Council Helps Out Dollar General

The Kimball City Council met with a full agenda on Tuesday, Nov. 16, with a variety of discussion items.

Topping the list of items was the approval of needed new sidewalks, gutters, pavement, ADA ramps, and pads at Dollar General. The council had expected two bids but only received one from Hennings Construction, Inc., Gering, for $14,120.74. The weather will determine when the project will begin and be completed.

Two ordinances, 796 and 797, were amended by the council to clean up language and clarify the meaning. Ordinance 796 deals with commercial properties classification, while 797 focuses on R4 Mobile Home Parks, including a conditional use for RV Parks and removing line 11 for Recreational Vehicle.

Ordinance 798 was approved. It repealed ordinance 786, which had combined the city clerk and city treasurer positions. So once again the positions are separated.

The final ordinance the council approved was 799, which aligned with state statute, making it “unlawful for any person within the corporate limits of the City of Kimball to permit, allow or suffer dwelling of any camping trailer, fifth-wheel trailer, motor home, or recreational vehicle, whether on private property or public ways, whether to profit or not for profit, unless located within a Recreational Vehicle Park or Residential Mobile Home Park.”

Other city business included the dispersal of Keno funds to the Kimball Sharks Football. Trevor Anderson, Kimball schools superintendent, and Mitch Brown asked the council for $1,000.

According to the application, “The funds will be used to purchase new equipment for youth football players. We need to purchase helmets and shoulder pads as our present ones are becoming dated … Kimball Sharks Football gives youth in grades 3-6 in our community the opportunity to learn the game of football and compete in games against other towns. The goal of the Sharks program is to get kids active in athletics, teach fundamentals, and make it an enjoyable experience so they will continue playing as they get older.”

The council approved the $1,000 Keno fund contribution to the Kimball Sharks Football, which expects to need $5,000 to update football equipment.

Mayor Keith Prunty appointed, and the council approved, Henry Heeg as city representative for the Kimball County/Kimball City Park and Recreation Operating Board.

Economic Developer Elyse Schlake-Lukassen updated the council on her trip to Washington, D.C. The group met with senators and representatives from Wyoming. They discussed a variety of issues, including appropriations and vaccine mandates for the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent program, although no specifics were provided.

Following the recommendation of the Board of Public Works, the council approved an engineering study for the wastewater treatment plant. The $49,500 study will open opportunities for the possibility of future grants; the study will determine capacity and weaknesses in the infrastructure of the facility, which was built in 1979. The study will begin in January.

The mayor reported that applications for city clerk and city treasurer would close on Nov. 19, and by mid-December, interviews will be scheduled.

City Administrator Annette Brower reported that Clean Harbors Inc. purchased the former IOS/Castronics building on the east edge of Kimball. They will close on that property in December. The property was purchased with the intent of adding a rail spur.

Ace Hardware will have a sign installed in December, and by February or March, they should be up and running, although they are suffering from supply chain issues.

Finally, due to an aging sewer system in the city, when the Family Dollar/Dollar Tree property was partitioned off, the sewer system ran only down 2nd Street, and Family Dollar/Dollar Tree was left with no sewer. The city will extend the sewer system south from 2nd Street to give the new business access to a sewer system.

According to Brower, “As a city municipality it is our responsibility to have services available in the city.”