January 30, 2020 at 8:00 AM - Operations Committee Meeting

Rationale:  We do not have any unfinished business.

Rationale:  Nothing to report.

Rationale:  The O & M crew power sawed a bunch of Cedar and Pine trees at Czechland Lake as well as burned a large tree pile. Burned tree piles at Lake Wanahoo. Routine maintenance on equipment and moving snow.

Rationale:  Rosendahl Farms Seed & Feed sent in a grass drill revenue report and check for $453.00. This information is for the second half of 2019. The District receives one half the revenue.

Rationale:  After the Corps of Engineers reviewed the Bid Proposal protest they awarded the bid to the original low bidder, Young's General Contracting at $9.199 M. Young's will mobilize the week of February 3. The contract is for 270 days which takes us to late July early August.
A pre-construction meeting and site showing took place on Tuesday, January 21. Priority areas to start are 1) Flood way area inside the Fuse Plug Levee at Camp Ashland, 2) Levee tie in to high ground at Thomas Lakes, 3) partially repaired breach just north of Co. Rd F.
Lincoln Water Systems currently have a contractor in this area to recover their 36" raw water line. There was/is some concern as to whether two contractors can work in the area at the same time.
All details will be handled between the COE and the Contractor, NRD staff will assist in anyway we can.

Rationale:  A couple of weeks ago Gana Excavating stock piled fill material for the two breach holes on the Brand and Diers properties. A new corrugated pipe replaced an old one and the breach is filled on the Brand property. They are adding fly ash to the fill material to help with the moisture content. They have run out of fill material and the borrow site is too wet. They hope to resume next week depending on the weather. Construction slowed early on because of the very cold temperatures and snow.
On the remaining Rawhide Ditch damage JEO is planning to have final plans and specifications ready for authorization by our February 10th board meeting. They will then advertise and hold the bid letting. If we receive an appropriate bid we will authorize a contract at the March 9th board meeting.

Rationale:  Mike Sotak of FYRA Engineering will be present to give an update.

Rationale:  We are waiting to have a meeting with Corps of Engineers personnel to discuss any discrepancies. 

Rationale:  Clear Creek Drainage District is requesting to abandon the tail end of Ditch 1 which runs in the area of Thomas Lakes and empties in to the Platte River through gate valve culverts in the levee. This segment of ditch was severely damaged by the March 2019 flooding in which Clear Creek Drainage District repaired. They do not receive any local funding from the area to take care of it and they would like LPNNRD to take it over. We would recommend they keep it and we develop an inter local agreement to assist in the O & M.

See attached four aerial photos of the area from 1999 to present.

Rationale:  Staff is recommending purchasing a new 3/4 ton extended cab pickup. The existing 2007 Dodge 3/4 ton now has a snow blade mounted on it and will be used on the Lake Wanahoo grounds. We would sell our 2010 Chevy Crew Cab.
Currently on the State of Nebraska contracts list is a Chevy 3/4 ton Extended Cab 4 X 4 pickup for $30,730 and a Ford F-250 3/4 ton Extended Cab 4 X 4 for $31,349.
We have budgeted $34,000. (Motion)

Rationale:  We would like to amend our District Park Regulations for two purposes.
We receive questions from the public as to whether they can target practice or sight in a firearm on our public hunting areas at our recreation sites.
Staff recommends amending our regulations stating that "target practice and/or sighting in firearms is prohibited" on any of our recreation areas.
Reason being, we don't have designated areas on any area for this practice which leads to safety concerns for the public and neighbors. (Motion)

We are asked by a few ice fishermen every year if they can use a motorized vehicle to pull their equipment on to the ice and access our lakes. Staff recommends that a motorized vehicle such as a "Snow Dog" (see photo) or equivalent can be used by a handicapped individual or an individual with a Medical release form from a doctor to access an NRD lake for the purpose of ice fishing. We are not allowing ATV's or UTV's. Individuals would have to apply for this permission and receive a permit from the NRD office.

Rationale:  Nothing new to report.

Rationale:  As of 1/29/2020, the District has collected $10,482.50 in the month of January. This brings the year to date total to $14,952.50.

The guard shack was staffed the weekend of 1/25-26 generating a total of $1056.68.

Rationale:  Elbert Traylor would like to discuss the possibility of installing a dog training facility on the Lake Wanahoo property. 

Rationale:  Staff has been seeking bids for the construction and installation of the potential primitive cabins. There is a potential of Board discussion and possible approval at the February 10th Board Meeting.

Rationale:  The current KTIC ad and Wahoo Newspaper eAd promote the guest speakers and famers panel at the February 26th class and will run through February 26th. The ads are attached. 

Rationale:  Why track analytics? Analytics is a great way to see what people are viewing on our website. By looking at the data from our website and keeping an eye on specific pages like the Lake Wanahoo page, Czechland Lake, Contact and Downloads pages, we can continue to provide updated important information to the District.
In mid-September we started tracking analytics on our website and filtered out all of the office computers’ IP addresses to achieve a better reading on our analytics.
The traffic channels help us to see how people are finding our website. The direct URL is always going to be towards the top of the list, but it is also good to look at where other users are coming from - whether it is from a different website or search engine (referral column) or through our social media platforms.

An update on analytics for our website and social media pages through January 28th. 

Website Data
Dates	Users	Sessions	Traffic Channel 1	Traffic Channel 2	Traffic Channel 3	Traffic Channel 4	Top Page	Views	Devices	Percent
October 1-30	710	904	Organic  58.4%	Direct  25%	Referral  13.3%	Social  3.3%	Home	543	Desktop	58.73%
							Lake Wanahoo	355	Mobile	36.48%
							Staff	121	Tablet	4.79%
							Czechland Lake	100
							Contact	95
November 1-30	535	637	Organic 62.4%	Direct 21.5%	Referral  14.1%	Social 2%	Home	424	Desktop	51.3%
							Lake Wanahoo	266	Mobile	42.5%
							Downloads	97	Tablet	6.10%
							Staff	93
							Contacts	77
December 1-31	640	797	Organic 54.1%	Direct 29.3%	Referral 12%	Social 4.6%	Home	596	Desktop	64.12%
							Lake Wanahoo	259	Mobile	30.73%
							Downloads	127	Tablet	5.15%
							Staff	107
							Contact	107
January 1-28	873	1,101	Organic 57.1%	Direct 23%	Referral 16.2%	Social 3.6%	Home	708	Desktop	61.4%
							Lake Wanahoo	574	Mobile	32.3%
							Downloads	139	Tablet	6.3%
							Staff	133
							Contact	96

 

Facebook Data
Date/Post	Total Views/Impressions	Total Reach	Total Engaged Users	Followers
October 2019	9446	6772	1273	873
Top Post: Wanahoo Ed Building Available	6732	4,551	1150
Top Post: Shared picture from Pork Chop Island	538	434	36
Top Post: Area Land Judging NARD article	529	407	24
November 2019	5341	5174	324	885
Top Post: Wahoo Public Survival Club Presentation	1076	1018	145
Top Post: Progress on Clear Creek Levee	540	531	40
Top Post: Daryl presentation-East Butler	394	380	41
December 2019				935
Top Post: NRD/NRCS continuing collaboration	876
Top Post: LPNNRD accepting I&E/receptionist applications	564
Top Post: John Miyoshi joins NCF board or directors	391
January 2020				938
Top Post: NWS-Valley Spring Flood Outlook	515
Top Post: Tree Benefits/Order trees	359
Top Post: Nitrogen Certification Classes scheduled	346

Twitter Data
Date/Post	Impressions  (# of times users saw tweet)	Engagements  (# of times users interacted)	Followers
October 2019	2,643		300
Top Post: order trees	507	5
Top Post: image from Wanahoo/nature quote	248	8
Top Post: PCI shared picture	199	4
November 2019	4,931	104	302
Top Post: Tree Planting Program	1355	26
Top Post: Progress on Clear Creek Levee	390	24
Top Post: Daryl Presentation- East Butler	244	16
December 2019	8709		303
Top Post: UNL Stress webinar	921	8
Top Post: World Soil Day	702	11
Top Post: 2020 nitrogen certification classes	666	7
January 2020			304
Top Post: NWS 2020 Spring Flood Outlook	1308	12
Top Post: Tree orders	1171	15
Top Post: Prescribed fire training workshops	1070	12

Rationale: 

Date	School/Group	Grade/Age	# of students	Topic	Staff
Tuesday, Jan 14	Wahoo Public	Middle School	75	Don’t Lose Ground - soil activity	Sabatka/Elliot
Thursday, Jan 23	Survival Club (WPS)	8th	18	Fishing with John Miyoshi	Gottschalk/Nelson
Friday, Jan 24	Wahoo Public	4th grade	86	Every Kid Outdoors	Gottschalk/Nelson

Rationale:  Please welcome Kara Nelson as the LPNNRD’s new Information and Education Assistant and Receptionist. She started on January 21^st

Rationale:  Normal monthly testing completed, meters were read 1/29, bills will go out 1/31.

Rationale:  The Nebraska Rural Water Association (NeRWA) has completed the rate study for the Bruno RWD.  Attached is a brief breakdown of NeRWA's rate assessment and recommendation for the Bruno line.  NeRWA final rate projection was for a 38% rate increase (accounting for depreciation) on the Bruno line.  That is a substantial increase that should not be assessed at one time.  It is the recommendation of the RWD to start with a 13% increase (applying to usage and monthly service fee) and apply a multi-year step increase, similar to the Colon RWD.
Elliott was contacted by the Dept. of Health and Human services (DHHS) in regards to our lead and copper testing for the Bruno RWD.  Currently, we do not test the Bruno system for lead and copper.  DHHS claims that we "fell through the cracks" but do indeed need to test to conform to Nebraska Public Water System Title 179 regulations.  This will be an unexpected added expense to the Bruno sampling budget.  Total lab fees will be $560.00 for the first year.  Then, assuming no excessive levels requiring further testing, the routine will mirror Colon's lead and copper schedule and we will sample for lead and copper every three years.