Reflections for the Week of January 29-February 2

Community Development:

∙ 8 Plumbing and Mechanical Permits.

∙ 1 Demolition Permit.

∙ 2 Excavation, Construction, Obstruction of ROW Permits.

∙ 6 Building Permits totaling $6,592,500 in improvement valuation.

∙ 1 Zoning Permit totaling $14,000 in improvement valuation.

∙ There will be no February Planning Commission due to lack of agenda items. ∙ Issued a building permit for the Westco Agronomy building at 2377 Hwy 2.

∙ Issued a building permit for the remodel of 1515 West 3rd Street (Old Kmart Building). ∙ Presented at the 2024 Panhandle Planning Workshop in Gering.

∙ Started the process of moving the City Mapping to ArcGIS online.

BBDC:

∙ Attended the Chamber Ambassadors meeting, Spotlight at NTO, and Ribbon Cutting at Building Blocks Playschool Monday.

∙ Provided a community tour to a potential physician recruit for Box Butte General Hospital. ∙ Participated in monthly NEDA Board Meeting via Zoom Wednesday – Legislative Days in Lincoln (NEDA takes position on Bills – support/oppose/monitor and then meet with our Senators.

∙ Attended monthly Alliance CRA meeting at City Hall – some discussion around the availability of MicroTIF: projects must involve repair, rehabilitation, or replacement of an existing structure (Commercial or Residential) as long as it is in a Blight & Substandard area of the community.

∙ Guided City Tourism and Alliance Chamber exec’s on a community tour so they can continue to offer this service to our business community and their recruitment efforts.

∙ BBDC will host a Job Fair for Alliance High School Junior and Seniors next Wednesday from 8:30am-10:30am in the Commons – 19 businesses signed up.

Accounting and Finance:

∙ Attended Budget and Health Insurance meeting.

∙ Attended Finance Training.

∙ Attended Webinar on Consumption Tax.

∙ Completed end of month tasks.

∙ Completed and submitted all tax forms due by Jan. 31.

∙ Certified the Financial Audit.

∙ Completed requested forms for two Grant awards.

∙ Sent all information requested for Transit Audit.

Utility Office:

∙ 9 new residential accounts.

∙ Cycle 4 bills sent.

Transit:

∙ 742 riders this week (3,561 January total).

Water/Sewer:

∙ Pulled and re-threaded shaft for booster pump.

∙ Repaired tank filler plumbing.

∙ Jetted 16th and Belair sewer line.

∙ Helped again with Bruce furniture sewer repair.

∙ Completed 16 locates.

∙ Received estimate for well #3 VFD.

∙ Closed down broken water main on RR property.

Landfill:

∙ 179 customers this week.

∙ 231 tons of refuse this week.

∙ Operated trommel and burn box.

∙ Built access road on SW corner of MSW.

∙ Laid dirt cover.

∙ Moved bales.

∙ Attached new chain points on bale table.

∙ Worked on CDL training Airbrake test training.

∙ Completed general maintenance.

∙ Completed comprehensive inspection by NDEE.

∙ Ongoing roof repairs.

∙ Landfill truck repairs.

∙ Refuse truck repairs.

Streets:

∙ Ongoing work on ice removal.

∙ Pothole repairs.

∙ Completed utility locates.

∙ Street sweeping underway while weather is good.

∙ Cleaned shop.

∙ Grade 8th and Sweetwater.

Electric:

∙ Continuing to make progress on the three-phase line rebuild south of Rock Road on CR 55. ∙ Assisted Parker Plant personnel with taking infrared images of all plant electrical apparatus. ∙ Three personnel attended a one-day training on electronic reclosure controls. ∙ Installed transformer for construction power at Westco building site.

∙ Had a squirrel chew through primary cable on west 14th street causing an outage. Cable had to be re-terminated.

∙ Staked a new three phase rebuild project on CR 58 south of Highway 385.

∙ Removed house service to assist customer with electric upgrade.

∙ Repaired/replaced several streetlights.

Golf Course:

∙ Mild temperatures have allowed for more rounds to be played than usual in January. ∙ Staff has been busy servicing equipment and working on the course as weather allows. ∙ Hand watered greens as necessary due to the unseasonably warm weather.

Parks:

∙ Installed the rest of the new playground parts and swings at Central Park playground. ∙ Picked up leaf piles at the 9th street tennis courts.

∙ Installed more crushed concrete at the 9th street tennis courts along the walls. ∙ Completed service on the trimmers and started on the mowers.

∙ Worked on the new deck for the Hustler mower.

Museum:

∙ Jodi has created a new display to celebrate the 75th anniversary of KCOW. Come and see!

∙ We hosted the Nebraska Game & Parks and a State of Nebraska town hall meeting.

∙ The rest of our new display area in the basement was completed. Keep watching for exciting news about this fantastic exhibit as it develops.

∙ Our visitors have been enjoying the nice weather to come to the park and then bring the kiddos in for a visit.

∙ We are making a concentrated effort to make our building a recycling compliant center. We challenge our neighbors to join us. For more information, contact KAB.

∙ There is still room to join the February Scrapbook group that meets this coming weekend. Call to reserve your spot!

RSVP & Senior Center:

∙ There were 16 volunteers in the community this week.

∙ Continued to provide meals for dine-in and delivery.

∙ Updated the Facebook page and the link to the new page is on the old Facebook page. Library:

∙ The Alliance Public Library will once again be hosting Panhandle librarians for the annual Western Library System Summer Reading meeting March 5th. The staff is excited to begin the process of planning summer reading with hopes of nicer weather and fun times at the library. Typically, around 30 librarians attend this event.

∙ Children’s Librarian Cynthia Horn took the story time kids on a Journey Around the World this week, hosted Lego Club, and continued with the search for Rosie, the Valentine Bear. She also did KCOW announcements, organized the book mobile and backpacks, and cataloged new items. Preparations are also being made for the Valentine Box event with KAB on February 5th at 4PM!

∙ Technical Services Librarian Emily Nelson updated the programming information on the Facebook/Instagram pages and updated the website. She also worked on the stats for the January Director’s Report, processed several Interlibrary Loans and book club kits, assisted patrons, and made Book Mobile deliveries.

∙ Library Clerks Pam Becker and Stephanie Hamilton are busy assisting with projects and processing new materials. Spring is one of the busiest release times for new titles and they are looking forward to getting these items into the hands of our patrons!

Fire:

∙ Work is progressing on the upper restroom remodel project. Waiting for additional materials to be delivered before we finish.

∙ Chief gathering necessary data and information for Assistance of Firefighters Grants submittal. ∙ Chief continues to work with Quick Med Claims on EMS Billing issues.

∙ Department members preparing for the Annual Bosses Night event.

Airport:

∙ MALSR update – Non-federal data base information completed. FAA inspector has been assigned. Working with NEO Electrical Solutions to attain some needed parts and get a repair time scheduled.

∙ Training of new employee continues.

∙ Passenger counts for December were 369 enplaned and 352 deplaned.

∙ Lynn attended the annual Aviation Conference in Kearney.

∙ Loader Beacon replaced.

∙ Warehouse inspections almost done, with only a few remaining.

∙ Conducted special inspection of all taxiway lights and repaired one of the signs. ∙ Wildlife control activities.

∙ Dry wall and vent work done in back storage room in terminal.

∙ Tractor purchase meetings conducted.

∙ Participated in Prairie Dog Advisory Board meeting.

∙ All property tax statements sent out on land and buildings.

∙ Working on scheduling annual ARFF Live Burn training.

Administration:

∙ Met with representatives in Lincoln drumming up support for the Heartland Expressway along with Deb Cottier and Jonnie Kusek.

∙ Personnel issues.

∙ Follow-up with various engineers and architects on city projects including Flack Crosswalk, City Hall ADA, and Police Station Feasibility Study.

∙ Provided training to department heads on preventing financial fraud.

∙ Met with a group of public works employees to discuss succession planning, job descriptions, and career paths.

∙ Met with Vacanti Consulting and Chief Troy Shoemaker on preliminary steps to applying for a grant for fire department air-packs.

∙ Met with various City Council members.

∙ Began preparations for the second round of Police Chief Interviews, scheduled for February 12th and 13th.

∙ CRA meeting was held on Thursday. Thanks to City Staff, in particular Brent Kusek, for presenting information in my absence.