REGULAR MEETING CRETE CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY HALL NOVEMBER 18TH, 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, Strehle, and Fitzgerald. Absent: Dan Papik and Ashely Newmyer The following actions were taken at the meeting: Approved the Consent Agenda items: Unanimous Meeting Minutes November 4th, 2025 City Council Minutes November 4th, 2025 Public Safety November 4th, 2025 Legislative & Economic Development Minutes November 4th, 2025 Public Works Committee Minutes Treasurer’s Report Claims against the City $622,126.75 Enacted Ordinance 2261 Reestablishing the .5% sales tax and economic development program. Unanimous Enacted Ordinance 2262 amending dates for 2255 Setting municipal water and sewer rates. Unanimous Approved to authorize the Crete Police Department to apply for the Highway Safety Grant for child safety seats. Unanimous Approved the Special Event Permit SE25-10 for the Crete Cares Food Distribution on December 13th, 2025. Unanimous Accepted the Saline County Rural Fire Protection District Award Letter. Unanimous Approved the Crete 24PWI004 Payment Request 3. Unanimous Approved the Crete 24DTR001 Payment Request 3. Unanimous Approved the claims from Crete Ace Hardware in the amount of $2,928.99. Unanimous Approved the Waste Connections Agreement. Unanimous Approved the amendments to the Master Fee Schedule. Unanimous Approved the farm leases on City property. Unanimous Approved the deviation from City spec for sidewalk placement at 1044, 1100, 1110, and 1120 Jasmine Ave. Unanimous Approved the JEO's recommendation for the street and alley paving CDBG Project No. 24-PWI-004. Unanimous Approved a bid date for the sale of A row hangars to advertise for a bid opening on Thursday, December 18th, 2025. Unanimous Officer’s Reports Parks and Recreation Director Liz Cody stated the following: Thanked Tau Sigma Zeta for their help on Sunday November 9th with City Park and the ongoing community food drive Thanked Angelo Franco, Doane service leadership student who completed over 35 volunteer hours in the past 3 months Removed a large at risk hackberry from City Park, thanks to funds from 2024 IRA UCF grant award which helped provide both staff training in completing review of tree health in city parks and funds for removal of at risk trees. Recently received approval for funding for 3 years of funds from the 2025 IRA UCF grant application cycle. Ongoing Park, playground and facility inspections, renovations, and tree removals Food Bank distribution at Tuxedo Park will be held Wed. Nov. 26 due to Thanksgiving holiday Chief of Police Gary Young stated that Code Enforcement Officer Hermes Trujillo has been working on nuisance properties and making sure people are parking on hard surfaces on their properties. Trujillo has worked on over 64 citations and he is knocking on people’s doors instead of waiting to mail them out. He is also helping with traffic control and getting documents translated to Spanish. An Admirative Assistant part-time position has been approved and posted. Council member Anthony Fitzgerald asked City Administrator Tom Ourada if the council members can get a list of the nuisance properties being worked on. Ourada referred to City Attorney Alison Janecek Borer who stated she is going to be reviewing the matter. City Administrator Tom Ourada stated the following: The City has used four Cline Williams Attorneys over the past couple months. John Zimmer is litigating a tax issue and two other attorneys are working on personnel matters. City Attorney Alison Janecek Borer has put in many hours and Ourada is happy with how things have been going. Ourada stated he sees all the work going on and it may be possible the Council doesn’t see it all. Had a meeting with the Clevettes and they are interested in volunteering to plan shrubs and flowers. Ourada stated that it may be possible that in a larger scale they create an organized group in order to do that and connect them to Parks and Recreation Director Liz Cody. LB840 passed fairly comfortably and reaffirms people’s confidence in what the City is doing and following the plan. The City takes this responsibility seriously. Ourada stated the editors from the Crete News helped. Mayor Bauer also stated that Amy Hausman helped with the Crete News and did a lot of work with the Crete Chamber of Commerce. Generated the number 7 unit which is a 6-megawatt unit. Southwest Power Pool called and the City started it up in the afternoon till the evening. Had a preliminary discussion of the idea of Crete investing in a combustion turbine 20-megawatt generator. MEAN and SPP and Power Pool are looking for resources. A CT unit in the 20-megawatt range would really fit in Crete. More on that to come. Ourada will be attending the MEAN Committee and Board meetings in Kearney, NE on Wednesday, November 19th and Thursday, November 20th, 2025. We do so many grants it hard to keep track of all of them and we are working on a couple with the fire department. Ourada stated that Liz Cody’s grant is in excess of $250,000 for 3 years of funds from the 2025 IRA UCF grant and Chief Young’s grant for car seats. Had a call today with Southeast Nebraska Development District and the Economic Development Administration to try applying for those $5-7 Million in a 80-20 or 75-25 grant. That’s the nature of today’s world for municipalities. The Police Department’s personnel is down several police officers. There is one candidate that will be evaluated in January and down the road will look at filling other positions. Waiting on bids for the public restroom and pavilion at City Park. There is some grant money available and maybe some other funding. That will enhance the park and free up the bathroom downstairs to do some internal things at City Hall. The Board of Adjustment meeting will be on Thursday, November 20th, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. at City Hall. Ourada spoke to Mayor Bauer and Council President Strehle about a customer that has a request that they only have to pay half of their utility rate. Will be talking to the City Attorney but there is not a lot of interest in doing an arbitrary rate reduction. Council member Anthony Fitzgerald asked if the City has a comprehensive landscape and irrigation plan for City Park and Ourada stated that not yet and Fitzgerald asked if funding would define the full scope and Ourada stated exactly. Fitzgerald asked about a maintenance shed at Tuxedo Park and if there is a plan to demo or fix the roof and Ourada stated that is being addressed and they plan to continue using it. Fitzgerald asked about putting more storage shipping containers out at Tuxedo Park and Ourada stated that technically those are not allowed out there and it’s a zoning issue. The City Council provided special permission and Ourada stated this is something he would recommend the Council to revisit. Fitzgerald asked that the target date for a deliverable from the Zoning consultant. Ourada stated 9 to 12 months but the City provided them with a great deal of information and they think it will be sooner. Fitzgerald asked about the fire department’s numbers being way down and the changes with rules and regulations to allow folks to join if they are non-EMS. Ourada stated that he has not had a conversation with Chief Allen but he was aware of departments doing that even when he was a member. Change of bylaws has to come to the City Council for ratification. Mayor Dave Bauer stated that it was a general discussion and he isn’t aware of them actually pursuing that at this time. Would be possible to get an update of projects from the street department for the City Council to see. If the City would have the new road grader for the 2025-2026 snow season and what are the upgrades. Ourada stated that would be nice but they got it from the Midwest bid and now waiting on delivery. Ourada stated that he left that to the street department. Asked about the other 3 graders and if they need to be surplused. Ourada stated one is fairly new and with the other two one is operational and the other isn’t but they are going in on trade and for both it will be about $29,000. ETA for the tar kettle unit and Ourada stated that within the next couple weeks. PAYEE DESCRIPTION AMOUNT; CLINE WILLIAMS LLP GEN BUS-AIRPORT $971.50; SEWARD COUNTY INDEP AIRPORT $12.27; VERIZON WIRELESS CELL PHONE $39.94; NPPD AIRPORT ELECTRICITY $859.88; PINNACLE BANK JOHN W KENNEY s179332, LITHIUM BATTERY $270.27; AIRPORT FUNDS SUBTOTAL $2,153.86; AGUILERA SANCHEZ, YURAYCY CONSUMER DEPOSIT REFUND $29.50; CITY REVENUE FUND CONSUMER DEPOSIT APPLIED $1,404.49; LOPEZ JACINTO, MIGUEL CONSUMER DEPOSIT REFUND $56.01; CONSUMER DEPOSIT FUNDS SUBTOTAL $1,490.00; SALINE COUNTY TREASURER SALES TAX & TITLE FOR ELECTRIC LINE TRUCK $21,414.61; LOYA, GABRIEL GALICIA UTILITY OVERPAYMENT 1085810 $146.29; AMERICAN WATER WORKS ASSOC 2026 MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL $385.00; AQUA-CHEM INC UN1791, HYPOCHLORITE SOLUTIONS $426.99; CASELLE, INC CONTRACT SUPPORT & MAINT $2,102.62; CLINE WILLIAMS LLP GEN BUS-ELECTRIC $7,137.50; CRETE ACE HARDWARE LAWNMOWER MAINT $310.59; CRETE ACE HARDWARE BORING MACHINE REPAIR $512.23; CRETE AUTO SUPPLY INC BACKHOE BATTERY $509.53; CRETE LUMBER & FARM SUPPLY CO LIFT STATION REPAIR $10.74; DUTTON LAINSON COMPANY CLEAR ENCAPSULATED PEDESTAL CONNECTOR $1,578.00; EAKES OFFICE SOLUTIONS OFFICE SUPPLIES $307.03; ELLIOTT EQUIPMENT CO JOINT, SWIVEL, 90D, 1 $858.80; EXECUTIVE ANSWERING SERVICE ANSWERING SERVICE $63.75; JAY'S OIL CO PROPANE $141.90; LINCOLN WINWATER WORKS CO 74621 1X1 QTR MTR CPLG NL $347.66; MAX I WALKER UNIFORM & APPRL UNIFORMS $172.09; MIDWEST LABORATORIES INC LABS $2,922.08; NE PUBLIC HEALTH ENVRNMNTL LAB LABS $357.00; OLSSON CRETE CORE INGREDIENTS $233.01; ONE CALL CONCEPTS INC LOCATING SERVICE FEE $69.11; SAPP BROS, INC PROPANE $722.06; TITAN MACHINERY BOLT LOCK $817.00; UNION BANK & TRUST HSA FEES $44.00; VERIZON WIRELESS CELL PHONE $389.56; WASTE CONNECTIONS PUBLIC WORKS $43,648.89; WESCO RECEIVABLES CORP POLE, 40' CLASS 4 $17,974.00; DEPT OF ENERGY PURCHASED POWER WAPA $35,767.65; NE DEPT OF REVENUE SALES TAX $45,621.65; NPPD ELECTRICITY $8,126.23; PINNACLE BANK COSTCO 021676, HALLOWEEN CANDY $1,331.44; XPRESS BILL PAY ONLINE PMT FEE $1,769.81; CITY PAYROLL FUNDS WAGES $116,051.74; UTILITY FUNDS SUBTOTAL $312,270.56; SALINE COUNTY SHERIFF CI 25-402 CITY OF CRETE VS SOHUM CORP $50.00; SALINE COUNTY SHERIFF CR25-425 CITY OF CRETE VS SOHUM $50.00; 911 CUSTOM HANDCUFFS $77.60; AMAZON CAPITAL SERVICES FRIENDS DONATIONS $1,054.08; AW WINDOW WASHING WINDOW CLEANING $800.00; BEATRICE CONCRETE CO ROAD GRAVEL-CITY PARK PLAYGROUND $4,396.31; BEATRICE SAND & GRAVEL ICE SAND $855.01; BLACKSTONE PUBLISHING BOOKS/MAGAZINES $214.42; CASELLE, INC CONTRACT SUPPORT & MAINT $1,166.38; CENGAGE LEARNING INC BOOKS/MAGAZINES $84.77; CENTER POINT LARGE PRINT BOOKS/MAGAZINES $149.82; CITY REVENUE FUND INTEREST E 13TH ST PROJECT $45,444.15; CITY REVENUE FUND PARK&REC $3,664.21; CITY REVENUE FUND SALES TAX $79.46; CLINE WILLIAMS LLP CARDINAL VENTURES REDEV PROJECT $32,910.50; CRETE ACE HARDWARE CLEANING SUPPLIES $1,706.77; CRETE ACE HARDWARE BATTERY CHARGER $307.59; CRETE ACE HARDWARE JANITORIAL $91.81; CRETE AUTO SUPPLY INC SWEEPER OIL FILTER $359.71; CRETE VETERINARY CLINIC BOARD - CATS $758.30; CRIST TOWING SERVICE VEHICLE TOWING $202.00; CULLIGAN OF CRETE WATER COOLER RENTAL - LIBRARY $52.00; DULTMEIER SALES LLC SEAL KIT -BRINE TANK PUMP $280.42; EAKES OFFICE SOLUTIONS JANITORIAL $34.60; EXECUTIVE ANSWERING SERVICE ANSWERING SERVICE $21.25; GOLD STAR MARTIAL ARTS REIMBURSE FOR KICK-IT PROGRAM $500.00; JAY'S OIL CO OIL CHANGE $119.60; JEO CONSULTING GROUP INC. 2024 STREET & ALLEY IMPROVEMENTS $3,562.50; MIDWEST ALARM SERVICES ANNUAL INSPECTION $1,164.00; NEBRASKALAND TIRE INC TIRE REPAIR $157.67; NPPD UTILITIES $10.09; OVERDRIVE INC DEPOSIT ON ACCOUNT FOR CONTENT PURCH $2,000.00; PRESTO-X PEST CONTROL SERV $155.19; PWR & DWD RENTAL PROPERTIES LLC OLD MAIN LB840 $50.00; RAMOS, ZORAIDA UNL INNOVATION STUDIO LASS $89.60; SALINE CO. AREA TRANSIT 2026 ALLOCATION $34,847.00; SALINE COUNTY REGISTER OF DEEDS FILING FEES $48.00; SAPP BROS, INC DIESEL FUEL $666.02; SEWARD COUNTY INDEPENDENT CITY COUNCIL $477.08; SHUBERT, TAD PROGRAM REIMBURSEMENT $11.96; TELLEZ, NANCY MILEAGE $114.17; UNETA BOUTIQUE LB840 UNETA BOUTIQUE $6,194.28; UNION BANK & TRUST HSA FEES $72.00; VERIZON WIRELESS MODEMS FOR PATROL CARS $329.00; VERIZON WIRELESS CELL PHONE $566.77; ONE BILLING SOLUTIONS CRETE AMB SERV $6,898.88; PINNACLE BANK ARBYS 10-16-25 MGMT COURSE $7,255.39; SPECTRUM INTERNET $129.98; CITY PAYROLL FUNDS WAGES $145,981.99; TAX FUNDS SUBTOTAL $306,212.33; ALL FUNDS TOTAL $622,126.75 The meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m. CR — November 26, 2025 ZNEZ
