HR:
• Human Resources is working diligently to prepare for Insurance Open Enrollment.
Electric:
• Attended an NECC Safety meeting on accident investigation.
• We have been checking bulbs and performing maintenance on the Christmas decorations in preparation of hanging them.
• A squirrel chewed through a primary feeder wire at 6th and Flack.
• We started a rebuild project on East 3rd street and Sunshine Avenue proceeding East to CR 58.
• Replaced numerous faulty street lights.
Chamber of Commerce:
• Community tours for Box Butte General Hospital for CRNA and Nurse Practitioner candidates.
• Ambassadors visited Steph’s Studio for the December Spotlight Business.
• Attended Activate Alliance virtual meeting.
• Made arrangements to get the Santa House placed on Friday.
• Distributed Small Business Saturday items to businesses.
Finance:
• Staff represented the City of Alliance at ACE and MEAN board meetings. There are significant upward pressures on natural gas and coal prices because of global demand and decreased reserves which will ultimately result in increased electric wholesale prices. Most gas customers are locked in for this winter; however, those customers selecting the market-based plans may be negatively impacted. Choice gas selection for 2022 has been shortened to three weeks beginning April 1 with no advance marketing.
• Sales taxes received this week for the month of September total just over $229,000 with vehicle taxes at almost $35,000. Both amounts are well over average, especially for September.
Public Works:
• Several items were submitted to the City Council and were approved, including: $3.2 M Street Bond, Backhoe purchase for water utilities, Refuse truck purchase and arsenic plant maintenance work.
• Finishing touches are underway at the new Public Works building with installation of gravel on the perimeter of the concrete apron. Stay tuned for an open house soon!
• Lift Station A valve work nearly complete.
• Crews are replacing street signs and posts.
• Landfill had 200 customers and accepted 288 tons of refuse this week.
• Transit had 606 riders this week.
• Last day for yard waste pickup is December 1st.
• Public Transit Punch Tickets BOGO 50% off until December 30th.
BBDC:
• Zoom meeting with Lara Huskey of Midwest Housing Development Fund, Hanna of Keelan Associates, and the Sandhills for Hope folks about their proposed project to build a detox/treatment facility in Alliance.
• Attended the Hemingford Chamber monthly board meeting.
• Rural Rendezvous Zoom meeting with Craig Schroeder, Heartland Center in Leadership Development talking about Career Pathways/Workforce retention & recruitment.
• Attended the Chamber Ambassadors meeting at Steph’s Studio & Vintage.
• Attended the Heartland Expressway monthly board meeting in Gering.
• Zoom meeting with UNL College of Architect & Design Instructors who are planning a trip to Alliance, December 3rd & 4th to explore “Placemaking” projects for next semester.
• Hosted the Western Nebraska Development Network, a regional group of ED, Chamber, Tourism, and various Resource providers for a quarterly visit/roundtable luncheon.
Museum:
• Preparations are in full swing for the Christmas Tree Festival. Trees and wreaths that were donated by the public are being dropped off and the facility is getting decorated for the event.
• The Museum received additional donations of local animal taxidermy. The parks division assisted with getting these donations in place.
Golf:
• Inventory for the 2022 golf season is being ordered and delivery dates set.
• Maintenance staff hand watered greens as necessary due to the warm and dry conditions.
Library:
• The bookmobile had its first delivery on Tuesday to five organizations, including schools and daycares. We are excited to see the benefits this program will provide to the community! Thursday’s deliveries will include our home bound patrons and three other schools.
• Two Charlie Brown Holiday movies will be the feature for this Saturday’s movie matinee, which begins at 2pm. Children of all ages are welcome to attend. We will be serving toast, popcorn, and jellybeans for treats to match the feast Charlie Brown prepared for Thanksgiving dinner!
• The Bountiful Basket auction ends November 30th at 5:30 pm. Bidding has been very active, so don’t miss out on your chance to score a great gift for the holidays!
• Tech Tutoring for seniors is held weekly at the Senior Center on Fridays from 10:30-Noon. There is also a session open to the public on Mondays from 3-5pm in the WNCC Common’s Area downstairs. No appointment necessary.
• Jeff Barnes was here last week for a successful debut of his Monuments of NE program. Watch for more great NE Humanities programs coming soon!
Parks:
• Cleared wood vine and volunteer trees out of the tree row at and mowed the west side at Laing Lake.
• Inspected playgrounds for graffiti and removed where possible.
• Assisted Knight Museum with some displays as well as preparations for the Christmas Tree Festival.
• Trimmed trees at the Senior Center to aid in snow removal.
Police:
• Notified that our COPS grant application in the amount of $500,000 spread over three years was successful! This grant will help pay for additional officers on the street.
• Hosted the Third Talk for sex and internet safety. Special thanks to School Resource Officer Dusatko for coordinating.
• Launched “Lights On” program. From the lightsonus.org website: “The Lights On! program strives to heal and transform police-community relationships. When participating officers pull over a driver for a burnt-out bulb, they can move with more confidence and hope knowing that they have a tool, a Lights On! voucher, to make this interaction restorative.” Special thanks to officer McLaughlin for coordinating.
Fire:
• Chief participated in the 911 Service System Advisory committee meeting on Wednesday.
• One position currently open for a Full-Time Fire Apparatus Engineer/EMT, applications close on 11/24/21. Volunteer Firefighter recruitment campaign is underway.
• Staff participating in respective EMS recertification training.
• Five volunteer Firefighters are currently half-way through their Hazardous Materials Operations Level training.
• Two volunteer Firefighters/EMT’s are currently in Paramedic Training at Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff.
• One volunteer Firefighter has started basic EMT training with Panhandle EMS Education.