The Broken Bow City Council met for their regular meeting Tuesday, April 9, in the Municipal Building at 6 p.m..
Mayor Rod Sonnichsen called the session to order with a roll call that highlighted council member Russ Smith’s motion for council member Chris Myers’ absence.
To start the meeting, the agenda was approved, which included the minutes of the previous meeting on March 26, the approval of bills posted and the approval of the official roster for the Broken Bow Volunteer Fire Department.
During the new business portion of the meeting, two board appointments were made, reappointing Jeff Oeltjen to the Broken Bow Park Board and Betsy Smith to the Broken Bow Library Board.
The proposal of adding two specific handicap parking spaces on the east side of the northbound lane of South 11th Ave on either side of the west parking lot at the courthouse was next.
County Supervisor Dwain Bryner came before Council regarding the matter, stating that having a handicap spot on either side of the parking lot entrance would give the best flexibility for handicapped drivers with and without wheelchairs. The proposal was approved to enhance the accessibility of the area.
The council approved the sale of surplus real property valued after a suggestion from City Administrator David Schmidt.
Correction: In an email from City Administrator David Schmidt, it was indicated that the incorrect property was referred to. The correct property is one block south and west, on the corner of S 9th Ave. & South G St. (GIS ID 001092100). He indicated that the legal description in the resolution is correct, and there is no impact on the validity of the resolution that was passed by Council, with bids being accepted starting at $8,000.
Additionally, ambulance fees were amended to reflect the cost incurred by the city and to pursue expansions into Advanced Life Support services. Schmidt elaborated on the city’s position.
“I would never want anybody to not call the ambulance because they are afraid of how much it would cost. We want people to use it if they need it, but we also feel like to be fair to the taxpayer and to the people utilizing the service, we need to standardize our fees,” he said.
City Administrator David Schmidt and Chief of Police Steve Scott announced a citywide cleanup event scheduled for Saturday, May 11, encouraging residents to take advantage of the free services offered and emphasizing increased police enforcement to address nuisance and municipal code violations. Chief Scott said officers are there to help.
“The officers before that date will be out in force patrolling and they will have a copy of this flyer and any property that looks (like) a nuisance that needs attention, they will contact that property owner, renter, or whatever to address the problem and take advantage of this city wide cleanup on May 11. We’re not out there to just push on the citizens, we’re going to help them and encourage them to take advantage of this,” said Scott.
Broken Bow City Councilmember Paul Holland closed the meeting by thanking the Park and Street Departments for doing a wonderful job with improvements on a shelter at Melham park.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:21 p.m.
The next Board of Public Works meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 23 at 6 p.m. along with the next city council meeting later that night in the Broken Bow Municipal Building at 6 p.m.
