Increased interest in WNED

Interest in the Western Nebraska Economic Development Inter-local Cooperation Agreement (WNED) is increasing, according to Kimball City Administrator Daniel Ortiz.

Ortiz told members of the council of that increase in interest at the Dec. 1 meeting.

The sole county involved in the collaborative effort is Scotts Bluff County, but 10 Panhandle communities are now interested and that number could increase, Ortiz said.

Ortiz further reported that changes to the terms in the agreement were made during the last cooperative meeting as the core group attempt to define the entity’s role, function and regional scope.

“We kind of changed some things up. This is more generalized, so that it can be more fluid moving forward. Overall the group has had a lot of positive feedback,” Ortiz said. “For the most part I think the agreement is fairly basic, not a great deal of change. I think they have had four meetings to date, and it is really just starting to get its roots planted.”

The agreement allows for each member community to provide one representative for every 500 residents, meaning larger communities have more representation on the management committee.

That committee will govern actions of the WNED as well as monetary expenditures, which can include specific projects and funding Chambers of Commerce and the Panhandle Area Development District.

The administrator of WNED, who must be an employee of the City of Scottsbluff, will be charged with management of the daily operation and accounting among other various duties.

Participating communities are to pay non-refundable annual dues, as well as additional, voluntary assessments for specific projects. If a municipality opts not to pay the assessment, they may not receive the benefit of the related project.

The council voted unanimously to accept the new agreement before moving on to the first collaborative effort of the group – a multi-county regional housing study with strategies for affordable housing.

“One of the things that came about from this group is that there are small communities in the western Panhandle that are dealing with the same issues that we are dealing with here in Kimball, and that is housing,” Ortiz reported. “Both trying to recruit a developer to our communities as well as deal with outdated housing or housing in need of repair.”

The cooperative sought to complete a regional housing study among the 10 member communities with the intent of creating a detailed list of needs and potential projects as well as a way to solicit developers to the region.

Kimball is currently in the middle of completing a local comprehensive plan that includes a housing study, for which research has been completed.

“We brought that up at the last WNED meeting, and there were discussions they were going to have with consultants about how much of that data would be useful and then substitute the cost and the work load to another community,” Ortiz said. “I have not heard back definitive about whether or not it is doable for them just to transfer it.”

If the cooperative does not agree to use the complete, local research, the city will have to pay for the same type of data a second time or risk exclusion from the project completely. A matching-fund grant application was completed seeking $28,420 toward the projected cost of $58,000. Based on a population of 2,425, the cost to the City of Kimball without the grant is expected to be $4,233.13. The cost with the grant drops to $2,074.23 for Kimball, or approximately 86 cents per resident.

“The group discussed and decided to split the cost (on a per capita basis) between the members involved,” Ortiz said, “We will essentially include all of the members in that housing study.”

The council chose to table the matter until further information can be gathered regarding the previously concluded housing study and its usefulness to the cooperative, as well as if Kimball could forego the research phase and just play a role in the implementation piece of the project.

“There is lingering questions about how the study would move forward with our study having been roughly completed. And this is the same consultant that is doing this one as well, Hanna Keelan Services,” Ortiz said. “I went through the scope of services on the quote they provided and on the basic level it would appear that 70 to 75 percent of the items are roughly the same as what they went through with our project with the addition of a few other items.”

Kimball plans to host the next WNED meeting at 6 p.m. on Dec. 17 at city hall.