REGULAR MEETING Crete City Council Meeting City Hall April 7th, 2026, (Condensed, entire copy available at the office of the City Clerk). Mayor Dave Bauer called the meeting of the City Council to order at 6:00 p.m. Answering roll call were the following Council Members: Crisman, Frans, Newmyer, Strehle, Papik and Fitzgerald The following actions were taken at the meeting: Approved the Consent Agenda items: Unanimous Meeting Minutes March 17th, 2026 City Council Minutes March 17th, 2026 Public Works Committee Minutes March 17th, 2026 Finance Committee Minutes March 17th, 2026 Legislative Development Minutes March 17th, 2026 Parks and Recreation Committee Minutes March 17th, 2026 Personnel Committee Minutes Treasurer’s Report Claims against the City $1,612,102.64 Held a Public Hearing to hear testimony for or against the Zoning Amendment Ordinance 2272 Chapter 11 Planning and Zoning Article 5 Dwelling Units, Special Types Shouses. Unanimous Approved JEO to Advertise and Bid the New Well and Transmission Main Project. Unanimous Approved the claims from Crete Ace Hardware in the amount of $284.09. Crisman: Aye, Frans: Aye, Newmyer: Aye, Strehle: Aye, Fitzgerald: Aye, Abstianed: Papik Enacted Ordinance 2274 vacating easement on lots 1 and 2 of Pine Ridge 3rd Addition. Unanimous Approved to amend the Master Fee Schedule. Unanimous Approved the Crete Carrier Community Room Grant application from Activate for a graduation ceremony. Unanimous Approved the Crete Carrier Community Room Grant Application for Community Mommy & Me Dance. Unanimous Approved the Horvath Towers Lease Agreement. Unanimous Enacted Ordinance 2275 amending cogeneration avoided cost rates. Unanimous Approved the Carniceria San Fernando Tier II Environmental Review. Unanimous Officers’ Reports Chief of Police Gary Young stated the following: Got notified by the State Auditor that the Crete Police Department has passed for the crime reporting. This means that the department keeps good records. With the new software what used to take ten or twenty manpower hours is now done in ten or fifteen minutes and it saves the department time and money. Mayor Dave Bauer asked E-Bikes and E-Scooters and what is legal. Young stated that right now there is no legislation to counter that. The ordinance for mini bikes does not apply. Council member Anthony Fitzgerald asked if Chief Young could reach out to Crete Public Schools to ask about their policy on E-Bikes and E-Scooters. Young stated that the School Resource Officer can help with that. City Administrator Tom Ourada stated that the City has not only the right but the obligation to oversee the public right of way. People expect that the right of way will be regulated. Parks and Recraiton Director Liz Cody stated the following: Park concerns -addressing recent graffiti and vehicle use Campgrounds opened 4/1/2026 Interview for seasonal staff Open position for parks groundskeeper & facilities Rec programs ongoing for micro soccer, soccer Registrations for micro-t-ball, t-ball, and swim team Looking at recent changes in State legislation that may impact pool Council questions: Street lights out at Tuxedo Trees removed at Tuxedo Removals with IRA UCF Grant funds paused until August for migratory birds Library Director Jessica Wilkinson stated that there is an opening for a summer intern that will be helping with summer reading. The library is partnering with Nebraska Vocational Rehab to have a student come and learn on the job library skills. They will be working with the summer intern on the summer reading program. City Administrator Tom Ourada added that the Nebraska Library Commission is providing the grant funds for the summer intern. Council member Dan Papik asked if there are opportunities for older children to volunteer and help read to younger children. Council member Anthony Fitzgerald asked about the Fire Department changing their requirements for EMTs and the percentage that have to be certified. City Administrator Tom Ourada stated that they are working on it and they have to change their bylaws which come to the City for ratification. Council member Ashley Newmyer asked if everything is going well with the Crete and CAMC paramedic contract. Ourada stated that the Fire Department is happy with it and Bauer added that the hospital is also happy with it. Council member Dan Papik shared that Apace has a concert that will be at the Crete Isis Theatre on April 8th, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. City Administrator Tom Ourada stated the following: There was a discussion during the Finance Committee on the Municipal Equalization Fund and as it is now we were notified that the City of Crete will lose 80% of funding. That’s almost $640,000 that we will lose next year. Ourada has talked with three state agencies on this and they have noted there is no authority to deviate from statute and changes would require going to the legislature. The City of Crete’s levy lowered a significant amount of over $0.06 last year. The changes in assessed values were raised considerably last year for residential property. We had a static budget that didn’t raise appreciably necessitating a joint public hearing or post card notification. Here is a case of us being significantly under the state average for property taxes penalizing us for very conservative spending. We are at $0.22 this year and to qualify for 100% MEF (Municipal Equalization Fund) we would have to be 28 ½ cents and that would be $0.065 cent levy increase. When we looked at it last year we had about $10,000 that wasn’t committed but $0.01 is about $24,000. We couldn’t do anything with that $7,000. If we raised it by 6 ½ cents that would be like $160,000 that we would raise across the entire community. People would see that we are raising it because we would have to participate in the joint public hearing and we would have to send out the postcard. Ourada stated that we will have to do that no matter what. We have a few options to help get through year 1 and possibly year 2 if we raise the levy. If we don’t raise the levy then we would have to take very drastic measures fundamentally cutting about 18% of the budget. Mayor Bauer is working on some meetings with the City Council and these are really dire times and the City is also looking internally for cost saving measures. Ourada explained that at first he thought the City could get by without doing drastic cost cutting but now thinks some of these cuts are unavoidable. There was discussion on other communities that will also be losing their MEF. With facing Crete’s revenue facing an 18% and there being some drastic measures taken, evaluation will necessary on how to meet the mission the City is expected to perform. Mayor Dave Bauer stated that he has been having discussions with Ourada and looking at different options to have more discussion time with the City Council and more will come on that. There will be some hard decisions to make. Mayor Dave Bauer stated that the City of Crete did not receive the Civic and Community Center Financing Fund grant for the City Park project. The City also did not receive the Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program grant for a proposed trail from the High School to Crete Area Medical Center. The meeting adjourned at 6:51 p.m. PAYEE, DESCRIPTION, AMOUNT; CITY REVENUE FUND, AIRPORT, $42.74; CRETE AUTO SUPPLY INC, CREDIT MEMO, $5.99; CRETE LUMBER & FARM SUPPLY CO, GRASS SEED, $177.38; KIDWELL, DUO ESSENTIAL SOFTWARE, $6.57; SAPP BROS, INC, PROPANE, $343.51; SEWARD COUNTY INDEPENDENT, BIDS - AIRPORT, $242.23; VERIZON WIRELESS, CELL PHONE, $39.94; WASTE CONNECTIONS , UTILITIES, $96.71; AIRPORT FUNDS, SUBTOTAL, $955.07; ACORN PROPERTIES, CONSUMER DEPOSIT REFUND, $19.48; ANTONIO LLAMUSI MALDONADO, CONSUMER DEPOSIT REFUND, $21.49; CITY REVENUE FUND, CONSUMER DEPOSIT APPLIED, $1,656.99; KIBLER, LARA, CONSUMER DEPOSIT REFUND, $32.27; NAJARRO, ISRAEL B, CONSUMER DEPOSIT REFUND, $16.10; RAMOS LUCAS, FERNANDO ALFONSO, CONSUMER DEPOSIT REFUND, $21.38; SPRATT, SYDNEY, CONSUMER DEPOSIT REFUND, $20.23; VITERI, ASHLEY M, CONSUMER DEPOSIT REFUND, $12.06; CONSUMER DEPOSIT FUNDS, SUBTOTAL, $1,800.00; CRETE POSTMASTER, UTILITY POSTAGE, $1,384.60; AMAZON CAPITAL SERVICES, CORDLESS HEADSET, $195.00; AQUA-CHEM INC, CS 8440 POLYMER, $5,330.00; BEATRICE CONCRETE CO, #4 STOCK REBAR , $32.25; BLACK HILLS ENERGY, UTILITIES, $286.52; CASELLE, INC, CONTRACT SUPPORT, $2,102.62; CDW GOVERNMENT INC, ARUBA 5400R 1100W POE, $604.62; CHROMALOX INC, NWH-6-040P-E1 240V 2-3PH, $34,425.75; CITY HALL FUND, DEPARTMENT OFFICE RENT, $1,225.00; CITY HEALTH FUND, HRA, $535.00; CITY REVENUE FUND, SEWER REV, $11,707.52; CITY TAX FUND, ELECTRIC SURPLUS & FRANCHISE, $39,167.00; CRETE AUTO SUPPLY INC, HEX KEYSET, $30.52; CRETE LUMBER & FARM SUPPLY CO, 7/8 HOLE SAW, $23.63; DUTTON LAINSON COMPANY, DIRECT BURIAL STD DUTY 24' POLE, $9,916.88; EAKES OFFICE SOLUTIONS, OFFICE SUPPLIES, $152.15; EXECUTIVE ANSWERING SERVICE, ANSWERING SERVICE, $65.66; FAIRFIELD INN & SUITES, NERWA MEETING & TRAINING, $491.80; FIBER PLATFORM LLC, ETHERNET INTERNET/PHONES, $391.33; GRAINGER, GEAR OIL, $891.52; HEARTLAND NATURAL GAS, UTILITY, $628.12; HOOPER, BRENDEN, WATER OPERATOR CLASS, $14.15; JAY'S OIL CO, TIRE REPAIR - 1994 F-150, $35.00; JEO CONSULTING GROUP INC., SOLAR FARM ASSISTANCE, $250.00; KIDWELL, DUO ESSENTIAL SOFTWARE, $76.65; LINCOLN WINWATER WORKS CO, 3/4 METER COUPLING, $4,488.30; LOGAN CONTRACTORS SUPPLY INC, CREDIT / RETURN, $1,303.91; MAX I WALKER UNIFORM & APPAREL, UNIFORMS, $261.51; MIDWEST LABORATORIES INC, LABS, $2,471.67; MUNICIPAL ENERGY AGENCY OF NE, SLEIS & CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE, $1,500.00; NE PUBLIC HEALTH ENVRNMNTL LAB, LABS, $450.00; NEBRASKALAND TIRE INC, TIRE REPAIR - VAN, $27.99; ONE CALL CONCEPTS INC, LOCATING SERVICE FEE, $59.69; RAILROAD MANAGEMENT CO III LLC, LICENSE, $917.52; SE MUNICIPAL SOLAR LLC, SOLAR ENERGY MAR2026, $12,261.51; VERIZON WIRELESS, CELL PHONE, $428.17; WASTE CONNECTIONS, UTILITIES, $311.00; WESCO RECEIVABLES CORP, 1/0 STR AK SPACER CABLE, $5,892.08; WHEELER WORLD INC, PARTS FOR GENERATOR #7, $461.00; MEAN (ACH), WHEELING EXPENSE, $711,313.07; UPS (ACH), POSTAGE, $36.12; XPRESS BILL PAY (ACH), ONLINE PMT FEE, $1,764.58; CITY PAYROLL FUNDS, WAGES, $237,972.46; UTILITY FUNDS, SUBTOTAL, $1,091,883.87; NLC, LLC, 2024 CRETE STREET & ALLEY IMPRV, $71,645.44; 911 CUSTOM, NAME TAG, $17.00; ACEVEDO, JADEN, POLICE HOUSING PROGRAM, $7,500.00; ALLO COMMUNICATIONS, INVESTIGATIONS LINE, $135.38; AMAZON CAPITAL SERVICES, BOOKS, $4,515.27; BEATRICE CONCRETE CO, CONCRETE, $16,660.58; BLACK HILLS ENERGY, UTILITIES, $1,584.34; BOUND TREE MEDICAL LLC, MEDICAL SUPPLIES, $247.61; BRYAN MEDICAL CENTER, BLS SKILLS CHECK, $144.00; CALCUTT, SAMANTHA, REFUND - COACHING, $30.00; CASELLE, INC, CONTRACT SUPPORT & MAINT, $1,166.38; CDW GOVERNMENT INC, ARUBA 5400R 1100W POE, $1,842.34; CENGAGE LEARNING INC, BOOKS/MAGAZINES, $317.74; CENTRAL STATES HYDRAULIC SERV INC, HYDRAULIC HOSE & FLUID, $886.40; CHAPIN LAWN CARE, 5 STEP TURF FERTILIZE PROGRAM, $95.00; CITY HALL FUND, DEPARTMENT OFFICE RENT, $375.00; CITY HEALTH FUND, HRA, $990.00; CITY REVENUE FUND , COMMUNITY CENTER, $11,813.69; CITY TAX FUND , LIBRARY BOND PAYMENTS, $21,000.00; CLINE WILLIAMS LLP, DITTMER REDEVELOPMENT PROJ, $2,780.60; COMPUTER MANAGEMENT INTRNTNL, DELL PRECISION 3561 NOTEBOOK, $1,505.00; CONCRETE INDUSTRIES INC, 9TH & BOSWELL SUPPLIES, $1,076.04; CRETE ACE HARDWARE, BLDG/GRND MAINT, $284.09; CRETE AREA MEDICAL CENTER, DRUG SCREENING, $220.00; CRETE AREA MEDICAL CENTER, AMBULANCE LAUNDRY, $35.00; CRETE AUTO SUPPLY INC, EXMARK MOWER REPAIR, $365.91; CRETE FOODMART, JANITORIAL SUPPLIES, $23.84; CRETE FOODMART, JANITORIAL SUPPLIES, $26.46; CRETE GLASS PROFESSIONALS LLC, SW DOOR REPLACED-CITY HALL, $2,450.00; CRETE LUMBER & FARM SUPPLY CO, CREDIT MEMO, $130.26; CRIST AUTO BODY REPAIR, VEHICLE REPAIR UNIT #6, $1,000.00; CRIST TOWING SERVICE, TOWING, $503.00; DEMCO INC, OFFICE SUPPLIES, $45.93; EAKES OFFICE SOLUTIONS, CHAIRMAT RECT, GNRL 48X79, $330.29; ENVIRO-TECH PEST SERVICES, PEST CONTROL, $60.00; EXECUTIVE ANSWERING SERVICE, ANSWERING SERVICE, $21.89; FIBER PLATFORM LLC, ETHERNET INTERNET /PHONES, $1,044.76; H & S PLUMBING & HEATING, WATER HEATER REPAIR, $1,151.63; HEARTLAND NATURAL GAS, UTILITY, $1,511.82; HEATH SPORTS, POLO SHIRTS, $34,784.90; HOMETOWN LEASING , CONTRACT ADMIN FEE, $157.00; JAY'S OIL CO, MISC SUPPLIES, $18.95; JIROVEC, JEFF, REFUND - COACHING, $30.00; KIDWELL, DUO ESSENTIAL SOFTWARE, $135.78; LIFE-ASSIST INC, MEDICAL SUPPLIES, $1,548.16; LINCOLN WINWATER WORKS CO, WATTS 757 3 DBL CHK VALVE, $1,128.75; MARVIN PLANNING CONSULTANTS INC, ZONING & SUBDIVISION REGS, $5,100.00; MATHESON TRI-GAS INC, OXYGEN, $195.39; MIDWEST BREATHING AIR LLC, BREATHING APP., $262.66; NE DEPT OF WATER ENERGY & ENVRNMNT, 2026 SWIMMING POOL PERMIT, $40.00; NEBRASKA MACHINERY COMPANY, LABOR, $16,298.34; OMAHA CHILDRENS MUSEUM, DIGGING DINO'S FOR , $412.00; ONE SOURCE THE BACKGROUND CHECK, BACKGROUND CHECK, $208.00; O'REILLY AUTO PARTS, CABIN AIR FILTERS, $11.15; OSBORN, TYSON, REFUND - COACHING, $30.00; PAPER TIGER SHREDDING, PAPER SHREDDING, $38.00; PRESTO-X, PEST CONTROL, $169.89; RAMEL, BROOKE, REFUND - COACHING, $30.00; RAMOS, ZORAIDA, MILEAGE, $56.76; SACK LUMBER CO, STAKES & FORM BOARDS, $398.55; SAPP BROS, INC, ACCT#, $209.05; SECURITY EQUIPMENT INC, POLICE - SERVICE CALL, $255.00; SEWARD COUNTY INDEPENDENT, PROCEEDINGS, $217.98; SID DILLON FORD, OIL & FILTER 2020 F-250 UNIT, $144.42; SPECTRUM PAINT, BLUE FED ACR TRF FD 5G, $2,372.50; STACEY GIFFORD LITTLE PEOPLE'S COVE, FIRE ENGINE PLAYHOUSE, $999.99; TELLEZ, NANCY, NE MUNICIPAL CLERKS TRAINING, $137.86; TRANSUNION RISK & ALTERNATIVE, TLO MONTHLY CHARGES, $170.00; TRI STATE OIL RECLAIMERS INC, USED OIL PICKED UP, $75.00; UTILITY EQUIPMENT COMPANY, FREIGHT, $1,287.71; VERIZON WIRELESS, CELL PHONE, $630.41; WASTE CONNECTIONS, UTILITIES, $819.49; CANON FINANCIAL SERVICES, SERVICE CONTRACT, $255.00; QUADIENT FINANCE USA INC , SERVICE CONTRACT, $39.00; CITY PAYROLL FUNDS, WAGES, $293,263.32; TAX FUNDS, SUBTOTAL, $517,463.70; ALL FUNDS, TOTAL, $1,612,102.64 CR — April 15, 2026 ZNEZ
