BROKEN BOW – The Broken Bow City Council held its first meeting of August Tuesday evening at the Municipal Building’s Auditorium. Councilman Myers was absent and excused.
James Callaway of the Broken Bow Airport Authority, in an update around the renewal of the interlocal agreement for the coming fiscal year, tallied off several projects that the airport had undertaken in the last year, including modernizing a 70-year-old beacon, installing 5 new light poles, and widening a ramp by 45,000 square feet.
The $745,000 ramp project was made possible, Callaway said, by tremendous federal help.
“We did this on our ‘Federal 90/10’ grant, so the airport was responsible for only 10% of all engineering and construction costs.”
Callaway went on to say that with additional dollars, the airport might wind up paying only about 2% of the total bill.
As to future projects, with the momentum the Airport Authority has gathered, Callaway plans to install a new roof on the terminal, new guiding lights, and a jet fuel tank; he said that the tank, in particular, could have immense and immediate benefit to communities beyond Custer County.
“The thing about Broken Bow is that medical aircraft take jet fuel, and we are the only place in a 60 to 100-mile radius to have jet fuel. A lot of times we’ll get Life Flight coming down from Valentine, and they won’t have enough fuel to get to Kearney or Grand Island, so they’ll stop in the middle of the night, patient on board, blades still spinning, telling us over the radio they need 50 gallons.”
To create adequate space for the incoming Rotary initiative “Truckers Against Trafficking,” the council unanimously approved the closure of C Street between 9th and 10th Avenues from Sunday, August 27 through Tuesday, August 29.
Additionally, the council approved the appointment of Councilman Paul Holland as its Custer County Communications Representative, a position left open when Councilman David Schmidt was promoted to City Administrator.
The council approved the consent agenda for the final July meeting which included the bills as posted and the minutes.
The meeting adjourned at 6:14 p.m., with the next scheduled for August 22.
