Village of Brainard Board of Trustees
- Joel Vrbka, Chairman of the Board
- Jeff Karber, Board of Trustee
- Randy Robeson, Board of Trustee
- Tom Pesek, Board of Trustee
- Steve Hummel, Board of Trustee
The Village Board of Trustees meet on the third Monday of every month at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall located at 111 East Washington Street Brainard, NE. If you have a specific topic item you would like the Village of Brainard Board of Trustees to discuss, submit a Request for Future Agenda Items.
Village of Brainard Staff
Cory Burtman, Utilities Superintendent, 402-803-9218
Carla Sander, Village Treasurer, 402-545-2701
Yolanda Bailey, Village Clerk, 402-545-2701
The Village of Brainard
Board of Trustees Board Meeting Minutes
March 18, 2024
The Board of Trustees of the Village of Brainard held a regular meeting on March 18, 2024 at 7:00 P.M. at City Hall. The meeting notice and agenda were posted at three public places: City Hall, the Community Bulletin Board, and the Brainard Post Office. The agenda is kept current at the City Clerk’s Office and available for public inspection. This method is designated by the public body.
Chair Vrbka called the meeting to order with the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and announced that a copy of the current Open Meetings Act was on display for public inspection.
Roll Call: present: Joel Vrbka, Steve Hummel, Jeff Karber, Randy Robeson, and Tom Pesek.
Staff present: Clerk Bailey, and Utility Superintendent Burtman.
Guests included: Brian Foral, Elaine Fortik, Valerie Vandenberg, Kirstin Bailey, Norman Bruner, and Dave Foral
Public Comments: Norman Bruner is asking the board what they intend to do about the sidewalks around town that are in need of repair. Trustee Pesek reports he and Trustee Karber drove around before the meeting and looked at some of the problem areas. Mr. Bruner points out there are a lot of sidewalks that are hazardous, and he encourages the board to walk up and down Main Street, and see for themselves. Discussion on the Ordinance that exists stating it’s the homeowners’ responsibility, and whether that should be changed. Further discussion on coming up with a plan for the Village to cost-share with residents to fix and replace sidewalks.
Mr. Bruner also wants the Board to look at the town Islands and figure out who is going to take care of them. Discussion on the schools’ participation, what they did last year and what we can expect them to do this year. Discussion on the volunteers that put them in, and how they are not as available these days. Resident Kirstin Bailey suggests signing up students through the FFA “SAE” program (Student Ag Experiences), to start a landscaping business or the like. Mr. Bruner states it takes around 100 hours total to do the work on all the Islands. Trustee Pesek says the Maintenance guys can work on them some in the summer. It was decided to put it on the next agenda, and ask Mrs. Kocian, the FFA instructor, to attend.
Valerie Vandenberg starts a discussion on the Softball field and handicapped accessibility. Currently, the problem most handicapped people have with the ballfield is the white rock in the parking spots, as it is hard to navigate with wheelchairs and such. There are two handicapped stalls there. She suggests this needs to be replaced with concrete. The property line is the fence around the field, so the parking space is not the school’s property, but the Villages. She is requesting the Village do something in the handicapped stalls to replace the white rock with something more accessible. Trustee Vrbka wonders if the Village can add-on the concrete with the ballfield’s cement contractor, so it can all be done at the same time. Ms. Vandenberg will ask the contractors she is working with what is possible.
Motion made by Trustee Pesek to provide the concrete and materials for two handicapped stalls at the ballfield, plus labor required. When the bid comes, the Chairman of the Board can give the final approval for the cost, if he feels it is reasonable, seconded by Robeson.
Voting aye: Pesek, Robeson, Hummel, Vrbka, and Karber.
Voting nay:
The motion carried.
Business:
- a. Discuss pool renovation w/Pool Committee; Valerie Vandenberg and Kirstin Bailey
- Valerie reports the Pool Committee met and have decided to invite past alumni to a barbeque on Saturday, July 6th, 2024. This is the weekend of the Car Show and the Street Dance. The alumni would have the pool to themselves for a reunion for a couple of hours, and there would be a Midnight Swim that night. This would be the kick-off for a fundraising project. The next steps are to decide on some ideas for a pool upgrade. They hand out a list of three tiers of what is needed now and what could be possible in the near-future for the pool. This led them into discussion of how to raise the money for these projects. Kirstin Bailey reports on some grant opportunities she has researched. She details several Federal Grants with their deadlines and eligibilities. The strategy would be to apply for as many as possible, as there is a 10-30% success rate in general. The Village putting in the new pool filters can qualify as matching funds. She does grant writing for her job, and is comfortable with the process. Valerie reports on the Butler County Area Foundation banquet, as they donated to the Brainard Softball project, and she was asked to give a speech. She reports they are looking to donate funds outside of David City at this time, and the pool project could qualify for this. They are looking for multi-year grants, which the pool could be. She reports there are other private companies in the area that can be approached for donations.
- b. Consider Amending Minutes from 1/17/24 Board Meeting
- Motion made by Trustee Pesek to amend the January Minutes, removing a name and place that is not necessary, seconded by Trustee Vrbka.
Voting aye: Pesek, Vrbka, Robeson, and Hummel.
Voting nay: Karber
The motion carried.
- c. Consider building and demolition permits for 504 S. Lincoln St.
- Discussion on the property and building to be demolished.
Motion made by Trustee Robeson to approve the demolition permit, seconded by Trustee Karber.
Voting aye: Robeson, Karber, Vrbka, Hummel, and Pesek..
Voting nay:
The motion carried.
Discussion on the permit for the pre-made shed, its size and location. The drawing is not as detailed as the Board would like to see. The shed must be at least 10 feet from the alley. It was decided the Utility Superintendent will ask for further clarification, and the property owner should flag the planned location, so it can be measured for set-backs from the property line. It’s possible a survey will need to be done, and a building inspector may have to verify it’s correct before approving.
- d. Consider Resolution #2024-01 setting fees for towing illegally-parked vehicles.
- Discussion on towing illegally parked vehicles, especially during snow events. We do not currently have a set fee on this situation. Trustee Vrbka discussed this with the Sheriff, who noted we can either tow to the towing company’s lot, or the Sheriff’s lot on hwy. 92. It was decided to put the parking fees’ ordinance in the utility billing as a handout – especially in the fall.
- Motion made by Trustee Robeson to, set the towing and storage fee at $100 plus the cost of towing, seconded by Trustee Karber.
Voting age: Robeson, Karber, Pesek, Vrbka, and Hummel.
Voting nay:
The motion carried.
5. Approve February 19, 2024 Minutes
Motion made by Trustee Karber to approve the February Minutes with one change, seconded by Trustee Vrbka.
Voting aye: Vrbka, Robeson, Karber, Hummel, and Pesek.
Voting nay:
The motion carried.
6. Approve March Claims
Motion made by Trustee Robeson to accept March claims, less Spark electric, seconded by Pesek.
Voting aye: Robeson, Pesek, Karber, Hummel, and Vrbka.
Voting nay:
The motion carried.
Motion made by Trustee Pesek to pay Spark Electric claim, seconded by Robeson.
Voting aye: Pesek, Robeson, Karber, and Vrbka.
Abstain: Hummel
Voting nay:
The motion carried.
7. Committee Reports:
Electric, Water, and Sewer: Trustee Hummel reports on the power outage last Thursday.
Parks, pools & trees: Trustee Vrbka reports on the pool drain, and that it was scoped to make sure there were no leak. There was no charge for this service because the Village let Wright store his equipment at the shop last year during the winter. The new filter will come soon, and there was discussion on how to get it in the pool area. Pool was sandblasted. Discussion on painting the pool this year, and how it will be applied.
Trustee Pesek reports on trees, there were three trees looked at: One at East Butler, and another one by Greg Havlovic’s house need to come down, and one at Margaret Bruner’s needs to be trimmed. Discussion on a list of trees that was made years ago, which is missing. Cory Burtman reports on some problem trees around. Norman Bruner reports he and Kevin Behne went around town last year and made a list, which should be at City Hall somewhere. Norman will contact Kevin and see if he has the list. If it cannot be found, a new list needs to be made. Then it will need to be determined who will do the tree work that is too big for Cory to take down, and get bids for it.
Discussion of the grass seeding at the City Park, Trustee Vrbka thinks the whole park needs reseeding and a sprinkler system, expanding on the previous bid given by Dave Foral. Trustee Vrbka would like to see the other areas done, to cover the whole area where kids are playing. The sprinkler system will guarantee the success of the grass seeding. Discussion on a further bidfrom Dave Foral to cover these other areas, which he will get to us soon.
Motion made by Trustee Robeson to approve adding the cost of seeding the area by the south half of the sidewalk in City Park to the bid, as long as the price-per-square foot is the same as the first bid, seconded by Hummel.
Voting aye: Robeson, Hummel, Karber, Pesek, and Vrbka.
Voting nay:
The motion carried.
8. Employee Reports.
Treasurer Report: see attached
Clerk Report – Yolanda Bailey:
This month in the utility billing we are sending out a survey for residents to fill out regarding lead lines and water service. We already sent one of these out last year, and received less than a 50% return. The state of Nebraska is wanting this done again, and the response is mandatory.
We received information from the Dept. of Revenue that Garbage service is not taxable, and we have changed the rates on Power Manager to reflect this.
I have been going through the big cabinets and other boxes of historical documents, sorting through what we do and do not need to keep. In that vein, you will see a printout of how long certain records need to be kept. The boxes stacked up by the office door are full of documents that we do not need to keep, and there are still more in the cabinets. I suggest we go through them thoroughly, to make sure we have classified them correctly, and then work on getting rid of this paper. There are companies that will come and take care of that for a charge, but I am wondering if we can just burn them and save the cost – we have a burn barrel we can use at the farm. Getting this extra paper out of the office will allow us to be more organized, and free-up space in our files and cabinets. This hopefully will allow room to access the historical documents with ease.
The Planning Commission Minutes are in your packets.
We received a thank-you card from Georgia Nugent for the utilities work on Christmas.
Maintenance Report:
Trustee Vrbka asked Cory to get another bid from Hotsy for a Power Washer that is powerful enough to work on the pool every year, like 4,000 PSI. There will be a water meter installed at the new concession building, and we could put one at the pool if the Board desires. This would be good to keep track of water usage. Looks like the fence at Evergreen will need to be replaced soon. The lawnmower was fixed last week. We have two applicants for Summer Maintenance positions. The street-broom will be delivered April 27th. There will be a couple of drainage projects and there have been sewer repairs going on. The dump road is getting ripped up by residents driving in the wrong places.
9. Petitions, Communications, Correspondence
Trustee Vrbka reports there is a resident that reported to Carla she wanted something discussed at the board meeting. This person is worried that another person is going to buy a building downtown and use it for storage. There is nothing the Village Board can do about what people do with their property.
Valerie Vandenberg is asking if the old Concession Stand building belongs to the Village, and if so, can she have it and keep the proceeds from the sale for the project. It was decided to discuss it at the next meeting.
10. Additional Business/Items for next meeting.
East Butler water/snow drainage
Village Islands
Sidewalk cost-share program
Parking Resolutions
Pressure Washer purchase
Hiring Summer Help
Selling old Concession Stand at Kobza’s
Discussion of Planning Commission Minutes: The residence on South Cleveland St. still needs to be cleaned up. Discussion on Sheriff’s department and their role in our nuisance abatement. It is reported the department will be working on this, but they have been short-staffed lately. It was decided the Board will consider writing a letter to the Resident. Discussion on the City Park sidewalks and snow removal, and how it was not adequate after the last snowstorm.
11. Adjourn
Motion made by Trustee Robeson to adjourn at 9:05 pm, seconded by Trustee Karber.
Voting aye: Robeson, Karber, Pesek, Hummel, and Vrbka.
Voting nay: none
The motion carried.