Electric
• Work continues on Country Club Road line rebuild
• Trenched in conduit at solar field for wire to connect to overhead line
• Installed pole in Central Park in preparation for Autumn in Alliance next weekend
• Performed maintenance at several locations on our rural system
• Staff attended Citywide huddle
• Two personnel attended MEAN safety meeting in Sidney on Tuesday
• Cleaned and organized warehouse and outside storage yard in preparation for yearly inventory count next week
RSVP, Senior Center & Nutrition Site
• RSVP has seventeen volunteers working in the community this week. They assisted with Community Table, school activities and commodities distribution.
• The state unit on aging was at the Center to conduct an inspection and no issues were identified
• Met with the new RSVP portfolio manager.
• Continued providing meals for dine-in and delivery.
Parks Division
• Staff prepared for and completed two funerals this week.
• The fall application of algaecide was applied in Laing Lake.
• Completed all regular mowing
• Continued completing irrigation repairs on the Box Butte Islands and Lions Park.
• Removed a tree south of the Conservatory.
• Continued trimming all parks as time allowed.
• Picked up branches and collected debris after the windstorm.
Library
• It has been a productive week at the library. We have been creating new signage for the library and adding to our coffee and fall displays. We are happy to welcome our new page hires, Austin Grant and Bria Stegall! The page duties are an integral part of the
library’s operation as they are the ones solely responsible for putting away all the books that return from circulation. We are excited to welcome these young ladies, who will be joining current pages Avy Knapp and Taylee Thompson.
• Children’s Librarian Cynthia Horn did outreach visits to Head Start classrooms and held Story Time featuring Creative C with special guest Chamber of Commerce Director, Cassielien! She also hosted LEGO Club, created an Autumn in Alliance Coloring Contest display, organized Book Mobile items, maintained backpacks, updated book displays, cataloged new items, and made preparations for upcoming events.
• Adult Services Librarian Nalani Stewart cataloged new materials, and hosted both the True Crime Book Club and the book club at Highland Park Care Center. She also created new displays in the DVD section and Fiction section for fall, and worked on signage for our new coffee and tea station.
• Technical Services Librarian Emily Nelson made the weekly Book Mobile deliveries, assisted patrons on the computers, and updated the Staff Picks page on the website. She also updated our social media sites with upcoming programming, and created the Bookworm feature for the website.
• Library Clerks Pam Becker and Stephanie Hamilton have been busy keeping up with fall processing and serving patrons with account renewals.
Museum
• Hosted a bus tour of approximately 40 travelers for a guided tour this week
• BNSF hosted a training session in the Theater this week
• Continued sorting, cleaning, ironing, and storing the extensive textile collection
• Visitor traffic continues to be steady despite school being back in session
• Assisted several visitors with family research.
• If you are interested in assisting the Museum please attend the Museum Partners meeting on Wednesday Sept 25th at 3:00pm
Human Resources
• Completed timely and accurate changes in payroll processing for all City employees.
• Attended the leadership team meeting to discuss key issues facing departments and the organization.
• Attended All Employee Huddle providing an update to all employees about HR issues, including the open enrollment schedule. 28 employees are registered for Flu Shots scheduled on September 24.
• Attended City Council meeting on September 17 to provide information or answer questions regarding the proposed changes to the Classification and Compensation girds.
• Personnel Tech attended the PPHD Fall Safety and Wellness Conference in Gering including topics on Conflict Management, AI, and HR Hot Topics. This included updates to State and Federal employment laws and compliance becoming more burdensome to employers.
• Following City Council approval, began the process of creating new advertisements for positions (Heavy Equipment Operator, Metering and Load Control Technician, and Secretary).
• Responded to Unemployment Investigation request from the State of Nebraska.
• HR met with Brown and Brown to discuss EAP providers. Identified a potential vendor and will complete a demo next month with an employee group.
• Contacted Fiduciary Advocates to begin the process of a request for proposals for an independent retirement plan advisor.
• Met with employees to discuss confidential matters, addressing concerns while ensuring compliance with Federal, State, and organization policies.
• Working with department heads, supervisors, and employees on FMLA, Worker’s Compensation, ADA, and processing related requests. Maintaining two DOT-required drug and alcohol testing programs (FTA and FMCSA).
• Accepting applications, administering applicant testing, completing pre employment/post-offer conditions for pending new hires, and completing onboarding for new employees.
• Continue to utilize Paylocity for employee feedback on HR Services.
• Finalized processing and filing 29 seasonal personnel files out of the 69 seasonal and temporary hires we have onboarded in 2024. We currently have 11 active Seasonal employee who HR will be off-boarding in the next month.
• Conducted one-on-one employee training for new employee and supervisor roles in the HRIS.
Water/Sewer
• Changed oil at lift station “D”
• Collected water samples and chlorine residuals
• Completed 22 work orders
• Installed 31 new water radios (1000 total installed)
• Completed locates
• Attended all employee meeting
• Read cycle 3 radios
• Mowed Elkhorn well, “A” and “D” stations, and wellfield
• Updated lead and copper inventory
• 11000 feet of sanitary sewer jetted
• Ordered saddle for arsenic plants
• Ordered fire hydrant extensions
Public Transit
• 703 riders this week
Streets
• Ongoing pothole repair
• Completed locates
• Ongoing alley repair and grade work
• Attended all employee meeting
• Finished line painting
• Picked up branches
• Ongoing mowing
• Cleaned and organized north shop for winter equipment transfer
• Ongoing street sweeping
• Installed deer crossing signs
• Replaced damaged median sign
Landfill
• Moved dirt cover
• Completed fire suppression drills in burn area
• Moved bales to MSW area
• Ongoing rock crushing
• Ongoing baler repair
• Trash truck repair
• Changed ignition on pickup
• 183 customers this week
• 220 tons of refuse this week
Fire/Ambulance
• Chief attended the City Council meeting.
• Chief attended Senior Staff meeting.
• Our weekly department drill was a comprehensive learning experience. Dr. Brian Shelmadine and Tim Devlin from BBGH covered spine boarding and team lift concepts, focusing on football player injuries. We also commenced the Emergency Vehicle Operators course, with the Chief leading the classroom portion. The upcoming session will delve into the confidence (driving) portion of the class.
• The fire department had two separate groups visit the fire station for the Career Cabs Day. We had approximately 60 sophomore students from Panhandle high schools.
• Chief turned in the end-of-the-year budget items.
Airport
• Taxiway/Apron Rehabilitation Project – final inspection for this project is scheduled for next week. A change order and amendment to the engineering contract is required for this project due to penalty for going beyond contracted days.
• Sealcoat Runway 12/30 & 8/26 – the work on the intersection of both runways went smoothly. The contractor is working on the temporary markings for Runway 12/30, which should be completed by end of day Friday. The work remaining on this project is permanent markings which will happen 30 days from now.
• Staff participated in weekly progress meeting on Sealcoat Project.
• Working on rates for WNCC for CDL training, leased space, and truck storage.
• Carpets and tile were cleaned in the terminal.
• Maintenance staff helped FBO fix large hangar door, move furniture in preparation for carpets getting cleaned, and wildlife control efforts.
Police
• Responded to a barricaded suspect
• Held dispatcher interviews
• Attended Alliance Public Schoos Leadership Meeting
• Attended the Employee Huddle
• Met with VIP coordinator about upcoming events
Administration
• Council approved the FY25 Budget. Staff are now working on submitting forms to the State, updating billing software, publishing new utility rates and other preparations for the new fiscal year to begin October 1st.
• Attended the citywide employee meeting, which was well attended on a beautiful day with the meeting held outside.
• Met with FHWA representatives regarding the Safe Streets For All (SS4A) grant
• Held meeting with department heads
• Hosted a classroom of Alliance High School Sophomores to discuss the activities of City Hall. Thanks to the offices of the City Clerk, Fire Department, Human Resources, and Finance on making the event a success.
• Working on various policy updates and issuing Requests for Proposals for Tourism and for the Public Safety Center.
• Year-end closeout of current year budget and purchases