Missile Project Key Dates Discussed

At the Kimball City Council meeting on July 18, City Administrator Annette Brower addressed key issues regarding the missile project.

Brower said the Pioneer Camp will be in place in 2024 and the Housing Hub for hundreds of project workers at a time will be built and operational in 2025. The Pioneer Camp will house workers who will construct the hub.

In another matter, Mayor John Morrison commented on a story on July 13 front page of the Observer about Hometown Hardware. Referring to a water main break that affected the business, Morrison said it was an “unfortunate incident and what has happened in the last two years is also unfortunate.”

Morrison said the current administration was not here two years ago and it is not its fault.

“It is everybody’s fault and nobody’s fault,” the mayor said.

He said that the situation needs to be solved positively and people need to stop criticizing.

Meanwhile, two public hearings were conducted during the council meeting, and the council voted to pass measures following each one.

The first public hearing, referred to as Ordinance #820, amended the zoning regulations to create guidelines for a Mixed Use Development District that could be established in various city areas in the future. No comments were received at the public hearing, and the council voted to approve the district. The council voted to waive the three readings.

The second public hearing was to declare certain areas of the City of Kimball as blighted and substandard. Resolution 2023-13 was approved, designating certain areas as blighted and substandard under the Nebraska Community Development Law. Marvin Planning prepared the study.

Council members also received information about additional bonding for the power generator project. A Piper Sandler representative said, “As you all know, the city issued bonds in the summer of 2022 to finance about 2½ million dollars for a power station project, and it has come in higher than expected, and consequently, we are short of funds; we can complete the project by issuing bonds at this time.” The representative gave council members debt service information and talked about the structure of the bonds.

The meeting concluded with an approval of an easement over Howard Street for the city to the Clean Harbors subdivision, a lengthy discussion on Gotte Park improvements, and a discussion on the future of the missile displayed at Gotte Park.

The next council meeting will be on Aug. 1 at 5 p.m. in the city building meeting room.