Kearney City Council Meeting - February 11, 2025
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Kearney City Council Meeting - February 11, 2025
The Kearney City Council met on February 11, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers. The council conducted three public hearings, approved a consent agenda of 12 items, and addressed a regular agenda item on open account claims. No public comments were made during oral communication or on agenda items.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes of the January 28, 2025 regular meeting.
- Approved the claims list.
- Approved extension of Conditional Use Permit No. 1978-01 for a manufactured home for security purposes at Huss Livestock Market (1202 West 19th Street) for three years.
- Approved extension of Conditional Use Permit No. 2006-03 to stockpile snow and manure at Huss Livestock Market for three years.
- Adopted Resolution No. 2025-16 approving a towing agreement with 4 States Towing.
- Adopted Resolution No. 2025-17 accepting public improvements for Arbor View First addition.
- Approved purchase of a Vactor 2100I sewer jet/vac truck for $625,448.43 via cooperative purchasing.
- Accepted bids for Kearney Regional Airport Apron Reconstruction Project, awarding to Constructors Inc. for $8,591,888.16 (Resolution No. 2025-18).
- Authorized the Mayor to send a letter of no recommendation to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission for a liquor license application by Primodity LLC at 2001 Avenue A.
- Adopted Resolution No. 2025-19 approving Change Order No. 1 for $1,800.00 for 2024 Part 5 Improvements (29th Avenue and West La Platte Road).
- Adopted Resolution No. 2025-20 accepting public improvements for Lot 579 and vacated 'L' Avenue.
- Approved extension of Conditional Use Permit No. 2019-06 for resource extraction (sand & gravel mining) for Turkey Creek Properties, LLC for five years.
All consent agenda items were approved unanimously by roll call vote.
Public Hearings
Public Hearing 1 – Development of Gardner Schroer Addition
Trenton Snow, representing Rainbow Group (Whiskey Creek restaurant) and MRS Properties (Mike Shore, gas station owner), presented a proposal to vacate Lot 1, Fast Phil Second Addition, and approve the final plat and subdivision agreement for Gardner Schroer Addition. The purpose is to rectify a boundary line that cuts through the Whiskey Creek parking lot by selling the strip of land from the gas station to the restaurant. The council closed the public hearing and adopted Ordinance No. 8722 vacating the lot and Resolution No. 2025-15 approving the final plat and subdivision agreement. All votes were unanimous.
Public Hearings 2 and 3 – Rezone and Conditional Use Permit for 320 East 31st Street
Craig Bennett of Miller & Associates presented on behalf of Gamma XV, LLC and Russell G. Hilliard for the property at 320 East 31st Street (Lots 57-60, Forest Park). The proposal seeks to rezone from R-1 to R-1D (Residential District) and obtain a conditional use permit for a general office. The property is a historic home (National Register since 1983) that the Hilliards wish to repurpose as an office with up to 8 employees, maintaining its residential character. Conditions include: hours of operation 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; provision of eight off-street parking stalls (including one ADA accessible); maintenance of an elevator; and extension of the ADA ramp by approximately four feet to meet slope requirements. Council members discussed parking enforcement, the adaptive reuse benefits, and the high public scrutiny this permit may attract. Council member Moore noted successful conversions in the Pacific Northwest. Council member Schmidt expressed support for preserving the historic home. The council closed both hearings and adopted Ordinance No. 8723 (rezoning) and Ordinance No. 8724 (conditional use permit) unanimously.
Discussion Items
- Open Account Claims (Regular Agenda Item 1): Two separate motions were made. The first motion approved claims to the University of Nebraska ($190.00) and UNK Emarket ($360.00). Council members Moore and Stratman abstained; the motion passed with two ayes (Nicolette and Buschkoetter). The second motion approved a claim to Grant Buschkoetter ($217.00). Council member Moore initially voted aye but then corrected to abstain; the motion passed unanimously with the remaining members voting aye. (Grant Buschkoetter is the son of Council member Randy Buschkoetter, who voted aye; the mayor noted the relationship.)
Reports
- Council member Schmidt welcomed Seven Brew coffee to the community.
- City Manager Brenda Jensen reported: snowplow operations starting at 4 a.m. the next day; January enplanements at Kearney Regional Airport were 78%, up from 34% in January 2024; schedule changes for the afternoon flight; progress on the EDA infrastructure grant for the east side; and the airport parking lot filling up.
Key Outcomes
- Unanimous approval of all consent agenda items and public hearing ordinances/resolutions.
- Conditional use permit for 320 East 31st Street with specific conditions.
- Open account claims approved with abstentions on the first motion and a corrected abstention on the second.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome everyone tonight to Dance Council meeting. Um, please stand for a moment of silence. All right, please join me 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 liberty and justice draw. In accordance with section 84 1412 of the Nebraska Revised Statutes, a current copy of the Open Meetings Act is available for review and it's posted on the wall of the council chambers. Uh Peggy, please take roll. Mayor Nicolette. Here Bush Cutters Moore. Here Schmidt. Here Stratman. Here. Okay. There are no oral communications or unfished finished business. So we're gonna go right to our first public hearing. Uh public hearing one pertains to the application submitted by Trent and Snow for Rainbow Group Inc. MRS properties LLC for the development of Gardner Schroer addition. Planning Commission recommended approval. Trenton. Good evening. For the record, Trent and Snow Land Surveyor with an office at 1309 Central Avenue here in Kearney. And I am representing Jim Gardner with uh Rainbow Group, or as it's more commonly known in this area is Whiskey Creek uh restaurant, and then Mike Shore, who has the gas station just to the south of Whiskey Creek. As you can see here, that purple line, which denotes uh the boundary line between the two properties is pretty close on your GIS, and it kind of cuts right through the parking area for Whiskey Creek. So for many years, Whiskey Creek has rented from the gas station owner that little strip of ground for the parking. The new gas station owner says, Hey, why don't we just sell that little piece of ground to you? And that way we don't have to mess with the lease agreement, we don't have to mess with renting it to you every year. And Jim says yes, that would be fantastic. So to do that, we are going to have to create a new subdivision along with vacating the one that is the gas station. Whiskey Creek itself has never been platted into a subdivision. It was originally sold um, I think back around 1980, and back then you didn't have to do a subdivision to sell the piece of ground, you just had to write a description around it. And so that's what they did, and it has never become a subdivision up until hopefully tonight. So the first item we're gonna have to do is vacate the lot where the gas station sets, which is known as lot one, fast fill second edition. Umce that is vacated. Um we have the new proposed um lot one and two with that line moved so that the uh parking lot then would become whiskey creek's ground. Really pretty straightforward. There is quite a few different easements as you can see that are of record that are on that, those will all still remain in place for gas lines, sewer lines, electric lines, and those all remain just as they are recorded. With that, uh any questions that you may have nothing for me. Any questions? Okay, I think not. Okay. Um this is a public hearing. So uh is there anyone in the audience who wish to address public hearing one on the development of the Gardiner Schroer addition? Okay, any other questions or comments from council? Okay, I have a motion. I would move to close public hearing one and move for the adoption of ordinance number 8722, vacating lot one, fast fill second edition, and that the statutory law requiring reading of ordinances on three successive days be suspended. That ordinance number 8722 be read by number only and then placed on final passage. Second, I'll call please. Mayor Nicolette. Aye. Aye Schmidt, Stratman, aye, Bush Cutter, aye ordinance number 8722. I move that ordinance number 8722 be passed, approved, and published as provided by law.
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