NEBRASKA CITY – The Nebraska City City Council voted unanimously Monday to allow youth sport and soccer advocates to seek funds that would provide playing space for soccer on land west of Wyuka Cemetery.
The move was unanimously opposed by cemetery board members who said the noise associated with sporting events is not compatible with the serenity of a cemetery.
Parks Commissioner Patrick Wehling said the cemetery is already flanked by a residential area and the city’s main industrial park. He said the sound of children playing would be less of a disruption than the existing sources of sound.
About 300 youth participate in youth soccer on privately-owned land and Wehling said the city must provide soccer fields and pay maintenance costs for those fields.
Finance Commissioner Gloria Glover questioned the method for producing the conceptual plan that was proposed Monday. She noted that the cemetery board did not seem to have much input and said she hopes a final design “will have more buy-in” than this.
About $300,000 is proposed for a parking lot and road that City Adminstrator Grayson Path said could be used right away for the cemetery. A new bathroom is also proposed that Wehling said would better serve the cemetery than the bathroom currently in use.
Wehling said the next step is to seek funding to see if all or a portion of the $800,000 facility can advance.
