VILLAGE OF ELMWOOD
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
May 7, 2025 7 PM
REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Meeting Held at Elmwood Village Office
The Village Board of Trustees met in regular session on Wednesday, May 7, 2025.
Chairperson, Renee Holland, called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Holland stated that a current copy of the Nebraska Open Meetings Act was posted.
Roll Call: Becky Kicak, Heather Scott, Patric Euse and Renee Holland present. Tony Greise absent.
Consent agenda: Scott motioned to approve the consent agenda; Kicak seconded the motion. RCV: 4-0 ayes, Motion carried
Claims Key: Bond Debt(BD)Contract Labor(CL), Electricity (E), Education(ED)Natural Gas (NG), Monthly Allotment (MA), Refuse (R), Fuel (F), Supplies (S) Publication (P), Telephone (T), Mile Reimbursement (MR), Labs (L), Attorney (A), Cellphone(CP), Postage(PO), Payroll Tax(PT), Capital Improvement(CI), Simple IRA(SI), Dues(D), Payroll (PR) Workman’s Comp Audit (W) Petty Cash Reimbursement(PR), Engineer (EN) , Sales Tax (ST), Truck Repair (TR), Dog License (DL), Street Surface Supplies (SSS), Tech. Repair (TR) Tech. purchase (TP), Debt Service (DS), Audit Service(AS) Lodging(LO)
Claims: C-Store (F)414.77, Black Hills(NG)919.33, IRS(PT)2648.07, NE Dept of Rev(PT)376.40, Payroll(P)6256.71, OPPD(E)4337.16, NE Dept of Rev(ST)1169.04, Wirebuilt(D)150.16, One Call(D)26.20, Cline Williams(A)67, Michael Todd(S)239.52, NE Public lab(L)262, MARC(S)1471.95, PeopleService(CL)675, Akrs(TR)466.12, Trojan Tech(S)373.80, GameTime(S)69.24, Jolean Piitz(S)204, Quill(S)423.07, Verizon(CP)51.78, Meeske(S)517.60, Municipal Supply(S)731.28, Midwest Labs(L)372.07, BOK(BD)76145, American Funds(SI)226.30, USPS(PO)258, TACSS(D)198, Clements Ins.(In)37816, Napa(S)91.51, Capital City(CI)1655.64, WinWater(T)1816.73, Elmwood Small Engine(TR)39.41, Windstream(T)200.73, Cass Co. Refuse(R)75, Ethan Homan(CL)2205, Lovell(CL)1800, Solheim(A)900, Voice(P)545.43, Menards(S)64.86, Westover(SSS)592.15, Kevin Huxhold(RE)230.22
Public Comment Period none
New Business
Ordinance 2025-1: An Ordinance granting Black Hills Nebraska Gas, LLC d/b/a Black Hills Energy, a Delaware corporation, its lessees, successors and assigns, a natural gas franchise and the authority to construct, operate, maintain, and extend a natural gas distribution plant and system, and granting the right to use the streets, alleys, and other public places within the present or future corporate limits of the Village of Elmwood, Nebraska. Meredith Dougherty here to represent Black Hills Energy and answer any questions. Scott motioned to wave the 3 readings, Euse seconded. RCV: 4-0 ayes. Scott read the ordinance summary and moved to approve Ordinance 2025-1, Euse seconded the motion. RCV: 4-0 ayes.
Ordinance 2025-2: An ordinance establishing a franchise fee on natural gas companies operating in the Village of Elmwood, Nebraska. Scott moved to wave the 3 readings, Euse seconded. RCV: 4-0 ayes. Scott read the ordinance summary and moved to approve Ordinance 2025-2, Euse seconded the motion. RCV: 4-0 ayes.
Aflac: Elise Edgar here to represent Aflac. She went over the benefits of this supplemental benefit and offered to answer any questions. The board will review costs of plans and determine if any of them are interested in adding a policy as a payroll deduction. Kevin and Alicia are both interested. No action.
Johnson Services 5-year plan: Monte Dakan here as representative from Johnson Services. He provided a handout and detailed the work that they have done for the village in the past. He has provided a 5 year service plan to clean and video all sewer lines in town and an hour rate for locating 3 buried manholes. Stressed the importance of a maintenance schedule to reduce the risk of emergencies. They can provide cloud based video of all lines. Explained that compliance officers from the State of Nebraska will be doing inspections of all manholes in the near future. Discussion continues. Scott moved to approve up to $3000 to locate buried manholes, Euse seconded the motion. RCV: 4-0 ayes.
Lot split application- Northwest quarter of section 10, township 10 North, Range 10 East of the Sixth Principal Meridian: Board reviewed the lot split application of the 16.65 acre parcel just inside the village ETJ. Tyler Johnson here to answer questions. Scott moved to approve the lot split, Euse seconded. RCV: 4-0 ayes.
Lot adjustment application- 220 F Street: Kicak moved to approve the lot adjustment between 212 & 220 W F Street, Scott seconded. RCV: 4-0 ayes.
Lot consolidation N 6th Street & East E: Euse moved to approve the lot consolidation of lots 7 & 8 BLK 13, Kicak seconded. RCV: 4-0 ayes.
Water Restrictions: The board discussed our current water situation and whether or not water restrictions need to remain in place. Kicak suggested that we educate the community on water preservation and request that they stay aware of water usage. Scott moved to remove all water restrictions and reevaluate at the next meeting, Euse seconded. RCV: 4-0 ayes.
Tree on West G between 1st & 2nd: The board reviewed the bids provided from Topple Tree Service, Joshua Tree Service, and Petersen Property Services. Euse moved to approve the bid from Topple Tree for $600 and the bid from Petersen for $500 for stump removal, Kicak seconded. RCV: 4-0 ayes.
Tree removal at the park: The board reviewed the bid provided by Petersen Property Services. Scott moved to approve the bid for tree removal and stump grinding for $2400, Euse seconded. RCV: 4-0 ayes.
Town clean up day: Discussion on a good date for town clean up. Scott moved to schedule town clean up on Saturday, June 21st from 8-12 noon. Euse seconded. RCV: 4-0 ayes.
Town hall meeting: Dates reviewed to host a town hall meeting to discuss water system updates and request village participation in an income survey. The board would like to have a planning meeting in 2 weeks on 5/21 and host the town hall before the next board meeting at 6 PM on June 4th at the fire hall. No action.
Check valve quote for north clarifier at sewer plant: Tabled until next meeting
Chemical haul away with Safety Kleen: The board reviewed the bid to haul away expired and hazardous materials. Huxhold listed 3 that were priority. Scott moved to approve the haul away of Caustic Soda, ACCO and EDTA for the total of $1197.15 by Safety Kleen, Euse seconded. RCV: 4-0 ayes. The other items will be discussed at the next meeting.
Annual TIF report: The board reviewed the report provided by the clerk. No action.
Brush pile: The board discussed the pros and cons of re-opening the village brush pile. There was a lot of misuse of the brush pile and of the dumpster that the village board provided as a service to the community. There was over $50,000 spent last year to clean out the brush pile and that is money that could have been spent on other projects. Alicia spoke with Cass County Refuse and they stated that they take yard waste and small branches in their regular garbage or a resident can be added to their “grass list” for a monthly fee. Suggested letting villagers know about this option to add this service to their refuse service. Scott moved to close the brush pile permanently, Kicak seconded the motion. RCV: 4-0 ayes.
Vacant home/business program: Courtesy letter provided as a reference. Reviewed the letter to be sent to home owners. Scott motioned to send the letter and give the home owners 30 days to respond, Euse seconded. RCV: 4-0 ayes
Amigos Food Truck: Amigos food truck would like to park at the park on a couple of Saturdays this summer to provide a dining option to villagers since the bar is closed. There is no cost to the village. Kicak motioned to approve the Amigos food truck in the park, Scott seconded the motion. RCV: 4-0 ayes.
Petersen complaint form: The board reviewed the complaint about the neighbor’s dogs parking all day and all night. A certified letter with ordinance will be sent.
Woody complaint forms: Complaint form filled out regarding a noise complaint and the occupation of a camper parked behind the Quonset. Mr. Bosack was present to discuss. He states that he has been working on the camper but that no one is living in it. Holland explained that parking a camper on a commercial lot is an ordinance violation and he will have 30 days from the date he receives the certified letter to move it.
Reports/Boards, Commissions, and Committees
Library: next meeting 6-1
Park: toilet and sink fixed, bathrooms open for the season. Lots of reservations for the awning
Streets: dumpster at the park came in under budget, but was very messy and people were dumping all over the place. Oscar doing a great job with mowing and got all lines painted. Kevin is looking into having our utilities GPS mapped with JEO or MAP
Water: degasifier wiring replaced according to our sanitary water survey, water/sewer hooked up at 309 West D, did go with a meter pit at this location due to not having access when skirts are applied to home and at 105 N 5th St.
Sewer: new products purchased to help keep algae down in clarifiers, all heaters are installed and in working order, fresh air fan fixed in the pump room- not wired correctly. Lights have not been fixed but will be looked at eventually
Planning/Zoning: next meeting 6/1
Correspondence: none
Personnel: none
Future agenda items
HTM bid
Johnson 5-year plan
Additional hazardous material removal
Meeting adjourned at 8:46 pm