The Broken Bow City Council met in regular session Tuesday evening, February 24. Mayor Rod Sonnichsen called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM in the Broken Bow Municipal Building.
What appeared to be the main event of the evening revealed a broad consensus between the city and a coalition of business owners concerned with ongoing federal review of the Broken Bow flood plain.
The Council approved a measure to transfer $230,000 currently allocated for the development of a recreational splash pad to fund a City-led floodplain mitigation scoping and planning effort. City Administrator Dave Schmidt noted that the resolution itself was simply “an exercise in transparency”, stating that the funds originated from the same source in the city budget. The difference is in how the funds will be used.
A number of members in the audience Tuesday evening represented an informal advisory group who encouraged the council to pursue the funding and scoping project.
The City now plans to contract with JEO Consulting to begin the scoping project, designed to carry out an internal evaluation of the Broken Bow flood plain and develop mitigation strategies in the expectation that a review by FEMA will result in a broader floodplain designation that currently exists. Such a designation would have the effect of creating new flood insurance requirements for a broad swath of Broken Bow following the Mud Creek channel.
Business leader Stewart Fox addressed the Council following the approval of the funds transfer, expressing the advisory group’s appreciation of the Council, Mayor and City administration’s efforts to get out ahead of the potential impacts of the floodplain review.
Prior to the floodplain discussion, the first item of new business before the Council was a policy governing the City’s use of automated clearing house (ACH) fund transfer protocols. ACH is commonly used for direct deposits, payroll, and automatic bill payments.
City Clerk Jennifer Waterhouse explained that the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) requires users to establish policy for internal controls, authorizations and fraud-prevention procedures. The Council unanimously approved adoption of the new policies required by NACHA.
The Council also approved without comment the sale of two City-owned vehicles, a 2011 Chevy Impala previously used by the City Administration, and a 2007 Ford Expedition owned by the Broken Bow Fire Department.
In Council Comments, the group noted a productive trip to Lincoln for this week’s Nebraska League of Municipalities meeting. Members of the Council atteneded education sessions on topics ranging from grant writing to greenry and trees to social media outreach.
With no further business before the Council, the meeting adjouned at 6:10 PM The next meeting of the Broken Bow City Council will be March 10 at 6:00 PM in the Broken Bow Municipal Building.
