Community rallies behind Kimball Event/Fitness Center and Diversion program formalized

Kimball Event Center discussion resumed at the recent Kimball City Council meeting, on Tuesday, Oct. 18.

Board member Christy Warner is leading a committee of 12 members dedicated to saving the facility after budget cuts were made that could shut it down at the end of the year, due to a 40 percent loss of sales tax.

“We had a couple of meetings with citizens that had some concerns and we got a lot of feedback,” Warner said. “We recently made some positive changes in operations at the Event Center. It is still a lot of work to do to see whether we can save it or not.”

Warner added that City of Kimball Special Projects Coordinator Amy Baker built a website and a Facebook page for the Event/Fitness Center in the eventuality that it remains open past the end of the year.

“We are unable to make a recommendation at this very moment, but we are working very hard to see what we can do with the Event Center,” Warner said.

Currently the facility is booked through December and those commitments are being honored.

Council approved an agreement with the Kimball County Attorney and the Kimball County Sheriff’s Office for a diversion program, for which a grant was received last year.

“It does require some paperwork on our end from whatever officer Andy (Bremer, acting Kimball Police Chief) assigns,” City Administrator Daniel Ortiz said. “This just formalizes that. There is some money that we get back from the county from that grant.”

Bremer appointed Stacie Schadegg as that officer. Schadegg, who was originally hired to work as a school resource officer, works with students often.

“They will be adding counselors and pastors onto the team as well,” Bremer said. “I am really excited to see the future of this program grow.”

Mayor Keith Prunty updated the board on the abatement of unsafe properties, specifically a property at 212 S. Burg.

Because, after several years, the property owners have not communicated with the city despite multiple attempts, no further action is needed to begin the process, according to city attorney Kent Hadenfeldt.

Kimball crews will do the work on the property, cleaning up the grounds and trimming or removing dead trees.

Prunty added that other dead tree abatement letters have been met with approximately 60-70 percent compliance throughout the community.

“A day like yesterday, you seen how much that paid off by not having much for outages,” board member James Schnell said. “We were down in portions of town for awhile, but the way the wind ripped through and you seen the small branches, if we had had the dead trees still up we would still have the guys out tonight working on that.”

As the wind turbines northwest of Kimball reach the end of their useful life, Municipal Energy Alliance of Nebraska (MEAN) is considering options for the wind farm, according to Ortiz.

Updating the board about the matter, Ortiz added that the life expectancy for the turbines, which are owned by MEAN, is just 15 years.

“MEAN is struggling right now with what to do with the wind farm itself,” Ortiz said. “They have some expensive repair costs if they choose to repair the non-functioning turbines. That cost is roughly $2 million to get all those running again.”

The partnership between the City of Kimball and MEAN, is simply put, in transmitting the energy produced at the wind farm to the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) substation to be sold.

“We do buy a part of that, but that was originally part of us getting the wind farm out there,” Ortiz said. Additionally, the city receives a payment for transmitting the power through the local lines.

MEAN is considering selling the wind farm to a third party, but it may also be decommissioned as early as December.

“If it is sold to a third party, there is a lot of engineering hurdles. It is also going to involve some legal questions in terms of negotiating and developing an agreement with a private third-party,” Ortiz said. “Several things we need to be concerned of, in terms of that agreement, currently, the energy travels through our system and we get revenue from that. If that is going to be the same structure of the agreement, there is going to be a lot of questions that need to be answered and a lot of planning.”

Other items before the board:

Considered Keno grant for Shop with a Cop $2,500

Considered Keno grant for Kimball Concert Association $800

Considered Keno grant for Kimball Fall Festival $2,000

Considered Keno grant for Santa’s Helpers $1,000 conditional upon the receipt of Keno funds.

Approved Kimball Main Street Design and Improvement grant for Hays Roofing and Siding $1,980

Approved Kimball Main Street Design and Improvement grant for Beer and Loathing $400