allow Christmas shopping.

Airport:

• 2020 Hailstorm claim – walk-in doors arrived and installation has begun. The last overhead doors are to arrive and be installed right away on December 22nd.

• First snowstorm event and everything went as planned with no on-the-ground delays.

• November passenger count:347 enplaned and 346 deplaned. Our parking lot was full during Thanksgiving and had to overflow onto concrete pad west of the terminal. December numbers are looking good also with a lot of sold out flights before and after Christmas. This will be a record year for passengers using the airport!