REGULAR MEETING CRETE CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY HALL AUGUST 19TH, 2025, (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 August 5th, 2025 City Council Minutes August 5th, 2025 Public Works Minutes August 5th, 2025 Finance Minutes August 5th, 2025 Public Safety Minutes August 5th, 2025 Legislative & Economic Development Minutes August 5th, 2025 City Council Special Meeting Minutes Treasurer’s Report Claims against the City $563,561.64 Tabled forwarding Roger Braden’s claim to the League Association of Risk Management (LARM). Unanimous Approved to authorize the Crete Public Library to apply for the Nebraska Library Commission Little Free Library grant. Unanimous Approved the claims from Crete Ace Hardware in the amount of $2,158.18. Crisman: Aye, Frans: Aye, Newmyer: Aye, Strehle: Aye, Fitzgerald: Aye, Abstained: Papik Tabled Ordinance 2254 amending food trucks. Unanimous Enacted Ordinance 2255 Codifying municipal sewer and water rates. Unanimous Budget work session will be on Wednesday, August 27th, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. Adopted Resolution 2025-14 authorizing the City to increase non-bargaining employee retirement contributions to 8% on October 1st, 2025 and to increase salaries by 1% to account for said contribution match increase. Unanimous Adopted Resolution 2025-15 Appointing Cline Williams Attorneys as City Attorney. Unanimous Approved the Saline Medical Specialties LB840 Program Application in the amount up to $37,500. Approved 5-1, with Strehle abstaining. Approved the Application from Segra for a permit to occupy the City of Crete's Right of Way. Unanimous Approved the Administrative Subdivision Application from Bar Above Ranch. Crisman: Aye, Frans: Aye, Newmyer: Aye, Strehle: Aye, Papik: Aye, Abstained: Fitzgerald Approved the Kidwell Microsoft Office 365 Migration. Unanimous Approved to authorize the City of Crete to apply for the Water Security Grant Program. Unanimous Approved to authorize the City of Crete to apply for the Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program Fiscal Year 2024-2025. Unanimous Approved to authorize the City of Crete to apply for the State Aid Grant Program. Unanimous Approved the Crete Municipal Airport hangar rent rate increase by 8%. Crisman: Aye, Frans: Aye, Newmyer: Aye, Strehle: Aye Abstained: Papik and Fitzgerald Officers’ Reports Chief of Police Gary Young stated the following: They received a potential hostage gun situation and within three minutes of the call they had officers on site searching. They collaborated with Saline County and Doane University and in less than an hour they were able to have an all clear. There was indication that this was a swatting call and the person was not from the area. The Crete Police Department hosted a training on active shooters at Doane University with Crete Public Schools. The Car Seat Grant was awarded and they are going to be hosting community events to help families that are in need of car seats and making sure they are installed properly. Library Director Jessica Wilkinson passed out the library monthly report and stated the following: There were over 3,000 visitors for the past programs Upcoming programs include the Dungeons & Dragons on Saturday, August 23rd, 2025, Soda Pop Curtis’ 1st Birthday Pawty, Saturday, September 6th, 2025 at 10:00 a.m., the Adult Puzzle Race on Wednesday, September 24th, 2025 at the 1206 at 5:30 p.m., and Authors Book Signing/Meet & Greet, Saturday, September 27th, 2025 from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Collaborating with Dr. Sara Brown to provide anti scam information. Parks and Recreation Director Liz Cody stated the following: The new mower from Exmark is in service. Adult Coed Softball is taking place and Flag Football will be starting soon. The Celebrate Crete Event will be taking place on Wednesday, September 17th, 2025 at City Park. Building Inspector Trenton Griffin stated the following: Nuisance property update; 4 signs, 16 dilapidated structures and buildings, 2 fences, and 1 outdoor storage. 2 new single-family homes are being built Councilmember Anthony Fitzgerald asked if only Building Inspector Trenton Griffin is working on the nuisance cases. City Administrator Tom Ourada explained that Griffin works on some of the cases that are related to buildings. The Code Enforcement Officer works on nuisances related to the yard/property but for right now the Police Department is helping with that until a new Code Enforcement Officer is hired. City Administrator Tom Ourada stated the following: Working on the budget the electric, water and sewer have been doing well. The rate increase will help. The airport is at a negative and will continue to be at a negative. The City budgeted $50,000 for management and spent $65,000. Some City funds have been diverted into it and will probably do some more. The airport is part of the City and replaced the septic system. The general fund is in the black so it is doing okay. Sales tax is $18 difference between what we budget and what we got. Street Department is doing well. Fire and Rescue are slightly behind but summer is a busy time and they will catch up. The Police Department budget is a little down. They are short some staff which will make that up. There will be openings for two officers. This doesn’t account for the sergeant that retired. There is still a payout that the City is managing. The remaining general fund departments are pretty close. Hired a new Street Department employee who is also wastewater certified. Ourada will be at the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN) Board of Directors meetings in Kearney on Wednesday, August 20th, 2025 and Thursday, August 21st, 2025. Received the valuation for this year. Our valuation went up over $70 Million. The housing and a lot of things have contributed to that. The usable difference that we can use in calculation is about $8 million. We have a factor beside what we get and we do 1.88% additional. The budget will be good. The growth was good we went from $450 million of total valuation to over $520 million. Mayor Dave Bauer stated the following: The City of Crete hosted some Mayors and City Council members from Romania and gave thanks to City Administrator Tom Ourada, Chief of Police Gary Young, and Council members Ashley Newmyer, Dale Strehle, and Crete News editor Amy Hausman. Next year there might be another opportunity to do this again with a different country. Thanked the Street Department for all their work after the storm. City Administrator Tom Ourada stated that there was little power line damage in Crete. However, the Village of Dorchester had sustained more damage. The City of Crete Electric Department worked for a couple of days there. Bauer also thanked the Police Department for the work with the call to Doane University. Claims Paid BLUE VALLEY DOOR CO INC F8 DOOR REPAIR $296.25; CRETE ACE HARDWARE BLDG & GRND MAINT $355.89; MCMILLAN, KEN SPRAY GRASS RUNWAY FOR WEEDS $169.30; SEWARD COUNTY INDEPENDENT AIRPORT $12.73; SOUTHWICK LIQUID WASTE INC INSTALL SPECTIC $13,755.00; VERIZON WIRELESS CELL PHONE $39.91; NPPD AIRPORT ELECTRICITY $1,090.18; PINNACLE BANK LINCOLN WINNELSON $485.64; AIRPORT FUNDS SUBTOTAL $16,204.90; AGUILAR AGUILAR, SAMUEL CONSUMER DEPOSIT REFUND $139.64; CITY REVENUE FUND CONSUMER DEPOSIT APPLIED $2,880.66; CRUZ, CARLOS RUEDA CONSUMER DEPOSIT REFUND $8.55; ORDONEZ, ANAYANSI LAZO CONSUMER DEPOSIT REFUND $21.15; SCHMAILZL, CHRISTINA A CONSUMER DEPOSIT REFUND $100.00; CONSUMER DEPOSIT FUNDS SUBTOTAL $3,150.00; U.S. BANK NORTON SUBCRIP RENEWAL $115.22; AMAZON CAPITAL SERVICES IPHONE CASE $9.99; AQUA-CHEM INC 42LB PAIL CS 335 $597.27; BEATRICE CONCRETE CO #4 STOCK REBAR GRADE 60 $10.75; CASELLE, INC CONTRACT SUPPORT & MAINT $2,102.62; CONSTLLTN NEW ENERGY GAS NATURAL GAS $1,300.14; CORE & MAIN LP OMNI 5WHL 20' TRPL 3W CABLE $1,163.11; CRETE ACE HARDWARE CONCRETE REPAIR $663.21; CRETE AUTO SUPPLY INC UNIT 37 REPAIR $408.81; CRETE FOODMART LAB SUPPLIES $51.68; DITCH WITCH UNDERCON GASKET $668.33; DUTTON LAINSON COMPANY 320 120-480 VOLT R400 $5,919.55; JEO CONSULTING GROUP INC. CRETE WELL & TRANSMISSION MAIN $10,155.00; KANSAS TURNPIKE AUTHORITY TOLL FEES $5.52; MAX I WALKER UNIFORM & APPAREL UNIFORMS $174.59; MCI VERIZON TOLL FREE LINE $21.94; MIDWEST LABORATORIES INC LAB SUPPLIES $93.50; NE DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY OPERATOR LICENSE - GRADE I- IV & VI $28.75; NE PUBLIC HEALTH ENVIRONMENTAL LAB LAB $257.00; RESCO BURNDY COMPRESSION SLV $556.31; SCHMIDT, BRIAN STORM EXPENSE $43.52; TROJAN TECHNOLOGIES CORP SURCHARGE $5,025.20; UNION BANK & TRUST HSA FEES $44.00; UTILITIES SECTION MEMBERSHIP DUES $4,626.00; VERIZON WIRELESS CELL PHONE $430.10; WASTE CONNECTIONS PUBLIC WORKS $43,685.06; DEPT OF ENERGY PURCHASED POWER WAPA $38,082.75; NE DEPT OF REVENUE SALES TAX $43,607.33; NPPD ELECTRICITY $9,526.72; QUADIENT FINANCE USA INC POSTAGE $550.00; UPS POSTAGE $21.82; CITY PAYROLL FUNDS WAGES $114,498.40; UTILITY FUNDS SUBTOTAL $284,444.19; U.S. BANK NORTON SUBCRIP RENEWAL $98.77; ALARCON, VICTOR DAMAGE RIEMBURSEMENT $805.00; AKRS EQUIPMENT EQUIPMENT REPAIRS $285.27; ALMA RAMIRIZ GONZALEZ UTILITY OVERPAYMENT $23.49; AMAZON CAPITAL SERVICES BOOKS/MAGAZINES $4,117.41; ASCHOFF, EMERSON MILEAGE $115.64; BAKER & TAYLOR BOOKS $356.35; BEATRICE CONCRETE CO CONCRETE $7,510.31; BLACK HILLS ENERGY UTILITY $180.54; CASELLE, INC CONTRACT SUPPORT & MAINT $1,166.38; CITY REVENUE FUND PARK&REC $4,262.02; CITY REVENUE FUND SALES TAX $1,176.84; CRETE ACE HARDWARE SOFTBALL FIELD MATERIALS $1,139.08; CRETE FOODMART CLEANING SUPPLIES $6.08; CULLIGAN OF CRETE WATER COOLER RENTAL $13.00; FERRAL PENA, YANIEL S UTILITY OVERPAYMENT $100.12; FRONTIER APPLIANCE LLC REFRIGERATOR NOT COOLING $96.75; JEO CONSULTING GROUP INC. 2024 STREET & ALLEY IMPROVEMENTS $1,968.50; LEAGUE OF NEBR. MUNI MEMBERSHIP DUES $20,299.00; LINCOLN TENT LLC REINFORCE UMBRELLA COVER $130.00; MCI VERIZON TOLL FREE LINE $48.00; NEBRASKALAND TIRE INC TIRE REPAIR $32.99; NESTLE PURINA PETCARE CO PROJECT NORTH BOSWELL AVENUE $13,703.54; NPPD UTILITIES $10.09; PODLISKA, JOY K UTILITY OVERPAYMENT $88.97; PRESTO-X PEST CONTROL SERV $163.14; SCHINDLER ELEVATOR CORP INSPECTION SERVICE $403.32; SEWARD COUNTY INDEPENDENT PROCEEDINGS $359.66; SIGN SOLUTIONS USA LLC COTTONWOOD RD $150.45; TELLEZ, NANCY MILEAGE $16.38; TREETOP PRODUCTS INC OUTDOOR DRINKING FOUNTAIN $5,623.48; UNION BANK & TRUST HSA FEES $84.00; UTILITY ASSOCIATES INC BODY WORN CAMERAS $18,649.00; VERIZON WIRELESS WIRELESS MODEMS $328.70; VERIZON WIRELESS CELL PHONE $657.14; ONE BILLING SOLUTIONS CRETE AMB SERV $6,056.73; PINNACLE BANK LAKESHORE BOOKS $3,261.88; QUADIENT FINANCE USA INC POSTAGE $450.00; SPECTRUM INTERNET LINE DIU OFFICE $141.18; CITY PAYROLL FUNDS WAGES $165,683.35; TAX FUNDS SUBTOTAL $259,762.55; ALL FUNDS TOTAL $563,561.64 The meeting adjourned at 7:06 p.m. CR — August 27, 2025 ZNEZ
