Community Development:
• Planning Commission will hold a meeting on December 14 for an Agriculture Estate Dwelling Site proposed at 2330 Nebraska Highway 2.
• Platte Valley Bank was issued a building permit for the remodel of 217 West 3rd Street and a new parking lot located on the adjacent land.
• BNSF Railway is grading the 100 block of Box Butte for their parking lot. They are dumping rock to get them through the winter and will be paving the lot and sidewalks as soon as weather allows in the Spring.
Human Resources:
• New Employee Announcement! Welcome to Eric Gosnell as our new Facilities Maintenance Worker. Eric is from Colorado Springs, CO and has lived in Alliance since 2002. He has four daughters and has been working in this field for the past 6 years.
Animal Control/Code Enforcement:
• As notice to the public: The Animal Control truck is out of commission requiring the officer to use an unmarked pickup. Animal control IS responding to calls, although not in the easily-recognized truck with animal cage.
• A few animals were located and returned to owners this week.
Museum:
• Staff hosted the most successful tree festival to date this week. We had just under 150 donated items on the silent auction that ended on December 4. The Knight Museum Partners raised about $2,000 more than usual this year. Thank you to all who donated their time, talents and financial donation to this fundraiser!
Parks:
• Staff serviced the Skid steer, rearranged the shop to allow room for the snow equipment, and continued with equipment repairs as parts arrived in preparation for snow and then worked on snow removal.
• Prepared the ice rink area at Laing Lake so that it can be flooded once temperatures allow. We continue to run the well to maintain the water level on Laing Lake and we are harassing geese as necessary to keep them off of Laing Lake.
• Picked up leaf piles at Sallows Museum, Softball complex and Bower Park.
• Repaired snow fence, picked up trash and assisted with packing Christmas tree festival items away.
• Assisted with one burial.
Golf:
• Applied antifungal to the greens ahead of the snow; this application should help prevent snow mold through the winter.
• The Pro Shop is open if you wish to do some Christmas shopping out there!
Library:
• DVDs being removed from the Library’s collection are now be available for sale in the bookstore for $1.00! We do this every few years to make sure the collection stays fresh and there is room for new arrivals.
• We are still adding to the library’s Christmas displays. Children love the large trees especially, so bring them up and give them a chance to find one of the Disney chocolates hiding in the library!
• Work continues on the large donation brought in last week. There are some great titles being added to the collection and the bookstore from this donation – visit us soon to find what we have added to the collection! The pages have been busy with cleaning the tops of the shelving and organizing the library in preparation of a full inventory to be completed after the first of the year.
Patrol:
• Several officers and dispatchers received CIT (Crisis Intervention Training) this week. This helps officers and dispatchers be more equipped in handling people suffering from mental health disorders without using force.
• In compliance with LB51, the Police Department submitted an extensive accreditation packet to the state Crime Commission for state accreditation and ensuring department procedural compliance with new legislation.
• Tell us how we are doing! The Community Survey is posted on www.cityofalliance.net and will be available until December 14.
Electric:
• Operated one generator at Cody generation plant per our MEAN monthly requirement.
• Finished the rebuild project on East 3rd Street from Sunshine Avenue to CR 58.
• Assisted a contractor with the installation of a new service at Viaero tower on 3rd Street.
Public Works:
• 3 transit wraps complete.
• Sweetwater, S. Mississippi graded. K-mart ditch cleaned up and graded. Landfill tree pile dirt cleaned up and graded.
• Performed chlorine pump repairs at the Elkhorn, 25th, and Colorado wells.
• Transit 711 riders this week.
• Water 145 water radios installed.
• Landfill 149 customers 240 tons of refuse this week.
• P.W. building nearing completion waiting for ignitors for radiant heaters.
• Lift Station A valves installed; bypass pumping underway.
BBDC:
• Hosted 2 UNL College of Architect & Design Professors and our regional Extension representative last Saturday to discuss “Place making” in Alliance. The three project areas included in the discussion included downtown apartments, ARC land use/expansion, and Sandhills for Hope build. The Mayor, City Manager and Chelsie Herian (BBDC) gave a community tour as well. They seemed impressed with our community, and now I’m just waiting to hear back if they feel we can partner on any of the projects or not.
• Made an introduction between Sandhills for Hope and the Sherwood Foundation Wednesday via zoom to explore other funding options.
• BBDC Board met Wednesday and elected our new officers, Jim Bargen (BBGH) rolls into Past President, Barb Straub (Village) is President, Bart Moseman (Farmers Coop) is Vice, and Blanche Randolph (Dave’s Pharmacy) is Secretary-Treasurer.
• BBDC Office will be closed December 20 – 24.