BROKEN BOW—The Broken Bow City Council met on Tuesday night and started the meeting with a proclamation declaring March 2020 as “Problem Gambling Awareness Month.” City Clerk Stephanie Wright gave a brief status report on some of the current JEO Consulting Group projects and mentioned that the drinking water protection plan project should be completed by June.
Discussion items for the February 11 meeting included Blight and Substandard Study with Mayor Rod Sonnichsen saying the goal of conducting a new study is to promote building in Broken Bow (with a blight study examining existing conditions of current land-use and city structures).
The last study was done in 2014 and the percentage of blighted areas should not surpass 50% or it could interfere with future Tax Increment Financing projects. The current percentage of blighted areas in Broken Bow is 44%. A map will be sent to JEO and a cost estimate will be determined.
The city council agreed to put the consideration of creating a street improvement district on the next meeting agenda to prepare for the possible Memorial Drive project which includes improvements between the intersection of 5th and Memorial and east toward the hospital. The general consensus was that portions of the road are in terrible shape due to high traffic and water conditions. Stephanie Wright said the project has been budgeted for and the current estimate is $1,164,030.
David Schmidt was nominated by Sonnichsen and approved by the council to fill the vacant position of East Ward city council member. Schmidt has served with the Broken Bow Volunteer Fire Department in the past and council president Jacob Holcomb said he was a “great candidate” with Larry Miller adding that he is a quality choice. Schmidt was sworn in and recited the oath led by City Attorney Jason White.
During the Comments by Mayor and Council Members portion of the meeting, Schmidt said, “I’m glad to be here. Bear with me, I will ask a lot of questions. I want to get this right.”
The council voted to appoint JEO Consulting Group as the City Engineer for 2020 and also voted to approve updating the City of Broken Bow website for approximately $7,500. City clerk Wright said the current website’s programming is getting outdated and the update will allow the website to be more user friendly.
The meeting adjourned at 6:29 p.m. and the next city council meeting will be on Tuesday, February 25 at 6 p.m. City offices will be closed on February 17 in observance of Presidents’ Day.
