BROKEN BOW— It was a quick meeting on Tuesday, December 8 for the Broken Bow City Council as they began the evening with adjourn sine die and oaths were administered to Jacob Holcomb and Christopher Myers. Both were re-elected to the council following the General Election in November. Holcomb will represent the West Ward while Myers will represent the East Ward.
The only item that was discussed at length during the meeting, was the conditional use permit for Viaero Wireless. Mike Harms, who was representing Industrial Tower West, stated that the plan for the company was to remove a 60-foot pole at 1451 N 17 Ave. and replace it with a 100 foot galvanized pole.
Harms stated that the pole would be further south than the current pole, would be self-supporting, and would not require guide wires. He also said that because the pole is less than 200 feet tall, the FAA does not require that the tower be lighted and because it is in a residential neighborhood, they have no plans to put a light on the new tower.
City Administrator Dan Knoell informed the Council that the planning commission approved the plan at their December 2 meeting and the permit has also met all of the zoning requirements. The Council approved the conditional use permit unanimously.
Other approvals included electing Holcomb as the Council President, appointing JEO Consulting Group, Inc. as the City Engineer for 2021, opening bids for sludge removal at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the reappointment of Steve Parr as the Street Superintendent.
Department Head Updates
Chief Steve Scott (BBPD): Officer at Nebraska Training Center will be finishing up next week. Applied for Preliminary Breath Tests for alcohol testing which will hopefully be covered 100% by Department of Highway Safety.
Megan Svoboda (BB Library): Thanked BBPD and Streets Department for help with Santa Drive Thru event on Monday evening. November statistics: Patrons saved over $18,000 in November by borrowing non-digital materials from the library, there were 87 Wi-Fi users, 32 library cards were issued, 637 people visited the library, 124 items were added to the library collection, and the multipurpose rooms were used 50 times.
Darren Martin (Overseer of Streets and Parks): Bathrooms have been winterized, lights were hung in the square, multiple streets are being worked on, and maintenance on the ball fields has also been taking place.
The next Broken Bow City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 22 at 6 PM.
