Kearney City Council Meeting – November 12, 2024: Rezoning Approval and Consent Agenda Items
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Kearney City Council Meeting – November 12, 2024
The Kearney City Council met on November 12, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers. The meeting included a public hearing on a rezoning request for an early head start facility, approval of a 13-item consent agenda, adoption of a mobile vending and carnival code amendment ordinance, and public comment on backyard chickens.
Public Hearing – Rezoning for Community Action Partnership of Mid-Nebraska
- Meredith Collins, CEO of Community Action Partnership of Mid-Nebraska (CAPMN), presented a request to rezone a vacant lot (south of 1023 Avenue F) from R-3 (Urban Residential Multi-Family, Medium Density) to C-O (Office District). The property is located near CAPMN’s existing WIC/Head Start building and its Ride Transportation building.
- The rezoning would allow construction of a new early head start facility to serve infants and toddlers. The program currently serves 32 children with a waitlist of 20. In September 2024, CAPMN was awarded a $2.6 million federal grant from the Office of Head Start for the project. The building would include two infant rooms, two toddler rooms, 26 parking spots, and an outdoor playground, with capacity for up to 48 children (pending additional funding).
- The Planning Commission had recommended approval. Council had no questions. No public testimony was offered. The council voted unanimously to close the public hearing and adopt Ordinance No. 8701, rezoning the property.
Consent Calendar
- Items 1–13 were approved unanimously via a single motion:
- Approve minutes of the October 22, 2024 meeting.
- Approve claims.
- Adopt Resolution No. 2024-154 certifying Street Superintendent Brandon Shafto for the 2024 Highway Incentive Payment.
- Adopt Resolution No. 2024-155 adopting the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program for FY25-26-27 and designating Airport Manager Jim Lynaugh as Liaison Officer.
- Adopt Resolution No. 2024-156 approving a lease agreement with Kearney Raceway Park at the airport.
- Approve Resolution No. 2024-157 authorizing the City Manager to execute sponsorship agreements for the Kearney SportsPlex.
- Approve purchase of a 2024 John Deere 3139R tractor and attachments ($78,335.67) from Landmark Implement via Sourcewell.
- Approve purchase of an Envirosight Sewer Rover camera system on a 2024 Ford F-550 chassis ($495,339.88) from Macqueen Equipment via Sourcewell.
- Adopt Resolution No. 2024-158 adding Caleb M. Miller to the Kearney Volunteer Fire Department.
- Authorize the Mayor to send a letter of no recommendation on the manager application for Kearney Country Club (Class C liquor license).
- Authorize the Mayor to send a letter of no recommendation on the Class AB liquor license and manager application for UN:Inebriated, LLC dba UN:Inebriated (2102 Central Avenue).
- Adopt Resolution No. 2024-159 accepting public improvements (paving and storm sewer) for Butler Addition, Phase 2 (Chase Avenue extension).
- Adopt Resolution No. 2024-160 approving Change Order No. 1 (-$30,363.25), final payment ($422,745.00), and Certificate of Substantial Completion for Cottonmill Park Paving Improvements (J.I.L. Asphalt Paving Company).
Consent Agenda Ordinance
- Ordinance No. 8702, amending Articles 14, 18, 29, and adding Article 31 to Chapter 3 (Business Regulations) of the City Code regarding mobile vending and carnival regulations, was placed on final passage and approved unanimously. The ordinance updates definitions, fees, insurance, security, and operational standards for food trucks and carnival/amusement permits, and repeals or amends several existing sections.
Public Comments
- Jeff Morgan (2612 West 46th Street Place) addressed the council during oral communication. He proposed changing the city ordinance to allow backyard chickens for purposes of education, 4-H, sustainability, and rising egg costs (noting prices up to $5/dozen). He cited examples from Grand Island, Lincoln, Omaha, Hastings, and La Vista, and suggested a limit of 10 hens (no roosters) with a spring preparation timeline.
- Council member Randy Buschkoetter stated his long-known support for the concept but noted no action could be taken at this meeting. Council member Tami James Moore echoed supportive sentiment. Mayor Nikkila acknowledged the issue has been discussed before but expressed support for the sentiment.
Key Outcomes
- Ordinance No. 8701 (rezoning) passed unanimously on first reading with suspension of the three-reading rule.
- Consent Agenda (Items 1–13) approved unanimously.
- Ordinance No. 8702 (mobile vending and carnival code amendments) passed unanimously on final passage.
- No action was taken on the backyard chicken proposal; the issue may be revisited by new council members after the December 10, 2024 swearing-in.
- The meeting adjourned at approximately 6:30 p.m. (estimated), lasting about one hour.
Meeting Transcript
Silence uh and then we'll have our pledge of allegiance on the last okay thank you join us in the pledge of allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you in accordance with section 841412 of the Nebraska revised statutes a current copy of the open meetings act is available for view as post on the wall of the council chambers. Will you take roll, please? Mayor Claus here Bush Cutter We are absent, Nicola Moore here, and we have no oral communications and no unfinished business, so we'll move right into public hearing one, and it pertains to the application submitted by Meredith Collins for Community Action Partnership of Mid-Nebraska to rezone a portion of the vacant lot located south of 1023 Avenue F, Planning Commission recommended approval. Meredith. Yes, good evening, everybody. I'm excited to be here. Um and do you want me to bring up the PowerPoint or no? Yep, it should be you can scroll through it. Thank you. Uh-huh. So my name's Meredith Collins. I'm the chief executive officer for community action partnership of mid-Nebraska. And my request this evening is to request our vacant property be rezoned from R3 to CO. So just a little bit about our agency. We're a private nonprofit agency. We serve 27 counties in South Central Nebraska, and we provide a myriad of social services ranging from WIC, Head Start, Ride Transportation, Case Management, Homeless Prevention, just to name a few. And this particular request is in regards to our early head start facility. So we would like to construct a new early head start building on this property, and that's why we're requesting the rezoning. And currently our head start program serves 32 children. We have a wait list of 20 kids that would like to be in the program. And we were recently awarded in September a $2.6 million federal grant from the Office of Head Start to build this facility. And I am super excited about it. So with this, we did a feasibility study in 2021. We've been trying to find funding for for several years. So we've completed that. We also did an environmental study on the property, and uh a professional appraisal was done in 2022. So this is the area that we're talking about. You can see our WIC head start building to uh the north there, and the vacant lot is currently R3, and then to the south is our Ride Transportation Building. So just to give you an idea of the zoning, currently our WIC head start building is zoned for CO, RID is C3, and of course, this is currently R3. Uh just visual of the property. This is a vacant lot that we've had for a while that I've really wanted to do something with for quite a long time. So uh to build a facility that's such needed in Carney is very exciting for the agency. I just wanted to give you a visual of some of the plans that were drawn up in the feasibility study of what it would look like. Uh this uh we would like to connect it to our current building. We have a lot of parents that are enrolled in both head start and early head start, and that would make drop off easy as they drop off their kiddos and early head start. They can walk over to the building. Um it would have 26 parking spots with our current uh prospective build, and it would have two infant rooms and two toddler rooms. Uh we'd like to put another outdoor playground um area as well for both the the toddlers and the infants. So with this, the capacity would be up to 48 kids that we could serve, but that I would have to find additional funding uh to serve additional kids and to have additional staff. So that is my request this evening. Can I answer any questions? Council have any questions? No, no, pretty straightforward. Yeah, good. Okay, this is a public hearing. Is there anyone in with in the audience which address public hearing one? Okay, do we have a motion then? I move to close public hearing one and move for the adoption of ordinance number 8701, rezoning a portion of the vacant lot located south of 1023 Avenue F from District R3 Urban Residential Multifamily District, medium density to district CO office district, and that the statutory law requiring reading ordinances on three successive days be suspended. Second. Roll call, please.
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