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Village of Elmwood Board of Trustees Town Hall Meeting Minutes 6.4.25

VILLAGE OF ELMWOOD

Town Hall Meeting

June 4, 2025 6 PM

TOWN HALL MEETING MINUTES

Meeting Held at Elmwood Fire Hall

 

The Village Board of Trustees held a town hall meeting on Wednesday, June 4, 2025.

Chairperson, Renee Holland, called the meeting to order at 6:00 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 and Tony Greise all present.

Welcome and introduction

Holland welcomed everyone and thanked everyone for attending the meeting. Alicia Greise reviewed the Water Study completed by JEO last fall and explained what has been happening since then.

  • Year in review
    • JEO Study
    • Income Survey
    • 5 Year Plan to cover costs of RO Upgrade
    • Has to be done this year $45k:
      • Existing Pipes recoating
      • Degassifier Rehabilitation and cleaning
      • Replace Pipe Hardware
    • The current RO System was installed in 1994 (31 years old)

Heather Scott reviewed what will happen if we do not act now.

  • Water Restrictions
  • No Water for multiple weeks while we repair a failing pump.
  • High cost for emergency expenses

Tony Greise explained why we cannot get rid of the RO system and what it does.

  • Aquifer in our area has high nitrates
    • The state mandated that we cannot get above 10 parts per million
  • Village would be responsible to test individual homes water treatment system to pass state mandate.
    • Village would need to hire additional resources at additional cost to the village.

Patric Euse reviewed the pros and cons of replacing/updating our current system.

  • Pros
    • Village can cover the cost of immediate fixes this year to get the system up to code.
      • This is within the 2025 Budget
    • Saving overall cost in comparison to tapping into Rural Water
    • Keeping in-house
      • Keeping control of our town’s water source.
    • No extended time without water
  • Cons
    • The average life expectancy is only 30 years.
      • Even with good maintenance of the system.
    • Significant cost to replace the system
    • Ongoing Maintenance Costs
    • Maintaining a Level 3 License to maintain/Pay PeopleService to maintain.

Becky Kicak discussed the pros and cons of tapping into Cass County Rural Water.

  • Pros
    • Lower Nitrates
    • No RO system and Level 3 License
    • Maintenance only infrastructure
  • Cons
    • We lose ownership of water treatment
    • Rural Water does not have a plan for where they can find additional water (a new well) to support us.
    • Village will have to pay $5.50 per 1000 gallons.
      • This will go up as we continue to use it
    • There will be no going back once we switch to Rural water

Public Comment:

Grace Ronhovde thanks the board for what they have been doing. Wonders what the average household water bill is.

Don Sheard wonders how we can guarantee the cost of maintenance of our current system isn’t going to continue to increase along with everything else

Bill Connour states that it seems to be a no brainer that we should stick with our current system and whatever repairs it needs

Tim MDowell asks what happens if we go to Rural Water and their supply is short, do we just get shut off?

Terry Carlton spoke on the cost of water in 1985 and the changes made when the RO system was installed

Julie Anderson asks what the change in water bill would be if we do connect with Rural water. Where do nitrates come from and who is responsible for it?

Rick & Austin Hawks asks about what kind of planning and estimates JEO did. Is the cost of replacement/hook up really going to be what they say or is it going to be more.

Rob Clements asks if the water bond that paid for the current plant is paid off. Speaks to nitrates being a statewide problem because they were used frequently a long time ago because it was inexpensive. Wonders if the proposed pipeline to Lincoln would help with our water capacity. States that in his opinion it would be best to fix what we have.

Darren Petersen asks if there are other funding options and why the village hasn’t done incremental increases over the use to reduce the deficient in the water system

Nate Kollars asks if the group knows how villages make money and explains that the only income a village can make is through utilities. If the village is not making money on water/sewer then the village is dying.

Taylor Fleischman states that keep our wells and system is a no brainer. We need to be proactive in finding another well location and we don’t have room to grow until we do.

Ann Romshek notes that the town they lived in in Colorado charged a tap fee for new homes and that the fee was $5000. We may need to take a look at what we are charging to add some revenue.

Carla Stander would like to learn more about restricting the amount of trash services in the village

Trevor Dumont asks if the numbers we reviewed regarding the water deficit were before or after the increase

Meeting adjourned at 8:14 pm.