BROKEN BOW—Officer Chris Anderson officially received his pins as Broken Bow Police Sergeant during the April 26, 2022 City Council meeting. Sergeant Anderson was welcomed to the Broken Bow Police Department in January 2019 and now serves as the K9 handler in addition to holding the position previously held by Sergeant Shane Fiorelli.
“I have confidence in Chris Anderson with his 12 years [of] experience in law enforcement. He’s also a member of the National Guard (22 years). He trains our current officers and Chris has done an excellent job with that. He’s our K9 officer, his dog is named Sam. I feel Sergeant Anderson is the right man to fill the position,” Chief Steve Scott said.
“I really appreciate this opportunity that Chief Scott and the city is trusting me with. I hope I live up to what Shane Fiorelli started, he was a very good sergeant and I have some big shoes to fill so I hope I live up to that,” Sergeant Chris Anderson said.
Tuesday’s regular council meeting was held at the Broken Bow Library due to the Melham Rummage Sale at the Municipal Building. During the meeting, Piper Sandler Senior Vice President Brad Slaughter appeared before the council to discuss the possibility of refinancing the city’s Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) water loan and General Obligation (G.O.) Water Refunding Bonds when they are callable.
Depending on interest rates, Slaughter said there is a chance the city could save more than $34,000 between the years 2022 and 2029 if its water loan is refinanced.
“The action that we have in front of you provides authority for us to actually establish all the documents and move forward with the refi if the savings is sufficient enough. In our opinion it needs to be above 3% present value savings,” Slaughter said.
Mayor Rod Sonnichsen and Council President Dave Schmidt both said if the city has the opportunity to save money by refinancing it is worth it.
Resolution 2022-4 regarding the NDEE Water Loan and Ordinance 1259 G.O. Water Refunding Bonds, Series 2022 in an amount not to exceed $925,000 were both approved.
A public hearing was held regarding Ordinance 1260 Amending Mayor and City Council Wages. A possibility of increasing the mayor’s wages by $1,500 and increasing council members’ wages by $1,400 each was discussed but was not approved on Tuesday night.
The proposed ordinance would increase the mayor’s wages from $6,000 to $7,500 and council member wages from $2,100 to $3,500.
City Administrator Dan Knoell said the wage increase would not be effective until after the November 2022 elections. Council member Larry Miller expressed concern that the public has not given input and that is seems odd to increase their own wages. Knoell said the mayor and council are very active and it is time for a wage increase. The last increase was approved when Cecil Burt was mayor about four years ago.
Mayor Sonnichsen said council members are more involved with city boards and the time required does take away from work and requires time after business hours. Going forward, he also said the compensation needs to be appealing to draw more potential candidates to represent the city. The three readings were not waived and the item will appear on future council agendas.
To close the meeting, city department heads all gave quarterly reports.
Police: Started advertising for a new police officer, D.A.R.E. class recently finished, Chief Scott serves as the President of the Police Officers Association of Nebraska
Library: Library users saved approximately $34,000 by borrowing books instead of buying
Water and Sewer: Cleaned and repainted well houses, replacing sewer piping, raised manhole covers
Parks and Streets: Filling pool in about two weeks with prospective opening date of June 1, surveillance at Melham, Muddy Creek cleanup
Electric: Checking meters and poles, dealing with wind issues the past few weeks
The meeting adjourned at 6:57 p.m. and the next City Council meeting will be on Tuesday, May 10 at 6 p.m. at the Broken Bow Public Library.
