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
August 19, 2024
The Board of Trustees of the Village of Brainard held a regular meeting on August 19, 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, Tom Pesek, and Randy Robeson.
Staff Present: Clerk Bailey, Treasurer Sander, and Utility Superintendent Burtman.
Guests included: Mary Lou Meister, Joyce Rezac,Valerie Vandenberg, Kirstin Bailey, Brian Foral, Elaine Fortik, and Carynn Bongers.
Public Comments:
Business:
a. Presentation for pool donation from FCSLA (First National Catholic Women’s Assoc.)
Guests Mary Lou Meister and Joyce Rezac, representing Branch W16 of the First National Catholic Women’s Association, presented the Village Board of Trustees with a check for $1,000 for the Pool Renovation Project. This local association has been active in Brainard since 1896, and the W16 Branch has 152 members. They are active in Church and Community activities, donating to local organizations like the Brainard Community Club, the American Legion, the streets, parks, and pool.
b. Pool Report by Manager Carynn Bongers
Manager Carynn Bongers presented the Board of Trustees with a pool report on the 2024 Season. They sold 54 pool passes this year. The Midnight Swim was held on August 9th, which brought in $256, and had 78 attendees. Carynn gave the Board a list of maintenance issues and needs the pool will have next year. This year we had 7 guards, and it was decided 8 guards would be better. Of the seven we had this year, three are planning to come back. It was discussed to start recruiting now for the 2025 season.
c. Consider East Butler Drainage Project
Trustee Vrbka reports he and Trustee Pesek attended the East Butler School Board Meeting last week. The three options that were outlined by JEO, and the updated amount for the plastic pipe were discussed. There was discussion about the possibility of East Butler and the Village sharing the expenses to improve drainage at the school. Some members of the School Board brought up that funding a Village of Brainard project would not be fair to the school families that pay taxes in other towns. The Trustees think that anyone who uses the school stands to benefit by fixing the drainage, no matter where they currently live.
The school board asked if any grants were available. Trustee Vrbka reached out to Eli from JEO about grants, and one that came up was the Lower Platte South NRD Community Assistance Program. Vrbka talked with Craig from NRD, and there is a program, but the deadline was last month, in July. Craig later emailed the guidelines to City Hall and we might potentially qualify.
Discussion on a lower-cost, local contractor option: Take all the trees out to assist in melting snow/ice, do not allow parking in front of the school, and push all the snow from the west- to the east side of the street. When this was brought up to Eli Green at JEO, he agreed this would probably take care of 90% of the problem. To do this, a Resolution would have to be drafted to change the parking there to drop-off only. Discussion on whether there was a Handicap Parking spot there, and if so, what effect that would have on changing the parking. Discussion on the trees, and how there are 7 trees, but at least 4 need to be removed now. Discussion on 3 concrete panels on the corner, where water often pools, that could be re-poured to possibly improve the drainage. The timing for grants would put the project out to next year. It was decided to discuss the Local Contractor option with the East Butler School Board at their next meeting, and then possibly draft a Resolution.
d. Discuss usage of City Parks
The question of Village liability regarding the school using the City Park was discussed with the Attorney. The Village is protected from liability by the Nebraska Recreation Liability Act, as long as we keep the park in good condition and fix any issues we know about. Since the park has now been reseeded and has underground sprinklers, it was suggested by the contractor that the use of the park be limited on the days it was being watered. The park is being watered three times a week currently, but that can be dropped to two weekly sessions now.
The Chairman would like to see the school use both parks equally through the week, which would limit wear-and-tear at City Park. Evergreen has several activities for the kids to do. Discussion on sidewalks that are/are not available from the school to the park. Discussion on asking the school to contribute to the cost of maintaining, reseeding and adding sprinklers to the City Park, and if this would this necessitate an Inter-local Agreement. Further discussion on maintaining the current Park equipment, and how it should be looked into to repair the apparatus. It was decided the Trustees going to the School Board meeting would discuss these things with the school.
e. Discuss funding package from USDA for Village water project
Chairman Vrbka relates we received an email from Niki Dittmer of the USDA, detailing funding options for our water project. The estimate they came up with for the entire project would raise the cost of water for the residents too much to be considered. This option would include a treatment plant for manganese, which the board does not want to do. Dane Simonsen of JEO is looking into what limiting the scope of the project would look like, and he will get back to us.
f. Consider changing vacation policy in handbook
There is confusion in the Employee Handbook where it talks about the “anniversary date” as a way to calculate vacation pay, and in a separate place it refers to the “calendar date.” Trustee Vrbka discussed this briefly with the Attorney and he said to decide which way we want it and then we will get it changed. Right now, the carry-over of vacation is one week, and we need to decide when it is accrued and carried over. The “anniversary date” makes most sense to the board, and it was decided to go with that. Discussion on banking hours and how that works. It was decided that Vacation carry-over can stay at 5 days. Banking is capped at 80 hours, and carryover is 40 hours. It was discussed that the Personnel Committee and its’ procedures should also be added to the Employee Handbook. The committee should be elected every year in December, like the other board committees are. The Treasurer would like to see a clarification in the book as to “days” or “hours”. In Vacation they refer to “10 days” and in Banking hours, they refer to “hours.” It is thought it would be better to have everything in “hours”, as employees’ days are different lengths. When all these handbook changes are complete, there will need to be a Resolution on changing the Handbook.
g. Consider Public Water System Security Grant application
Clerk Bailey explains this is a grant that was approved for replacing the Well-house doors in 2023, but not completed because of difficulty in obtaining a Sam.gov ID number. She will look into whether the new application would need to be completed to obtain the grant once the ID number is figured out. Maintenance Supervisor Burtman would like to add keypad-locks to that project for each Well-house. Clerk Bailey will follow up on this.
h. Discuss correspondence between Randy Hood, Loran Lindahl, and Neil Danberg
Trustee Vrbka starts the discussion with some history. Last year Vrbka followed-up with Randy Hood (our auditor) and Hood said at the time that everything with the Fire Department accounts was ok. It was thought then that the Village was getting all the public money for the Fire Department, and that change alone solved the matter at hand. However, Trustee Vrbka recently talked to Neil Danberg, from the Disclosure Commission, to make sure everyone was on the same page, and he found out Danberg is still concerned about the two bank accounts the Fire Dept. maintains, one checking and one savings, and that Vrbka should get his Attorneys’ interpretation.
Loren Lindahl’s interpretation was that: “having a checking account with $200 is fine.” However, Trustee Vrbka then found out that there were still automatic deposits of federal funds going into the Fire Departments’ checking account for the last two years, whereas Trustee Vrbka and Randy Hood were under the impression the Village was receiving them.
Treasurer Sander called QuickMed Claims, who handles the disbursement of these claims, and she talked to Mimi Rodriguez, who told her John Bongers is the only one authorized to control that dispersal, and that both the Village and the Fire Dept. checking accts. were listed.
Bongers ended up talking about this with the Attorney, and it was decided Bongers would transfer $1,100 to the Village from the Fire Dept. checking account, leaving $100 in there for fees. According to Trustee Vrbka, from now on all income and expenses relating to the Fire Department–coming from QuickMed Claims—should automatically go into the Village checking account, and we will continue to audit both of Fire Department accounts in the future. The attorney, Loren Lindahl, contacted Neil Danberg, who will check with the State Auditor to see if this will bring things into compliance.
Discussion follows between Treasurer Sander and Trustee Robeson about the automatic payments from QuickMed that have been coming into the Fire Department for the past two years. Sander wants to know why the Village was not made aware of-or reimbursed for these deposits when they happened. Sander says this has still not been reconciled. Trustee Robeson says up until now they thought everything was solved, but now they are trying to fix things going forward. As it stands today, the Trustees are waiting to hear back from Danberg that these changes will satisfy the State Auditor, and the Fire Dept. accounts will both be audited for the past 3 years. Future audits of the Village will have these accounts audited at the same time.
i. Discuss Annual Budget
Treasurer Sander begins the discussion by saying the board needs to figure out what to set the Levy at for the next budget. It is currently set at .45 plus .03 for an Inter-local Agreement, for a total of .48 cents. The Real Estate evaluations went up by 11.9% this year. Looking at a Budget Estimation, John Winter—from Lengemann & Assoc., wants Board input on these numbers, as they are just an estimation based on last year. It was decided it was a good idea to “over-budget”, instead of falling short. It was decided to increase expenses to make sure we can cover something we do not know is coming. Discussion follows on each budget classification, with some changes to numbers that will be sent to the budgeter. Projected electric, garbage, and general expenses were raised. Fire and Sewer expenses were lowered. We will ask Dane Simonsen of JEO, about the water expense classification. Discussion on the Levy rate and whether or not to increase it. Trustee Pesek states he would like to see the taxes go down instead of up, and goes on to say this is the exact problem the legislature is having – evaluations go up, so taxes go up. Other Trustees reminded the Board that our insurance, utilities, and many other things have also gone up, and we have to account for those rising costs somehow. Treasurer Sander will request John Winter attend the September meeting.
Motion made by Trustee Randy to leave the Levy at the current rate of .45 cents plus .03 for Interlocal, seconded by Trustee Pesek.
Voting aye: Robeson, Pesek, Vrbka, Hummel, and Karber.
Voting nay: none
The motion carried.
5. Approve minutes for July 15, 2024 meeting.
There were a few minor changes pointed out.
Motion made by Trustee Karber to approve the July Minutes with changes, seconded by Trustee Pesek.
Voting aye: Karber, Pesek, Hummel, Robeson, and Vrbka.
Voting nay: none
The motion carried.
6. Consider August claims.
Discussion on the street project completed by LLLL Construction, which resulted in more concrete than the bid had noted. As there was some damaged concrete and a low spot that needed to be repaired, the bill came in a little higher than the bid, at $9,783.30, to be added to the August claims.
Motion made by Trustee Robeson to approve the August Claims-minus Spark Electric, and plus LLLL Construction for $9,783.30-seconded by Trustee Pesek.
Voting aye: Robeson, Pesek, Karber, Hummel, and Vrbka.
Voting nay: none
The motion carried.
Motion made by Trustee Karber to approve Spark Electric claim, seconded by Trustee Pesek.
Voting aye: Karber, Pesek, Robeson, and Vrbka.
Trustee: Hummel Abstains
Voting nay: none
The motion carried.
7. Committee Reports.
Trustee Vrbka notes the Pool Committee meeting minutes are in the packet. JEO has come in with a bid to help engineer the pool project. The committee is stepping back a little to research some ideas before coming to the Board – which they will do soon. Trustee Pesek mentions that Olsson Associates may be a good company to approach about the upcoming pool upgrade. Discussion on whether we could hire a different engineer if we wanted to for a particular project. Discussion on whether the Pool Committee needs to observe the Open Meetings Act–we will check with the League of Municipalities about this. Discussion on starting a Village GMAIL account for the pool upgrade, and also switching to paperless Board packets in the future. There are possibly grants for this, and it will be looked into.
Trustee Pesek brings up that there is a leak at the pool somewhere, and he is wondering if we can dig it up ourselves. Doing that would involve digging up the deck on the east side. The leak is causing problems with the chlorine levels at the pool. Scott had recommended getting rid of the water softener, but that might need to be put back in – to get rid of the iron, but then you have to add calcium as the water gets very corrosive.
Maintenance Supervisor Burtman reports there is a pipe that is plugged, and they were using the pump to drain it, when alarms were going off, and there were problems. The problem is right under the sun-bathing area – where there is a drain. There are pipes out there now to drain the water to the east. Burtman will get Josh Hlavac to come to measure the slide-deck. The paint is becoming stained by iron, so Burtman called Wissman to come and check on the paint, which is under warranty. They have been pressure-washing the pool to try to get the stains off.
The water in the City Park women’s bathroom had to be turned off, as there was a sink that was overflowing. The faucet is faulty and would not shut-off. Burtman is getting another one.
8. Employee Reports.
Clerk Report: Yolanda Bailey
I received a call from Josh at Dutton-Lainson, and he gave me some more details on our upcoming switch to the new Tantalus meter reading system. He says we are starting the system with 1 collector – as opposed to 2 – to save some money, but if it doesn’t work they will upgrade to 2 collectors.
We received an email from Diane Vanderslice, describing the mandatory enrollment for Work Comp insured employees in the “On Call Nurse Program.” I have put the brochure in your packets. As this is mandatory, it might require a change to the Employee Handbook, as it changes the way these injuries are reported. I have enclosed our current policy on Workers’ Compensation.
Our Attorney was contacted on a couple of Village liability questions, specifically: the City Park, and the fireworks stand. I have enclosed the Attorney responses from Maureen Freeman-Caddy.
–It was decided to get the Vendor Permit approved by the Attorney, and then send a letter to the fireworks vendor with the permit, and an explanation of the changes for the stand next year. It was decided we should do this in a timely fashion, so the vendor can make the necessary arrangements for 2025.
Treasurer Report: Carla Sander
See Attached
Treasurer Sander is wondering if the Board wants her to write a letter to East Butler School, asking for financial contribution for the new sprinklers and grass at City Park.
It was decided to wait on the letter, have a board member attend the next school board meeting, and bring up this expense when we are asking them to change the park playground schedule to protect the new grass.
Lastly, Treasurer Sander reports we received the Village Credit Cards, there are three of them, and they are going to stay in the lock-box when not being used. When they are used, there must be a receipt for the expenditure.
Maintenance Report: Cory Burtman
The Evergreen Fence is almost finished being stained/sealed. The crosswalks in town have been painted. The mower bagger for the eXmark will cost around $5,000. It was decided to put it on the next Agenda and consider the purchase. Discussion on the new street-broom.
Tree discussion: We are still waiting on tree bids from Klement, and have a new one from Sypal’s Tree Service. Burtman explains he needs one of the trees removed ASAP, as it is over a resident curb-stop that needs to be dug-up for maintenance. Discussion on three trees that need to be removed that are very large, and they are making up over ½ of the bid we just got from Sypal – as they are involved in power lines.
It was decided to reach out to Gavin Hobson again, see if he will re-up his bid, reach out to Klement as well, and consider all these bids at the next meeting.
Motion made by Trustee Pesek to get an individual bid from Sypal’s Tree Service for the tree at 512 N Madison, have the Chairman approve that bid (if he so chooses) and then the work can be started, seconded by Trustee Robeson.
Voting aye: Pesek Robeson, Karber, Hummel, and Vrbka.
Voting nay: none
The motion carried.
9. Petitions, Communications, Correspondence
Discussion on the areas at City Park that are mucky, due to watering, and how the new grass needs to be bagged when it is mowed. Further discussion on the mowing at City Park that had to be completed before the concert last week, and that Dave Foral did the job with his mower/bagger.
Trustee Vrbka reports that a new bar owner was inquiring about getting Keno at the bar, and that Treasurer Sander printed the rules/regulations, but that this is something the owner would have to look into themselves, as this is not a duty of the employees of the Village.
10. Additional Business/Items for next meeting.
Further discussion on cameras that have been installed outside a business, and how this will be discussed at the next meeting.
11. Adjournment.
Motion made by Trustee Robeson to adjourn at 10:00 pm, seconded by Trustee Hummel.
Voting aye: Robeson, Hummel, Pesek, Karber, and Vrbka.
Voting nay: none
The motion carried.
The Village of Brainard
Board of Trustees Board Meeting Minutes
Special Meeting: August 28, 2024
The Board of Trustees of the Village of Brainard held a Special meeting on August 28, 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 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, and Tom Pesek. Randy Robeson was absent.
Staff Present: Clerk Bailey
Guests included: Elaine Fortik and the Planning Commission:
Dave Struebing, Dave Havlovic, Brian Foral, Denise Robeson, Marcia Bohslavsky, Nancy Steager, Shari Havlovic, Dale Neilson, and Doreen Kastl
Public Comments:
Business:
a. Discuss new residential subdivision with the Planning Commission
There was discussion of the Village Parks and the need to maintain the condition of the new grass that was planted in City Park. Now that there is new grass and sprinklers, it was discussed that the school may need to alternate the use of the parks for recess. The play structure is in need of some repairs, as well. A Village Board member will attend the East Butler School Board meeting and discuss this with them.
The need for new housing in Brainard was the focus of the special meeting. The discussion began with a little history, as Dave Struebing remembers in the past John Bruner had been talking about some housing opportunities around town, and Dave thinks John would have had it done by now if he were still here. Dave is asking those in the meeting to bring their ideas to the table. There follows discussion of various lots inside and surrounding the town.
Discussion on Foral’s Addition. Brian Foral gives details about the planning and implementation of that sub-division. There are approximately $15,000 in taxes generated by the Foral Addition annually. Discussion on TIF (Tax Increment Financing), and whether that is worth considering. David City has some TIF projects going. This program was designed to improve blighted areas by providing money for builders/municipalities to purchase empty lots, abandoned houses, etc., and improve them. The problem with this is that it redirects the increased tax value of the property away from schools for 15-21 years.
It was decided to focus on the empty lots in town by drafting a letter to property owners of empty lots or vacant houses. This letter will be inquiring if they would consider selling their lot to make room for new housing. Further discussion will be held at the September meeting.
Adjournment.
Motion made by Trustee Pesek to adjourn at 8:08 pm, seconded by Trustee Vrbka.
Voting aye: Pesek, Vrbka, Hummel, and Karber.
Voting nay: none
The motion carried.