May 11, 2020 at 4:00 PM - Regular Board of Directors Meeting

Rationale: 

NOTE: The agenda is on file at the LPNNRD office and may be changed up to 24 hours prior to the meeting as scheduled.

 

Rationale:  Are there any additions or corrections to the agenda?

Rationale:  Are there any additions or corrections to the Minutes? If not they will be approved on consent agenda.

Rationale:  Mike Murren contacted our office this past month with his continuing concerns regarding, what he believes to be, a high water table issues on his farm ground located on the north and south sides of Duck Creek which he is attributing to our Wanahoo dam.  I informed Mike I would bring his concerns to our next committee meeting.

Rationale:  Attached find Mountford's Benefits Committee Report.

Rationale:  None

Rationale:  Staff was instructed to advertise the May 11th Board Meeting as a teleconference meeting starting at 4:00 p.m. 

Rationale:  We have received our proceeds check (see attachment) and deposited it into our general account for now.  Discussion is requested as to where to place these funds.  We also paid Kobza Ag and Home $$3,687.59 for advertising. 

Rationale:  On Tuesday April 28th I spoke with Kara and she informed me she has accepted another position with Civic Nebraska.  Her last day of employment with our district will be May 15, 2020.

Rationale:  All summer staff from last year have returned and begun work in the park.  We have been very happy with their job performance and work ethic and would like to increase their pay rate from $ 10/hour to $ 10.50 per hour.

Due to the heavy work load needed by Bret last year scheduling, staffing and supervising the park entrance kiosk I have transitioned that responsibility to Josie Schnakenberg.  Josie is a current Wanahoo summer staff member and assisted in manning the guard shack last summer, over the winter months and so far this spring.  Josie is trustworthy and dependable and I have complete confidence in her ability to supervise all aspects of the park entrance shack this season.  For the additional responsibility I would like to increase Josie's pay rate from $10 per hour to $12.00 per hour. 

Rationale:  With Kara Nelson leaving our position of part time Receptionist / I&E Assistant, we have an opportunity to structure a new hire to fit our needs.  Management will discuss the position and our plans for the future.  A potential motion may be requested.

Rationale:  Attached find the Draft March Financial Statemeents.  Grant will be available for a conference call. 

Rationale:  We do not have any unfinished business to consider.

Rationale:  We have nothing to consider for Wild NE and other Programs.

Rationale:  The O & M crews is monitoring beaver issues on two of our Cottonwood Dams, we also dug out beaver dams at the three culverts on the Rawhide diagonal ditch. We continue to cut volunteer trees. We packaged trees and delivered them to the NRCS offices and completed one planting. Repaired the gear box on the tower to one of the water management gates on the Wanahoo Dam. 

Rationale:  The Contractor has made arrangements with UPRR to use 5-6 trains with approximately 110 cars each to deliver rip-rap to the Co-op in Mead. They will then attempt to unload the train in 2-3 days. Hauling rock to the levee from sunrise to sunset. The hope is to receive one train/week. This process will last 5-6 weeks. They/we are working with Thomas Lakes Homeowners Assoc./residents because this rock work will be very disruptive.
They have placed all rock surfacing on the top of the levee (road surface) and have finished all the work on the north end of the levee. They are still waiting on BNSF RR on permitting to work on an adjacent berm within the Fuse Plug area at the Guard Camp. Beginning to seed areas that are completed.
Overall the work is progressing very well.

Rationale:  The Contractor is completing the Rawhide repair. A walk through with the contractor and JEO will occur today at 12:00. The repair has gone well because of dry conditions. We have some changes to address;
We need approval for a change order of $7,000 (attached), for repair work under the bridge to the Taylor homestead and removal of rock from the ditch channel on the east end of the project. It was very badly eroded under the bridge on the south side and rip-rap needs to be placed there for protection.

We are now eliminating 2 of the 3 cattle panel structures that cross the ditch to keep the Diers cattle on their property. Heimann has convinced the Diers to have the District install a solar livestock well. Therefore, the District can then fence off the ditch to prevent the erosion the cattle cause on the ditch berm and banks. See attached the original easement, page 2, item #8 which states that "the District will provide adequate water if the ditch can not be used for livestock watering". Heimann would work with the Diers and obtain 2-3 well installation bids to be presented in the future.
Since we are not installing two of the cattle panel structures there will be a cost to the District for not installing them as part of the project repair. JEO will put a final change order together for next months meetings.

Also find attached the most current invoice from JEO for this project.

Rationale:  FYRA had a preliminary meeting and discussion with Tim Gokie, NDNR Dam Safety, on the Wanahoo Stilling Basin repair and they feel they have a proper path in doing the repair. Mike Sotak has approx. 90% prelim design done and is preparing an updated design report and cost, just missing some final details like structural design, etc. that he wants to avoid doing twice.  He will send us and Tim Gokie a draft set of plans, cost estimate and design report by next week for review. After reviewing the plans, if the Board would like a Zoom meeting it can be set up or questions can be forwarded to Mike.
Mike would also like to schedule a pre-bid conference with Contractors.  He believes pre-bid conferences offer the following benefits;
 1) It builds awareness of the project’s budget and schedule to plan for bidding so that Contractors are not taken by surprise??
 2) On complex projects, it gets Contractor’s thinking about ways to improve efficiencies on project components
 3) It allows the engineer to gather and incorporate any ideas on how to save construction costs 
Sotak was contacted, this pre-construction meeting with contractors is in the scope of work under his contract. 

FEMA is also raising questions about the Stilling Basin and asking for past maintenance work, inspection reports, maintenance schedule, etc.
In the 2011 NDNR Inspection report it is reported that "the plunge pool basin wall is sitting askew and is unsightly, it doesn't seem to be causing any serious problems for the dam at this time and we should contact Olssons to see what they believe should be done with the damaged portion of the cut-off wall". A letter dated May 1, 2013 is attached from Olsson's referencing the expansion joints and sill wall. Staff will answer FEMA's questions with assistance from Mike Sotak to the best of our knowledge and documentation.

Rationale:  Hay bids were due Wednesday, April 29th at 4:00 pm and were opened. We received two bids as follows. 

Meduna Family Farms - Lake Wanahoo  ~160 Acres - Bid Price - $69.17/Ton
Daniel J. Kadavy - Homestead - ~25 Acres - Bid Price - $65/Ton

Rationale:  Nothing to report at this time.

Rationale:  Due to these uncertain times, permits have not been required to enter Lake Wanahoo Recreation Area since mid-March.  Our focus was to offer an outdoor escape to the public who felt they needed to get out of their house and enjoy the park.  Beginning May 1, we will once again be requiring a park permit or day-use pass.
Even with the free entry our permit sales have increased and we are looking forward to a very busy May.
As of today, we have $ 35,055 in total park permit sales, $ 7,502.50 for the month of April.

Rationale:  Our current Wanahoo camping revenue is $ 22,670.52.  
The park has been very busy the past two weeks and at full capacity, or very close to full for the past 14 days.
The vault toilets and playgrounds continue to be closed down. We have the park closed to tent camping and only allow RV's and campers with self-contained toilets.
Our plan is to begin opening one vault toilet at a time, along with 1/2 the shower house, during operating hours beginning next week.  We will continue to monitor the situation daily.

Rationale:  The park has been very popular for campers, fishers, and hikers over the last month. Summer staff is currently working on repainting all vault restrooms, getting the shower building operational, spreading mulch, and picking up trash that has been constantly blowing. 

Gottschalk and Schomer met with Butler Public Power(BPPD) and Matt Harris to discuss the electric plan for the new primitive cabins. After seeing the site, BPPD decided that the best place to bring power is down by the NRD access gate and site 76. This will be a much flatter area to trench and will shorten the originally planned distance. BPPD revised their quote and they can do the trenching for us for $8,900 which is less than the $10,000 budgeted when the District was going to do the trenching. Matt Harris plans to begin the rough-ins on 5/1. 

Free park entry is set to end Friday, May 1st. Park visitors were very appreciative of the Boards decision to wave entry fees during these difficult times.

Rationale:  We are featuring the chemigation permit deadline now through the end of May for our KTIC Radio ad and Wahoo Newspaper eAds which are attached. 

Rationale:  The last few weeks have been interesting with the current circumstances. Our website analytics showed almost double the amount of people viewing our site with a total of around 3,000 views as of April 29 in the afternoon. The Lake Wanahoo page saw the most traffic with well over 2,000 views, and Czechland Lake had close to 700 views. Some of the traffic we received was from our Facebook page, some was referral traffic from outdoornebraska.gov and visitnebraska.com

Our Facebook page has seen a viewing increase of 134%. The page has 1,114 followers as of April 29.
Our top posts included:
• (with a reach of 3,913 people) Reminder for practicing social distancing, don’t use playground equipment and gatherings discouraged at all of our recreation areas
• (reach of 407 people) 50^th Anniversary of Earth Day, with activities to check out on education page of our website
• (reach of 342) Memorable Monday - from Eric finding the tree order assigned to his Dad in 1992

Our Twitter page grew to 321 followers (up 5 from last month). Our views increased 32.7% from last month.
Our top posts included:
• Announcement of Spring Conservation Sensation cancelled (782 impressions)
• Changes to Lake Wanahoo/Czechland operations (732 impressions)
• Reminder of Shell Creek Watershed Scholarship applications due (706 impressions)

Rationale:  We have received a few exhibitor contracts for 2020 area county fairs. In 2019, LPNNRD had exhibit booths at Platte County, Butler County and Saunders County Fairs.

2020 fair dates:
• Madison County: July 7-12
• Platte County: July 8-12
• Boone County: July 11-15
• Butler County: July 14-19
• Colfax County: July 15-19
• Dodge County: July 29-Aug 2
• Saunders County: July 29-Aug 2
 

Rationale:  Due to COVID-19, all education programs have been cancelled through May 15. We were informed that UNL-Extension has cancelled their programs through June 1, so we are looking at an alternate date for the 4H/NRD Outdoor Recreation Day (May 29) and the possibility of a virtual or livestream program for the Youth Ag Tour scheduled in June.
 

Rationale:  We have received two scholarship applications for the Shell Creek Watershed Monitoring Program Scholarship. The applicants must have completed at least one year of the Shell Creek Watershed Monitoring Program, be enrolled in an accredited 2-year or 4-year college or university, plan to pursue higher education relating to science and/or natural resources.
Abigail Pohlen (Newman Grove) and Natasha Macholan (Schuyler Central). If approved, they will receive ½ of the scholarship upon approval, and the remainder upon proof of successful completion of the first term with a GPA of at least 3.0 (B) or above.
Essays are attached.
 

Rationale:  We created a list of Earth Day activities - they have been added to the website and were also shared through our Facebook and Twitter pages. See the attachment below. Based on the anayltics from our website, the link was clicked on 21 times.
https://lpnnrd.org/wpcontent/uploads/2020/04/LPNNRD_earth_day_2020.pdf

Rationale:  On April 24, the Schuyler Elementary (Warrior Academy) Afterschool Program passed out 400 trees to be planted during the 2020 Nebraska Tree-A-Thon. Ponderosa Pines and Southwestern White Pines were donated by the LPNNRD and Burr Oaks were donated by Papio-Missouri NRD. I visited with the coordinator a few days after the event and she said it was a total success! 10 trees were donated to the Schuyler Elementary, 8 were donated to the Schuyler Golf Course, the rest went to families in the area that stopped by to pick up a tree.  

Rationale:  Wanahoo service was turned on this month and will run through October.
Regular monthly sampling completed.
Meters read and billing completed.

Rationale:  The first round of lead and copper testing was completed.  DHHS allows samples to be collected by homeowners as the potential for contamination is negligible, so to follow social distancing guidelines all five samples were collected by homeowners and then Elliott transported samples to the state lab.  DHHS policy requires two samples taken the first year and then one sample the next two years, then one sample every three years.  The second sample will be taken in the fall.
Regular monthly sampling completed.
Meters read and billing completed.

Rationale:  An industrial well permit for Barcel Mill and Lumber is attached.  This well permit will be used for fire protection, with a secondary use for some production.  The map attached shows that all other register wells, not owned by Barcel, are 1000 feet away from identified location.  

Rationale:  A well prmit for Leonard Cuda is attached.  It was approved for a supplemental well on April 22.  

Rationale:  A Coalition virtual meeting is bring planned for the appointed representatives (Bob Hilger and Larry Feala).  An agenda and exact date should be coming soon.

As a Committee and Board discussion should be addressed to assist the Coalition representatives..  The first 3 comments are an interpretation by staff from prior Committee discussion.  
1. Recharge - Understanding that the current model uses a set number for recharge and current factors need to considered.  Water levels have risen but still need to recall a drought can change this quickly like 2012.
2. Map - shows areas that have a limited or no aquifer but is shown to be hydrologically connected.  Map needs refined for accuracy.
3. Independent study - more oversight is needed with independent but accurate perspective.  Concern by staff, what would or is the true answer.    
3 NRDs - Papio, LPN and potentially LPS could conduct its own geological interpretation.   This information has just  became known by staff on Tuesday and confirmed on Wednesday of this week. NeDNR has approach Papio with some funding from them with the 3 NRDs applying for a joint grant to help with the match.  This could refine the current model developed by DNR which will need a geological interpretative by combining AEM flight and bore holes.  This is what LE is already doing with DNR funding assistance.  This would help speed up the process in developing a new HCA map.  Otherwise DNR has said it would use the most current data for the next 5-year water allotments in 2021.  The Loup NRDs are not wanting to wait until 2023 or 2024 for the next allotments, as the ELM model is already complete.  This study would be completed by an independent firm. Staff feel that the Committee/Board should consider this offer. Staff could reach out to Papio and LPS to look into this option.

Committee directed staff to start discussion with these NRDs to obtain some approximate cost on a geological interpretation framework.  

The total cost of project would be $544,500, which Papio, LPS and LPN would be local partners along with NeDNR.  A grant would be applied for through the WSF with the local share at $134,900, which would be split between the 3 NRDs. 
 
 

Rationale:  Tri City Meters has finished their 4th year of doing routine maintenance in the Allocated SQS #1 and SQS #2 areas. This completes the first cycle of meter maintenance in these areas. 

Rationale: 

For 2020 we have 312 renewals and 2 new permit applications for a current total of 314.  No Inspections have been completed.
 

Rationale: 

# new wells has been reviewed and approved for decommissioning since the last Committee meeting.

 

Rationale: 

# wells have been plugged, reviewed, and ready for cost share payment approval this month.

Well Owner	Type of Well	Cost Share Estimate	County
Lichten Acres LLC	Unregistered Stock	$430.50	Boone
J & E Plasek Family LLC	Unregistered Hand-dug	$885.00	Butler
Yindrick Farms LLC	Irrigation (7)	$4,795.18	Butler

 

Rationale:  Here are some comments from Katie Cameron on what ENWRA is considering in the upcoming year.  
 

• You are putting transducers in with Jesse Korus and DNR, 10 more weather stations, have RV gages with cameras - real-time dashboard with remote meter/transducer read work - good full picture stuff - I have a note about figuring out where to put wells - I have a note I need to get you costs and locations is that right? I could not decipher my "to do" details on this one,  Also would it/should it relate to the plan for using your upcoming $9,150 from ENWRA in FY22 ? Jesse Bradley also wanted to have ENWRA partner on transducers which I will put in our ENWRA spring meeting packet agenda.  Coordination is already happening and still waiting for contract from the Bureau of Reclamation.
• For the ENWRA spring meeting should I ask LPSNRD and LENRD (maybe all of them) if they would want to do  GeoScene 3D projects across district boundaries which would use ENWRA FY21 FY22 budget funds as well as NRD funds?  LPNNRD would be interested in a confined aquifer system to see the effect of pumping in an already 3D mapped area I have a "to do" note about this.  LPN staff mentioned to Katie that a mutual interest in developing a coordinated geological model could be beneficial.  
• Use ENWRA funds somehow for an ENWRA grant in July or NET for recharge - I talked to Dick about this too and his comment was to make sure all the work all of us are doing will eventually all be compatible in the end for the region.  Staff requested that a couple recharge projects within the District would be great and Committee has expressed interest in this type of project.  

Rationale:  Staff would like the Committee and Board to consider installing a couple of monitoring wells and test holes.  Areas of interest would be in the nitrate management areas for water sampling and east of Fremont for potential geology information for drought mitigation.  If Committee has not objection, staff would include funds in next year's budget and look into applying for grant funding.

Staff will begin looking at test holes and monitoring wells. 

Attached is a picture showing a couple of locations, which would be a joint project with Papio NRD.

Rationale:  Attached is Spring report.

Rationale:  Approval of a firm to conduct the study for the purpose of analyzing contaminate movement through the vadose zone.   At the committee meeting staff will present a recommendation for the Committee to consider.  Proposals are attached for your review.  This is part of the 2019 NET grant, which is set to receive $50,000 for this study.

Here is the information from the proposals.  

AGF - $36,000 would include geological layers and utilize ARCGIS online for the analysis tool.
LRE/JEO - $56,000 would include geological layers along with a web base tool being developed in the quote.  Still might have to look at a grant to refine the web base tool. 
Olsson - $49,992 for Phase 1 which includes the geological layers and basic tool, plus GET subscription for free.  $100,000 - S200,000 to expand GET and finalized the management and BMP tool.
EA - $25,400 to have a 3 day workshop to develop an implementation plan with stakeholders.  Next phase would be $22,000 - S37,000 to develop the nitrate management tool.  Grant would be looked at to refine.

Committee and staff discussed the firm that staff selected from the initial interviews.  The Committee was hesitant on recommending any firm to the Board without an in-person meeting to learn more about their proposal.  The Committee recommended staff to have the firm attend the next Committee Meeting.  Staff feels that the Committee should do a second round of interviews from the top two firms selected in the initial interviews, for comparison.   Each firm would get 30 minutes to present.  Board direction on interviewing top firms is requested.

Committee and staff need to start discussing what direction to proceed in the nitrogen management areas.  Some previous ideas were flow meters, livestock waste cost-share, best management practices incentives.  Others?
Grants applications dates are in July and September. 

Committee would like staff to consider the following BMPs in a grant application: incentives for split application of nitrogen, cover crops and flow meters to control over-watering.  Other ideas are always welcome. Staff will start the process of writing a grant to present to the Committee.  

 

Rationale:  Article from Omaha World Herald on Nitrates.

Rationale:  No unfinished business to address.

Rationale:  General update on status of remaining FY20 SWCP applications was given.

Rationale:  20-C-2 - Spring Wendt  Sec: 8 - 18N-1E - Colfax County
Livestock Well/Pipeline/Tank  $12,500.00

 

Rationale:  Elliott was contacted by a landowner who wishes to remove conservation practices (terraces with tile outlet) on ground she has inherited through divorce.  In discussion with her, and her agent, Elliott informed them of the SWCP policy relating to termination of certified practices that have received cost-share within the ten year certification period.  After reviewing files it has been determined that the project was completed in 2015 and all SWCP cost-share came through state DNR funds, not local NRD funds.
Attached is the request letter from Ms. Glodowski.

Rationale:  None

Rationale:  None

Rationale:  None

Rationale:  We are still waiting for the new 319 grant agreement from NDEE.  We have been pushing to get the document to us for potential Board approval on May 11th.  We have already received $104,688 from the Nebraska Environmental Trust (NET) to use in combination with the 319 funds. Our hope is to use $150,000 or more of the 319 funds and a portion of NET funds toward the Shell Creek Channel Improvement and  Benching Project, so we need the approved agreement before the work occurs. Attached is the Project Implementation Plan (PIP) just received from NDEE. As shown in the PIP, we are to receive $365,000 (60%) of 319 grant funds with a minimum match requirement of $244,000 (40%).
 

Rationale:  Kane Muhle - Section 20 - 19N - 2E Colfax County
                      7 acres $198/acre =    $1386.00

Rationale:  The Shell Creek Channel Bid opening (the portion north of the railroad track) originally scheduled for April 30, has been canceled.  Colfax county informed us that there was an error on their bid advertisement, so it has been rescheduled for 9:45 a.m. on May 7, 2020.  We would like to have designated Projects Committee Members  participate with the on line "Zoom" opening.  Since the major funding for this project will be coming from LPNNRD, it will be important to make it clear at the opening that the award will be contingent on approval by the County and LPNNRD Board.  If everything goes as planned, LPNNRD can accept a bid at our May 11, 2020 Board Meeting.  

Attached are the project plans, specifications and plan holders list for review.
 

Rationale: 
Allen Gerhing, Nebraska NRCS, has informed us that they received the comments on the Wahoo Creek Plan-EA from the National Water Management Center in Little Rock, AR.   Attached is a copy of the draft with comments.  Nebraska NRCS will be review that comments and work with us and FYRA to address them.  

On April 28, Elliott and Mountford participated in a conference call with NRCS, State Historical Society and interested Indian Tribe representatives to mostly discuss cultural resources issues at dam site 83 (attachments).  While Site 83 is the primary focus, NRCS and Tribal representatives will be scheduling site visits at all the eleven dam sites this summer.  An eventual agreement on how we will need to protect archeological findings will be needed with NRCS and other interested parties. A final agreement will be negotiated in the coming weeks. 

It is anticipated that we may have another FYRA invoice by the Board meeting. 

Rationale:  Sean continues to work with NRCS on Lands for Conservation Projects. No new information regarding the Mike Chvatal dam. 
As a refresher, last December NRCS and NDEE approached the NRD about progressing into a new NWQI (National Water Quality Incentive program) phase 2.  The focus of NWQI Phase 1 had been sediment loading within the watershed and has been very successful for the past six years.  The planned focus for Phase 2 is to shift to overall water quality within the watershed, i.e., nutrient and bacteria loads within the watershed.
At the end of March a meeting was scheduled with selected stakeholders from the watershed.  Due to Covid-19 restrictions the meeting was post-poned indefinitely.  

Rationale:  Attached is Olsson invoice (and progress report)  totaling $3,018.97 for work on Wahoo Creek Dam Sites 26a, 26b & 27. After this payment, $210,646.67  will have been spent, leaving $373,178.33 of the total $583,825 from this section of our contract. Only $429.02 of the $1,416,153 remaining in the contract section for the remaining eight dams has been spent.  This will remain as such until NRCS approves the watershed plan and gives permission to complete design work for those sites. 

Olsson planned to visit sites 26a, 26b and 27 the week of April  2 to complete environmental (wetland) assessments at those locations.  We have sent letters to landowners involved notifying them of the field visits.

Rationale:  No new information was discussed.

Rationale:  Attached is JEO's 4-23-2020 invoice totaling $6,019.32.  In conservation with JEO, it was mentioned that they are $10,000 - $12,000 over budget for our approved contract work ($228,000 is approved in the $250,000 contract), but they will not request us for paying the overage. As part of our HMP contract with JEO, attached are Fremont's and Schuyler's flood risk assessment documents for review.  

There remains $22,000 that is uncommitted in the contract that could be used for other project work if we desire. Of the $22,0000, up to $16,500 (75%) would be reimbursed from FEMA.  A couple of thoughts were completing some breach inundation maps on some more of our low hazard dams and/or complete a Levee Failure Workshop exercise to prepare us and our partners for future levee disasters.  The committee was asked if they have interest for staff to  have JEO present a proposal for using the remaining funds for desired activities.  The committee agreed to have JEO discuss this topic at their next committee meeting.

Staff is providing Comments to the draft plan which is under a 30 day public review and comment period. until May 4, 3020.  The link is https://jeo.com/lpnnrd-hmp and was sent to all Board member last month. After May 4th, the final document will be available for Board review and possible approval at the May 11th Board Meeting.  Also attached for Board approval is a resolution that all participating entities will be required to approve.
Potential Board Motion: To approve the final Hazard Mitigation Plan and approve and authorize the Board Chairman to sign the attached LPNNRD  HMP Resolution 

 

Rationale:  No new updates presented. 

Rationale:  In 2018, Woodcliff (SID #8) competed work on their River Bank Stabilization Project that included 19 weirs and 1,500 feet of rock protection to their levee. LPNNRD approved $300,000 of assistance to be paid over four budget years.  As attached, Woodcliff (SID #8) is requesting their third $75,000 payment.

Rationale:  At 3:00 p.m. on  April 30th, Lon Olson, Mountford and Elliott, participated in a "Zoom" meeting with Dodge County  to discuss potential property buyouts and nonstructural measures in the floodway and floodplain. Attached is the agenda and information on property buyouts.   Tom Smith, Dodge County Emergency Manager, reported at the February 27, 2020, Projects Committee Meeting, that the Dodge County Board of Supervisors initiated a HMPG property buyout and reconstruction project for residents impacted by the 2019 Floods. A Request for Proposals was sent to prospective contractors to assist with the project. 

The meeting  with Dodge County on April 30th was to discuss the identified potential property buyouts and  property flood proofing in Dodge County  located in the floodway or floodplain in LPNNRD and Lower Elkhorn NRD.  Dodge County is leading this effort and has hired JEO to help submit FEMA applications which are due by June 5, 2020.    It is our understanding that FEMA is offering 75% reimbursement for eligible property buyouts and there is also potential assistance for non-structural flood proofing (elevating dwellings, filling basements etc.).  It was not suggested that LPNNRD participate with property floodproofing measures at this time, however it was mentioned that LPNNNRD (or LENRD) may be interested in purchasing properties that are in the Elkhorn River floodway/floodplain for public use (i.e. for recreation or wetland banking etc.). 

The primary potential property acquisition located in LPNNRD  discussed is about 15 acres owned by Julie Hindmarsh, located on the bank of a Elkhorn River oxbow (see attachments). The 2019 flood damaged an older house located there (now removed).  The Hindmarch property is presently assessed around $78,000 and it was suggested that LPNNRD might be interested in contacting the owner to purchase, along with applying for FEMA assistance (75%) to acquire the property for public recreation, wetland bank or some other conservation use along the river.  It was mentioned that LPNNRD would likely not have an interest in taking the lead in property acquisition for public use, however if another entity took the lead, we would at least listen to a potential partnership proposal.  This topic will be a discussed more at our May 11^th Board Meeting.  

Recommended Motion(s):  [No Value]

Rationale:  This payment came in after Projects Committee.

19-B-2 - William Kozisek - Terrace with Tile Outlet - $12,500

Rationale: 

NOTE: The agenda is on file at the LPNNRD office and may be changed up to 24 hours prior to the meeting as scheduled.