MEETING MINUTES— 3.10.2016
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska – The Pizza Ranch -84th & Lexington | 12pm
Present: Members: Larry Gadeken, Sydney Stanard, Angela Caldwell, Kevin Harrington, Joanne Bartels, Nga Vu, Ben Petersen, Captain Anthony Butler, Barb Tyler, Peggy Green, Steve Sheridan, Kolleen Meyer-Krikac, Theresa Thesenvitz, Dr. Michael Patestas, Casey French, Karla Wilson, Pat Borer, Diana Schilf, Tim Kirkpatrick.
Guests:
Introductions/ Member Announcements:
The February minutes were approved
Amy is out today, in Cancun!! Thank you Kevin for stepping in!
Always looking for new members. Would like to have 6 to 10 new members this year!!
New Member spotlight was to be on Sean Quigley today but his wife is having surgery in Germany so please keep them in your thoughts
Other Discussion:
Pat with the Fire Department: Is looking for a Fire Chief. Hopefully at the end of April they will have a candidate.
Carl mentioned the Fire Department is looking for land around Superior, 86th and Leighton, 84th and Pioneers, 70th and HWY 2. 84th and Pioneers looks like it is the best area to build.
A brand new Fire Station across from Casey’s on NW 48th will be going up soon.
Social Chair Update:
Big Brothers and Big Sister’s Bowling Fundraiser April, 16th. $100 per bowler please let Sherri Recker know if you would like to participate.
Stars Hockey Night April 1st. Please let Sherri Recker know if you would like to go.
Salt Dog’s Baseball Thursday July 21st
Golf Tournament in August.
Winery Tour possibly on a Saturday. Please email Sherri Recker if you would like to participate in this.
Please check the website to view the social events coming up. There are also links where you can pay for your tickets online.
Treasurer’s Report:
Checking account has $2,605.69
$3000 in CD’s
Police/Fire Update:.
Captain Butler let us know that Wal-Mart, the Mission and Jails are still high call areas
Alcohol Compliance task: Asked for cooperating minor to go into locations to purchase alcohol. The outcome was that most businesses passed the test and would not sell to minors!
Change in practice on how to handle suspended drivers: When you stop somebody and place them under arrest, you have to impound their vehicle for 30 days. Not a lot of towing in the past but many of them were repeat offenders. Ultimately, the force created a new policy on how to handle these situations to avoid towing in unnecessary situations.
Public Safety Police Academy; including corrections as well as additional public safety. This is a 10 week course where the group meets on Thursdays from 6pm-9pm. Modules are designed to learn about different areas in each public safety organization. Please reach out to Captain Butler if you are interested! Looking for around 20-30 people. Carl Eskridge also highly recommended this. You get to do ride alongs, and see what it’s like to pull someone over in the pitch black which has high potential of risk. It allows you to closely identify with what Police Officers experience.
Carl Eskridge
May 10th Primary:
Water: Water comes from the Platte River, treatment plan in Ashland and Platte area. 4 years ago it was extremely dry and we had water rationing. Put in a couple new horizontal wells to cure this issue. (Pipes that go down and bring the water up) By comparison, Nebraska has some of the best water, however there has been a complication: With the new wells, there has been some contamination from the bedrock.
Carl touched on water delivery and the quality of the older pipes, how flooding affects storm water projects. Storm water projects in the past have been paid for by Muni Bonds.
When the Platte dried up 4 years ago, that still did not help much. The only other option was to get water from the Missouri River. It is a long term, 40 years, expensive project. Climate change could affect this plan as well.
Water quality- Water bill includes water quality report.
Roads: Road projects going on in North Lincoln. The project meant to improve NW 48th street should be done by the end of 2016. 14th and Superior roundabout has helped reduced “crashes” (not accidents). This summer there will be more additions/improvements to aesthetically improve the roundabout
North 10th and bridge over salt creek: Federal Funds involved with this project, which slows down the construction. 14th and Cornhusker will be another federally funded improvement project.
There was a meeting Tuesday 3/15/16 on the Cornhusker and Adams railroad crossing. There will be a discussion on some new designs for that area.
Smart City Grant: It is a lottery. If Lincoln’s proposal gets accepted, there could be a driverless vehicle network. Cars and small vans would be used to get people around the community. It is a $50 Million grant and 5 finalists will be announced in the month of March.
StarTran: A consultant came to know our city extraordinary well. He assessed who the riders were on StarTran. New routes could serve traditional ridership. Alternatives would negatively impact about 5% of the traditional riders.
Instead of going through neighborhoods and streamlining routes, can run routes more frequently and extend hours until longer into the evening. This has a maximum benefit for the community. Working to find a way where buses can come together for 5 minutes so riders can switch buses as efficiently as possible.
Golf: Challenge is the paying for capital needs of golf course. It costs about a million dollars to replace the watering system and 3 courses need this done.
The committee has met in order to solve this problem and address those needs. Some talk about selling the Highlands Golf course, however this may not happen. Lincoln is overbuilt for golf courses, but no new courses have been built in a while, in the next 10-20 years some of the courses on the edges of town may be taken down to make room for housing development.
Trails: Expanding and improving trails in Lincoln.
Libraries: Discussions about hours. LPS are giving tablets to students. In order to use these they need internet service. Libraries offer WIFI access. Downtown Bennett library is going to get extended hours.
Budget Department: Community can speak on these issues. Approved ¼% sales tax for a new fire station and new 911 station. The 911 system is higher priority over the fire station but construction will commence shortly.
Q&A:
Question: Roundabout traffic has been getting backed up, why not the light instead of the roundabout.
A: Carl had not heard it was that bad but appreciates the feedback. Captain Butler stated the roundabout has reduced the number and severity of the accidents. It has proven to help immensely with this.
Question: NW 48th, is there a Target coming in?
A: Carl has not heard that, could possibly just be a rumor.
NLBA Meetings:
- The next Association meeting is April 14th
- THE PIZZA RANCH – 84th & Lexington | 11:30am – 1:00pm
- April Speaker: Steve Maly- Google Analytics
- The next Board meeting is May 3rd –Unico Group- 1128 Lincoln Mall 11:30am – 1:00pm
Meeting Adjourned.
Respectfully submitted by Sydney Stanard NLBA Secretary Sydney.Stanard@mutualofomaha.com
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