BROKEN BOW – Mayor Sonnichsen called the Broken Bow City Council to order at 6 p.m. on the nose beneath the roof of the Municipal Auditorium on Tuesday to put finishing touches on July.
All council members were present for the meeting; they unanimously approved the minutes (or seconds, perhaps) of the prior meeting, the bills as posted, and the May treasurer’s report.
In new business, the spending limit for department foremen, department heads, and city administrator was approved unanimously through Resolution 2022-9. City administrator Dan Knoell explained the need to ratify the two-year-old measure.
“This resolution, two years ago, stopped department heads, foremen, or even newly-hired individuals from going out and spending as much money as they wanted. It’s to keep track of budgets. It’s one of the reasons the city, the utility side of it, was able to finish $1.6 million dollars in the black last year.”
Those spending limits include $100 per two weeks for foremen, $1000 per two weeks for department heads, and $50,000 per two weeks for the city administrator, which operates as a boon in emergencies to departments across the city, according to Knoell.
“My $50,000 bid is set so high because if it isn’t, you’re limiting the department heads; you’re limiting those foremen. Say the electric company needs to buy two transformers. That authorizes me to give the exemption for them to buy those transformers, otherwise, we’re always two weeks if not a month behind on stuff that departments need.”
The limits, Knoell points out, are not constrictive outright; foremen and department heads are free to ask for more money. “Department heads can spend up to $1000 with zero approval. Anything over that $1000 requires approval.”
In other new business, the council approved the city’s union contract, slated to take effect on October 1 of this year, and run until September 30, 2025.
The City Council’s next meeting is scheduled for August 9 and will be open to the public.
