BROKEN BOW— Mobile food vendors have been a hot button issue at Broken Bow City Council meetings and a decision on if an ordinance will be passed is still up in the air. On Tuesday, June 11 Councilman Jacob Holcomb asked that the public hearing, as well as the vote concerning the ordinance, be postponed until he had the opportunity to talk with more mobile vendors.
Holcomb stated that he did not want to have an overreaction concerning the mobile vendors, but also did not want to delay the ordinance too far into the future as the delay was causing issues for Chief Steve Scott and his officers for imposing parking violations. The ordinance was postponed to the next meeting on Tuesday, June 25 at 6 PM where a vote could take place concerning the ordinance.
Following the postponement of the mobile food vendor ordinance, the Council approved the following appointments:
City Clerk – Stephanie Wright
City Treasurer – Nancee Coufal
Water/Sewer Superintendent – Darren Marten
Electrical Superintendent – Jeremy Tarr
Street Superintendent – Monte Clark
Park Superintendent – Darren Marten
Library Directory – K. Joan Birnie
City Attorney – Jason White
Zoning Administrator – Stephanie Wright
Police Chief – Steve Scott
-Dan Hanson, Captain
-Benjamin Tucker, Police Officer
-Shane Fiorelli, Police Officer
-David Taylor III, Police Officer
-Coby Cassidy, Police Officer
-Christopher Anderson, Police Officer
Finance Committee – Council members Sonnichsen, Holcomb, Myers, and Miller
Deb Kennedy, Executive Director of the Broken Bow Chamber of Commerce, had a couple of topics to discuss with the board beginning with asking the board to allow the Third Thursday celebration to be moved to July 11, to coincide with Crazy Days and Alumni Weekend. The name would also be changed to “Crazy Thursday.”
“We want to make sure that our guests who are in town that day, feel welcome and we give them a good time in the park,” said Kennedy
Also part of the “Crazy Thursday” on July 11, the Broken Bow Area Rotary along with Teammates, will be having a sidewalk art contest from 4 PM to 7 PM. The artwork will be created with water soluble chalk on the sidewalk surrounding the Broken Bow City Square with the exception of the sidewalk that is near the turf which will be avoided.
“People can buy tickets to vote for whoever they like the best and 100% of the funds earned that night, from the sale of the tickets for voting for your favorite artwork, will go to a local non-profit [organization],” said Deb McCaslin
The Broken Bow Chamber was also approved to have a food and craft fair on the square during the Custer County Fair Parade on Saturday, July 27. The food and craft fair new has taken place in the square the past couple of years and will continue again this year. Deb Kennedy noted that while the setup would be very similar to the Market in the Square they would not be closing off any streets for the fair.
The final approvals of the evening was a liquor license for Gary’s Superfoods, the amendment of Section 92.069 concerning vacating public ways, and the appointments of Travin Flynn, Butch Brunken, and Dan Jacobson to the Board of Public works for a term expiring June 2022.
Payments were also approved to JEO Consulting Group Inc. in the amount of $332, a payment of $6,397 was approved to the Nebraska Department of Transportation for the new Handibus, which was also paid in part with ACE funds from the Utilities Department, and payment to Brite for eCitation equipment was approved in the amount of $27,538.
Following the payments, the Council entered into closed session to discuss litigation for approximately 30 minutes. All members of the public were asked to leave with the exception of Terrance Waite, who is an attorney at Waite, McWha, & Heng in North Platte. No decision was made during closed session and the Council adjourned shortly after.
The next Broken Bow City Council Meeting will be held on June 25, 2019 at 6 PM at the Broken Bow Public Library.
