Broken Bow City Council met Tuesday evening starting at 6 PM at the Municipal Building. Council President Russ Smith was absent but excused.
Following consent agenda approval, which included a fireworks application from Ka-Boomer’s Inc., council approved the appointment of Brycen Woodward as Broken Bow’s newest police officer.
Woodward was then sworn in by Broken Bow Police Chief Chris Anderson and welcomed with applause by those in attendance. He told KCNI/KBBN following the meeting that he’s always known he wants to be in law enforcement.
“It runs in my family,” said Woodward. “My older brother is one now, and my uncle has been a cop for a while. Training, I’ve been around the guys a lot getting to know what they’re doing to make sure I’m doing the right things to be a good cop.”
He pointed to being around people as one of the main reasons he was excited to be in a position of public service.
Following Woodward’s swearing in, the following appointments and re-appointments were made to the Broken Bow Planning Commission:
– James Duncan, Susan Porter, Jim Girardin reappointments.. 3 years, ending April 2029
– Nicolle Bailey reappointment.. 2 years, ending April 2028
– Luke Wassom appointment.. 2 years, ending April 2028
– Hunter Thomas appointment.. 1 year, ending April 2027
City Administrator Dave Schmidt added later in the meeting that in upcoming meetings plenty more board appointments would appear on agendas. He encouraged anyone looking to get involved to reach out about board opportunities, citing the Board of Public Works as having openings as an example.
Schmidt informed the board that the user interface of credit cards the city began using recently was not as expected, alongside high annual fees. The cards, with Elan Financial Services, were approved to be closed. The city will return to using the cards they had used previously, which had not had their accounts closed yet.
The Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Annual Report for 2025 was approved by council. The report outlines the progress of redevelopment projects in the city financed in whole or in part by the division of taxes commonly known as TIF. Each redevelopment project began after submitting an application and having the use of TIF funds approved by the city.
New property taxes generated by the increased value of the property are paid on the TIF debt. Taxes are divided for the benefit of the redevelopment project for a period up to fifteen years. Property taxes on the original value of the property continue to be paid to local taxing entities. After the debt is paid or the fifteen year period is up, the increase in property taxes generated is paid to the local taxing entities as normal resulting in more property tax revenue.
You can read more about TIF and the City of Broken Bow’s active projects in the full City Council packet here: 2026.04.28-City-Council-Packet
Mayor Rod Sonnichsen and council members thanked first responders near and far in their work to contain the Pressey Fire which burned land in the direction of Broken Bow this past week.
Council adjourned at 6:14 PM. The next Broken Bow City Council meeting is May 12 at 6 PM at the Broken Bow Municipal Building.
