City Takes On Sewer Projects

A construction bid from Anderson-Shaw Construction totaling $473,569 for two sewer extension projects on Nadine Street (a duplex) and 7th Street (Clean Harbors apartments) was denied by the City Council due to concerns about the cost at the June 4 Kimball City Council meeting.

Olson Engineering, the city’s engineering firm, recommended that the council deny the bid for the sewer extensions. It was decided that the City of Kimball could handle the project internally at a much lower cost.

Estimates of the costs for doing it internally were estimated to be well below $100,000.

The projects consists of connecting to existing sanitary sewer manhole, installing a sewer manhole and mains, and installing water service at two locations. The bid also listed removing pavement and replacing with concrete and installing water meters.

In other business, the council approved a zero fare KCTS program for the summer to encourage local youth activities and local shopping.

Kids can ride the transit using the bus stops to get to the library, golf lessons, pool, and lunch and break programs. Anyone is eligible for the free rides as long as they use the bus stops or qualify for paratransit due to age, disability or significantly restricted from using a bus stops.

The city will have to provide matching funds to KCTS of about $15,000 for the program to run. Bus stops will be set up as they move forward with this program.

Meanwhile, the Kimball City Pool has a new opening date of June 14 with pro-rated summer passes being available to pool users due to the change of the time the pool will be open this year.

Repairs on the pool that delayed the opening included chemical treatments, painting and patching.

An application and letter on behalf of the City of Kimball also has been submitted to obtain a $1 million Rural Community Recovery grant through the Nebraska Department of Economic Development. This would allow the city to purchase vacant property and/or rehabilitate it. There are no matching funds needed to receive the grant, but a more detailed application will be required from the city by application deadline is in July.

In another matter, Josh Enevoldsen and Nate Fox teamed up to present a new insurance cost saving proposal for the city. They said the savings would be significant in liability and workers compensation areas.

The council approved the new municipal LARM insurance proposal. LARM is the League of Association of Risk Management and provides coverage and risk management services to cities, villages and other governmental agencies in Nebraska. LARM’s goal is to be a long-term, stable and cost-effective risk management alternative for Nebraska governmental entities.

The council also went into executive session to discuss the human resources manager position and job description and salary increase.