BROKEN BOW, Neb. – Broken Bow City Council met Tuesday night in the Municipal Building. All council members were present.
After approval of the consent agenda, council heard from Emergency Services Department Head David Baltz on numbers from the 2024 calendar year.
The Emergency Services group received 502 calls totaling 3,496 man hours last year. 78% of those calls were 911 calls, and 35% were ALS calls. Just a couple months into this year, Baltz said calls are up 20% with 106 received so far.
The Emergency Services roster currently has 32 individuals, including EMTs, Medics, and Advanced Medics covering a 24/7 12 hour split shifts. Baltz said several members are attending classes to receive certification and that the group is awaiting a much-anticipated ambulance addition in the next couple of months.
Broken Bow Electrical Superintendent Blake Waldow also gave a report at Tuesday’s meeting, expanding on the power plant explosion and its response and recovery. He stated that 300 residents lost power as a result of the explosion (240 residential locations and 60 businesses). Over 40 electric workers from the city, Custer Public Power, and NPPD responded to the event.
Waldow said that as a result of the explosion, conversions the department wanted to make over the next couple of years have been pushed to a timeline spanning just a couple of months. He thanked the public for their patience with outages going forward, re-stating that they apologize for not being able to give exact time notices as is normally the case with planned outages.
Regarding outages, Wednesday (March 12) will have outages occurring between North 9th and 10th starting at 8:30 AM followed by North 10th to 11th between 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM.
Outages on Thursday (March 13) will be between North 11th and 12th starting at 8:30 AM, lasting until noon.
Discussions on stop signs and speed limits continued Tuesday night after readings were not waived at their initial introduction. Each of the three stop sign ordinances had a public hearing and second reading to work toward progress.
New stop sign locations would be as follows (visual aid maps at the end of this story):
- North side of the South 8th Avenue and South D Street intersection
- North and south side of the South 6th Avenue and South C Street intersection
- North and south side of the South 7th Avenue and South C Street intersection
- Four way stop signs at the South 6th Avenue and South D Street intersection
- Four way stop signs at the South 7th Avenue and South D Street intersection
- North and south side of the North 9th Avenue and North H Street intersection
In public comments, the main concern with the stop sign at the north side of the intersection near Bruning Bank was that making the intersection a three way stop rather than a four way stop could be more confusing. Both Chamber Director Stephanie Grafel and Police Chief Steve Scott recommended an amendment to make it a four way stop. The idea for this stop sign location was originally brought about by the parks board due to truck traffic speeds.
All discussions surrounding the stop sign placements at South 6th and C Street, South 7th and C Street, South 6th and D Street, and South 7th and D Street centered around pedestrian safety again, citing the increase in population from Legacy Apartments and the presence of children near the library.
Finally, the longest discussion of the night took place on the stop signs proposed on the North and South side of the North 9th Avenue and North H Street near the First Presbyterian Church. Again, pedestrian safety was of main concern with North Park Elementary being just to the west and the high school being just a few blocks to the south.
Visitors to the microphone Tuesday night cited concerns with the drop in speed for vehicles approaching from the north (55 down to 25 abruptly) in addition to visibility issues.
The speed limit raising from 15 MPH to 25 MPH for the stretch of road between the former Gary’s Super Foods and Tomahawk park so no further discussion, cited as an increase brought about to bring the street in line with other residential speeds.
All of these traffic ordinances will see more discussion at the council meeting on March 25.
The Bike Ride Across Nebraska (BRAN) event was designated as a special event by council during the meeting. Steph Grafel with the Chamber and CEDC Director Scotti Ross said that the event takes place on June 3 and could bring as many as 300 riders to town. Cyclists will camp at the fairgrounds and be shuttled to various locations across town to shop and find entertainment. The special events designation gives flexibility for items such as food trucks at the square in addition to increased decision-making power to the City Administrator.
