Kearney City Council Meeting – July 28, 2026: Liquor License, Utility Easement, and Consent Agenda
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Kearney City Council Meeting – July 28, 2026
The Kearney City Council met on July 28, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. in Council Chambers. The meeting covered two public hearings, a consent agenda of six items, one regular agenda item (an open account claim), and reports from city staff and council members. All votes were unanimous except one abstention. Council Member Kurt Schmidt was absent.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes: Approved the minutes of the Regular Meeting held July 14, 2026, and the Special Joint City/County Meeting held July 9, 2026.
- Claims: Approved the claims as presented.
- Planning Commission Recommendations: Received recommendations from the Planning Commission and set August 11, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. as the date and time for hearings on applicable applications.
- RYDE Transit Funding: Adopted Resolution No. 2026-88 approving RYDE Transit of Buffalo County’s request to use a portion of their required locally matched funding to apply for available Federal funding for fiscal year 2026-2027 operations.
- Manufactured Home Court License Extension: Approved a 30-day extension of the existing manufactured home court license for Valley View Mobile Home Court (2701 and 2801 Grand Avenue) to correct deficiencies.
- Board Appointments: Adopted Resolution No. 2026-89 appointing citizens to the Airport Advisory Board, Downtown Improvement Board, Golf Advisory Board, Library Advisory Board, Advisory Board of Park & Recreation Commissioners, Planning Commission, and Senior Services Advisory Board.
Public Hearings
- Kinkaider Brewing Liquor License Addition: The Council conducted a public hearing on the Class C (Beer, Wine, Spirits On and Off Sale) Liquor License Addition to Licensed Area for Kinkaider Brewing Co, LLC dba Kinkaider Brewing Co at 221 11th Avenue, Suite B. Andrew Baxter, area manager for Kinkaider, explained the addition of an approximately 3,000-square-foot private event space for wedding receptions and presentations, with 80% of the area devoted to private dining. Baxter confirmed that staff maintain responsible beverage permits and food-handling logs. The Kearney Police Department reviewed the application and found no concerns. No public testimony was offered. The Council unanimously closed the hearing and adopted Resolution No. 2026-86 recommending approval to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission.
- Utility Easement for Fire Station / Water Tower Site: The Council held a public hearing on acquiring a permanent 10-foot utility easement from the north 10 feet of Lot 1, Northeast Public Service Addition, granted by the City of Kearney. Sarah Sons, Utilities Director, explained that power and telecommunications lines were previously installed south of the right-of-way near the new fire station and water tower site. Granting the easement avoids the significant cost of relocating those lines into the right-of-way and brings them into legal compliance. The easement does not affect the fire station. No public testimony was offered. The Council unanimously closed the hearing and adopted Resolution No. 2026-87.
Regular Agenda
- Open Account Claim – UNK Loper Football Camp: The Council approved an open account claim of $1,898.00 to the UNK Loper Football Camp. Council Member Tami James Moore abstained, stating a potential conflict of interest (the camp). The vote was 3-0-1 (Moore abstained, Schmidt absent).
Reports & Public Comment
- Cruise Night & Downtown Improvements: Council Member Corey (a downtown business representative) thanked the city for placing portable restrooms downtown during Cruise Night, noting it improved conditions for businesses and visitors. City Manager Brenda Jensen reported that Cruise Night was well-managed and family-friendly, thanks to the police department and organizers. She also commended Public Works for their work on Avenue E reconstruction, which was well-coned and managed despite heat.
- Law Enforcement Banquet: Council Member Kotsiopulos praised the annual Law Enforcement Banquet, which had over 600 attendees, and expressed appreciation to the organizers.
- Heat and Employee Hydration: Council members acknowledged city employees working outdoors in extreme heat, and noted that a hydration appreciation effort (providing Gatorade, popsicles, air-conditioned breaks) was well received by departments.
- Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at approximately 6:00 p.m. (estimated based on transcript flow).
Key Outcomes
- Resolution No. 2026-86 (Kinkaider liquor license addition) – Approved unanimously.
- Resolution No. 2026-87 (Permanent 10-foot utility easement) – Approved unanimously.
- Consent Agenda – Approved unanimously (items 1–6).
- Open Account Claim to UNK Loper Football Camp – Approved with one abstention (Moore).
- Next Meeting: A public hearing date of August 11, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. was set for Planning Commission recommendations.
Meeting Transcript
And to the Republic, which is one nation under the team justice for all. Okay. In accordance with section 841412 of the Nebraska revised statutes, a current copy of the Open Meetings Act is available for review in the council chambers. Jake, please take roll. Mayor Nicola. Here. Bushcutter? Here. More? Here. Schmidt absent. Cotsiopolis. Here. There are no oral communications and no unfinished business. So we're going to go right to public hearing one, which pertains to the Class C liquor license addition to licensed area application for Kincauter Brewing Company LLC, doing business as Kinca Brewing Company located at 221 11th Avenue, Suite B. Presentation by Jake. And just a couple of things. We received an application from the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission on July 8th for an approximate 3,000 square foot addition for Kincator Brewing. KPD conducted a review and found no concerns with the application. And obviously we have a member from Kinkator here with to answer any questions if you guys have any. Okay. Introduce yourself. My name is Andrew Baxter. I'm actually the area manager at oversee Broken Bow, Kearney, Lincoln, and Omaha. So spend four or five days out here right now, just making sure things are going okay. But uh the process of what we're doing is just adding a private event space over there. So if people need presentations or want to do wedding receptions or anything like that, we have an area that people can have a little bit of privacy to do what they need to do, but we're not asking to do anything that's any different than what we're already doing just in a private space right next door. Sure. Glad you feel comfortable to expand. That's good. Good news for you and good news for Carney. So thank you. Good problem. So talk about you guys are all keeping up on all of your training for your staff, all your liquor training. That's uh you know, responsible beverage permits are a big thing for us, so that's typically required within two weeks of starting with us, and we have our logs for food handling, beverage, all of that fun stuff on file for everybody. So you have a similar space in Broken Bow, don't you? Yeah, in that okay, but this will be much bigger than that. Yeah, I'm trying to picture what 3,000 square feet is. It'd be about the same size as the the beer house side, wouldn't it? Uh about the same size as the beer house side. There are that includes the space with the restrooms. There's also going to be a small office area over there, so we can do our meetings over there. But I would say about 80% of it is all uh the red private dine restaurant space. Okay. Any other questions? No. Okay. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone in the audience who wishes to address public hearing one? No.
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