The Grand Opening/ Ribbon Cutting of Mobius Communications and Radio Shack at 223 Box Butte in Alliance will take place Thursday, November 15, at 4 pm.
The Open House runs from 3 to 6:30, and KCOW will broadcast live from Mobius/Radio Shack from 3 to 5 .
Please join KCOW and the Alliance Chamber of Commerce in welcoming them to the community.
ALLIANCE, NEBRASKA – CITY COUNCIL MEETING
School Board Meeting Room
1604 Sweetwater Avenue
November 15, 2012 – 7:00 p.m.
Televised live on Charter Cable Channel 6
AGENDA
Call to Order
Roll Call
Open Meetings Act Announcement — For the public’s reference a copy of the Open Meetings Law has been posted on the north wall of this room in the audience area. This posting complies with the requirements of the Nebraska Legislature.
Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance
A. Consent Calendar
B. City Manager’s Report
C. Ordinance No. 2719 – First Reading
Adoption of the City Council’s 2013 Meeting Calendar Ordinance No. 2719 is before Council on first reading and will adopt the proposed City Council 2013 Meeting Schedule. The proposed calendar follows the standard first and third Thursday of each month with the exception of July and August. The request to alter the July schedule to the second and fourth Thursday is due to the 4th of July holiday and our annual community celebration of Heritage Days. The recommendation to alter August to the second and fourth Thursday will allow us to continue with the every other week pattern due to the fact August has five Thursdays.
D. Ordinance No. 2718 – Second Reading – Easement Reduction in Lakefield Addition
Ordinance No. 2718 is before Council on second reading. This ordinance will reduce the size of a utility easement between Lots 10 and 11, Block 5, Lakefield Addition. The easement is currently used for a street light service and staff does not have a problem with the size reduction.
E. Resolution No. 12-90 – Public Safety Fund Contingency Request
Resolution No. 12-90 will authorize the use of Public Safety Tax Contingency Funds in the amount of $19,980.00 for the repair of the Fire Department’s breathing air cascade system which has experience a critical failure. The resolution also authorizes entering into a contract with Centennial Fire and Safety Equipment, LLC to perform the repair services.
F. Resolution No. 12-91 – Water SCADA and Antennas Bid Award
This resolution will authorize the purchase of 17 Scada radios and associated equipment from HOA Solutions Inc. in the amount of $32,853.47. The City issued three sets of bid documents with only one response. This purchase will replace equipment that is 26 years old and cannot support the technology necessary. The recommended purchase is within the authorized budget authority.
G. Resolution No. 12-92 – Mower & Snow Attachment Bid Award
Resolution No. 12-92 will authorize the purchase of a mower, hard cab, and snow broom attachment from 21st Century Equipment of Alliance, NE in the amount of $24,900.00. The City issued four invitations to bid and received three responses. The recommended purchase is within the authorized budget authority.
H. Resolution No. 12-93 – Cody Substation Construction Contract
Resolution No. 12-93 will award the final construction phase of the Cody Substation Upgrade to IES Commercial Inc., of Holdrege, Nebraska in the amount of $193,395.00. The City received two bids for the Cody Substation switchgear installation and feeder upgrades and our engineers are recommending the award, which is within the authorized budget authority.
I. Resolution No. 12-94 – Employee Required Health Insurance Premium.
This resolution will maintain the current level of health insurance premiums from employees for the 2013 Plan Year.
J. Resolution No. 12-95 – Flexible Benefit Account (Section 125) Debit Cards & Associated Documents Resolution No. 12-95 will authorize the City to establish a “collateral account” for the purpose of allowing employees enrolled in the City’s Select Flex benefit program the use of a prepaid benefits card to provide immediate access to their funds for medical purposes.
K. Resolution No. 12-96 – Electric Production Cost Adjustment
This resolution will authorize the City Manager to implement a Production Cost Adjustment of up to $0.01 per kWh to our electric rates until such time as the Electric Rate Study, which is currently underway is completed and reviewed.
L. Community Development Agency Discussion
M. Board Vacancies
Patricia D. Johnston has expressed an interest to fill the vacancy on the A-1 Downtown Improvement Board for a term which will expire October 31, 2013. Marcia Buck has expressed an interest to fill the vacancy on the A-2 Downtown Improvement Board for a term which will expire October 31, 2013. The City is also in receipt of the resignation of Melba Dickenson from the Library Board. Mrs. Dickenson’s term does not end until June 30, 2016. The City of Alliance continues to have vacancies on the Board of Adjustment, A-1 and A-2 Downtown Improvement Boards, the Economic Development Plan Citizen Advisory Board, regular member of the Library Board and a Youth Representative on the Library Board, and the Park and Tree Board. Starting in January, we will need appointments or re-appointments for the Board of Adjustment, Housing Authority, Planning Commission and Policy Advisory Board (which will need to be representatives of the schools, Hispanic community, senior citizens, and religious community). Anyone interested in serving on these Boards should contact the City Clerk’s Office. Information on all of the City Boards is also available on our web site, www.cityofalliance.net.
N. Recap Actions
O. Closed Session — Pursuant to Section 84-1410 Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska 1943, that Council finds it necessary to enter into a closed session to discuss contract negotiations.
Adjournment
Interviews of the two finalists for the presidency of Chadron State College moved from Chadron to Wayne today in conjunction with meetings of the Nebraska State College Board of Trustees.
Dr Randy Rhine and Dr Guy Mills will meet separately with System central office staff this afternoon, then have executive session interviews with the trustees tomorrow morning.
Rhine is something of a known commodity locally after becoming an administrator at Chadron State the past 7 years and the interim president since May, while Mills…president of Northwest Kansas Technical College…is virtually unknown to area residents
Mills…who earned all his college degrees at schools that are part of the University of Missouri system…says he decided to apply for the Chadron State vacancy because of what he knows about the school and the area.
He says Chadron State has a “fabulous reputation” that would “make it a privilege” to work with the school’s faculty and staff, while Chadron is a “great community” that’s in the “right part of the country” for Mills and his wife because they’re both “rural people” who enjoy the High Plains.
Asked what his general vision is for Chadron State College over the next 15 years, Mills says it’s for the school to play a major role in developing a top-level quality of life in the region.
Mills feels there are “a lot of fabulous programs” on the campus, and he would work to sustain the best of those. He would also work to sustain the community and region, with the college serving as a “hub” for maintaining and expanding the kind of quality of life everyone enjoys.
Mills sees Chadron State as a “real wonderful opportunity” to bring in new people to a community and region that are continuing to lose population. He says it would “be a great thing” to bring in the “best and the brightest we can find and figure out ways to connect them” with local jobs and start growing and strengthening the “economic culture here.”
Mills spent 20 years in the public school system as a teacher, principal, and superintendent before moving into college administration…where he’s been at both 2-and-4-year schools, including being president of Northwest Kansas Tech for 3-1/2 years.
It’s a background he feels has given him a number of strengths that he would bring to Chadron State as president, but Mills thinks his #1 strength would be his feelings for the rural lifestyle of the area.
He says he and his wife are “rural people,” and that his personal appreciation of the rural lifestyle and smaller communities could help in finding ways to invigorate the area.
Although Mills and Rhine are being interviewed by the State College Trustees tomorrow, College System General Counsel and Vice Chancellor for Employee Relations Kristin Petersen says the board will not be making a decision in Wayne.
Petersen, who coordinated yesterday’s on-campus meetings and interviews in Chadron, says there’s no set timetable for a decision on the new president, although the trustees do hope to act quickly.
Three UNL Extension faculty members in the Panhandle District were honored by their peers recently at the annual fall conference for Nebraska Cooperative Extension Association in Grand Island.
New Extension Dean Charles Hibberd presented the following awards: Extension Nutrition Specialist Lisa Franzen-Castle received the New Extension Employee Award, the second year in a row that someone from the Panhandle has received this award. Extension Educator Aaron Berger, based in Kimball, and Extension Educator Jenny Nixon, based in Harrison, both received Distinguished Extension Educator Awards.
The awards recognize achievement in areas such as program outcomes and impacts; innovations in planning, delivery and evaluation; supporting partnerships and linkages; and skills such as leadership, organization and teaching.
Franzen-Castle is an action team leader for the Food, Nutrition and Health spire of UNL Extension. She initiated a statewide, web-based nutrition and health programming series, and coordinated the revision of a Nebraska-based food, nutrition and health curriculum with 25 lessons that will be turned into a digital publication and made available on line for other health professionals to purchase and use. She also repurposes materials into a variety of formats for use in publications, on-line newsletters, and news media.
Berger is co-coordinator of the High Plains Ranch Practicum, as well as curriculum director and instructor; a team co-coordinator for the UNL Beef web site; team co-coordinator for the Extension Drought Management Team; team leader for Ranching for Profitability; co-authored six NebGuides; and was also recognized for his other accomplishments.
Nixon is an Extension educator based in Sioux County. She has been active in teaching in the area of entrepreneurship, working with an Extension team to produce curricula, adapt it for diverse audiences and formats, and present it to local, regional, statewide and national audiences. She also manages software for the Nebraska State 4-H Department. At the same time, with her location in the heart of cow country, she teaches and promotes range management topics. Some material on range plants that she has developed has been used abroad, in Mongolia.
The case of a Chadron man originally accused of child pornography and molestation had a scheduled appearance in Dawes County District Court postponed Tuesday, with Clerk of the District Court Sharon Harrison saying negotiations are continuing on a plea agreement.
District Judge Travis O’Gorman rescheduled 30-year old James Savery to appear on December 11th. He was arrested in May on 8 counts of 1st-degree sexual assault of a child and 4 counts of possession of child pornography, but all but 4 of the sexual assault counts have been dropped.
Savery entered a NOT guilty plea in June after waiving a preliminary hearing. Court documents show that he’s accused of sexually assaulting two children, one under the age of 12 and one under the age of 16, from January 2011 until his arrest in May.
The Chadron School Board is giving the city of Chadron a roughly 15×80 foot strip of land along the north end of the Kenwood Intermediate School property to formally set the right-of-way for a long-standing alley…as long as it doesn’t result in any cost to the district.
Adjacent landowners Charlie and Shelly Decker had approached the district earlier this fall about the idea, explaining that they’d discovered the alley was not where it was supposed to be and without a change would prevent them from changing the entrance to their garage to the south side of the building.
Board member Dave Johnson raised the question if changing the alley…also used by Kenwood teachers and staff…would increase traffic and pose a danger to students, but was assured it would not.
Superintendent Dr Caroline Winchester said ceding the strip of land to the city would also mean the school district would no longer have a liability risk for any accidents or other problems on the alley.
The Deckers will pay all associated costs…including surveying…to formally establish the current site of the alley as the proper location.
The school district would have to share the cost if the alley were ever paved, but board Buildings and Grounds Committee chairman Keith Drinkwalter said city official Janet Johnson had told the panel that there are many more pressing needs and she didn’t anticipate that happening for many years…if ever.
Doug Hashman, who farms near Berea, has been elected Box Butte County Commissioner.
In a recount that took place Tuesday morning, Box Butte County Clerk Judy Messersmith reports that the final numbers did not change from last Thursday.
The canvassing board met at that time and found Hashman to have received 20 more votes than Marvin Toedtli. Following Tuesday’s recount, the numbers remain the same at 2,330 for Hashman and 2,310 for Toedtli.
Hashman will succeed Cap Brixius of Alliance, who chose not to seek re -election.
Hashman will be sworn in as a commissioner on January 3, 2013.
November 13, 2012
Dear Parents and Students:
The St. Agnes Girls basketball team will open their season Nov. 13 at 4:30 pm vs. Harrison/Sioux County in the Parish Center Gym. This game was rescheduled from November 10. The girls also have a home game with Crawford on Thursday, Nov. 15 at 4:30 pm. Good Luck to our girls and the coaches, Jason Tritle and Janelle Rolls.
The Lions Club has announced the Peace Poster contest winners from St. Agnes: First place, Autumn Hoff; second place, Cherokee Purviance; third place, (tie) Megan Oligmueller and Dylan Horton. Honorable Mention winners are Bailey Johnson, Josie Otto and Chloe Herrera. Nice job students!
Sunday, November 18, will be the Christmas Wreath Assembly and Pick-up Day. This will be in the PC Gym. Assembly begins 8 AM and pick-up begins at 11 AM. Please remember to get your wreaths if you ordered one. A huge THANK YOU to James Girard for giving of his time to pick up and deliver the wreaths to us from Minnestoa. We are blessed to have people like James Girard in our midst.
Remember that Scrip is the perfect Christmas gift. It comes in all denominations and is readily available in the school office. If we do not have it on hand we can order it for you. Make up your Christmas list and get it to the school office or call 762-2315 and place your order. The last day for special orders is December 7, 2012. Make your Christmas shopping one-stop shopping and support St. Agnes Academy at the same time.
There will be a First Reconciliation parent meeting next Monday, November 19, in the PC Chapel beginning at 7 pm.
Congratulations to the following students for being named to the Principal’s List, which is all As: Lane Applegarth, 7; Dylan Horton, 7; Josie Otto, 7; Zachary Placek, 6; Ryley Rolls, 6; and Nolan Sughroue, 6. The Honor Roll, which is As and Bs includes: Brendan Brehmer, 8; Katie Failor, 8; Bernie Girard, 8; Austin Pfeiffer, 8; Dani Carter, 7; Autumn Hoff, 7; Bailey Johnson, 7; Madisen McCance, 7; Peyton Pinedo, 7; Cherokee Purviance, 7; Ashlee Wallesen 7; Jacob Ackerman, 6; Emersen Cyza, 6; Megan Oligmueller, 6; Adriana Olvera, 6; Eric Pollack, 6; and Kylen Schnell 6.
Mark your calendars for December 13–the K-8 Christmas program will be that evening at 7 PM in the Performing Arts Center at AHS.
There will be an all-school Mass next Tuesday at 9 AM at the church for Thanksgiving. Please continue bringing in your non-perishable food items that will be added to food baskets to be distributed at Thanksgiving time.
Mr. Glesinger and Mrs. Martinez would like to thank Pete Mortaro, of the Box Butte County Veterans Service Office, for being our guest speaker at our annual Veterans Day program held last Friday. An added thank-you to all the veterans that were in attendance. Hope to see you again next year.
Boys basketball practice, for grades 5-8, will start on Monday, November 19 at 5 PM. There will also be practice on November 20, and then practice will resume after Thanksgiving Break on Monday, November 26. Remember, all players must have their physicals turned in before they can practice with the team.
Thanksgiving Break will be Wednesday, November 21 through Sunday, November 25. School will resume at 7:55 AM on Monday, November 26.
God Bless,
Theresa Parker
Principal
On Thanksgiving Day, many people will give thanks before enjoying what may be the favorite part of their Turkey Dan dinner — a delicious piece of pie — or two.
Alliance area residents can purchase their Thanksgiving dinner pies from the Alliance Jaycees … and help a resident in need.
43-year-old Corey Penaluna, who is a customer service representative at the WESTCO Car Care Center, is fighting cancer of the stomach and colon. He was diagnosed in early September and is currently taking chemotherapy treatments in Scottsbluff twice a month.
While insurance is a huge assist in paying for the treatments, there is still the expense of medications and travel.
Corey, a native of northern California, has lived in Alliance for five years, moving to what he calls “The Best Hometown in America,” due to family ties and job opportunities that would better himself.
Corey’s wife, Lisa, is a homemaker, who cares for their two young sons, Cody, 5, and Levi, 2.
Penaluna told KCOW Radio that while the doctors have informed him that the colon cancer in particular is aggressive, the chemo treatments are having a positive effect.
“I’m maintaining a positive attitude and looking on the bright side of everything I can,” he said. “I am blessed to have the full support of the WESTCO employees as well as family and friends.”
“Please relay my gratitude to people for helping me,” he concluded.
The Jaycees “Pies for Penaluna” promotion is now underway. You can purchase apple or pumpkin pies for $15 each. The Jaycees will be taking orders now thur this Saturday, November 17.
Contact Morgan Wimmer at 760-7686 to place an order.
Pies can be picked up at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church at 16th and Cheyenne on Tuesday, November 20 from 5 pm to 7 pm.
Along with a pie for Penaluna, a prayer for Penaluna would also be appreciated.
Chadron State College ROTC cadets paid tribute to the nation’s veterans during a special Veterans Day program on Monday.
The 10-minute ceremony, moved indoors from the CSC Centennial Flag Plaza by the cold, featured appreciation for all veterans living, deceased and missing.
Included in the ceremony was the cadets’ presentation and description of both the battlefield cross and a missing man table.
The battlefield cross, comprised of a rifle, helmet, boots and other artifacts from a fallen soldier, pays tribute to those who die in battle. The table, which featured a place-setting for one, contained items symbolic to the soldiers missing in action.
In addition, Franklin Annis, CSC assistant professor of military science, spoke in appreciation of veterans.
“This day, as you go out, I ask you to remember those that have fallen, those that are still yet to be accounted for, and most importantly I encourage you to remember those that are still living,” Annis said. “Ask them to share their stories with you. Come to understand the challenges they face and the troubles they went through in defense of their country.”
This marked the third consecutive year for a Veterans Day ceremony at CSC. Because of the single-digit temperature, the event was moved indoors to the Chicoine Atrium of the Sandoz Center instead of the Centennial Flag Plaza.
—Justin Haag, CSC Information Services
