May 13, 2019 at 6:00 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:  Attached find Mountford's Benefit Committee and Intergovernmental Risk Management Pool Association Loss Control Committee Meeting minutes from the April 22, 2019 Meeting.

Rationale:  Accounting request for proposals are due at the NRD office at 12:00 noon on May 6th.  As of today we have had one firm request information.

Rationale:  Attached is job description for part-time Shell Creek Technician/Coordinator.  This position will be paid through our Shell Creek Grant and has been approved by DEQ.

Rationale:  General manager has interviewed and made offers to five, seasonal, part-time individuals to work 15-30+ hours per week this summer as Wanahoo Recreation Technicians.  These individuals are:
Jaci Schnakenberg
Nate Konecky
Winston Cook
Emma Thrasher
Sam Kavan
All positions will be paid $10 per hour with a plan to fill 80-90 work hours per week.

In addition, Gottschalk has offered a full-time, Wanahoo Recreation Technician position at the rate of $11 per hour to Sharon Kremlacek to work primarily at the park entrance.  Sharon has experience with this position the past few years while working for Nebraska Game and Parks.

Rationale:  Grant and Cindy are out of the office for a internal commitment.  The Draft March Financial Statements are attached.

Rationale:  Attached find Manager Gottschalk's time and expense sheets. 

Rationale:  There is nothing to consider.

Rationale:  There are no contracts to consider this month.

Rationale:  The O & M crew have packaged trees and started tree planting. Assisted on the repair of the well at Homestead Lake, the tank developed a leak. Pulled the rip-rap up on a jetty at Czechland and cleaned out beaver dams on Rawhide Ditch 8. Filled holes and ruts and cleaned up tires and debris that floated in on the Wanahoo property. Prepared for Conservation Sensation Day at Czechland.

Rationale:  Hay advertisements and packets were sent out to the public. Bids were due Wednesday, May 1 at 4:00 pm. There's approximately 150 acres on Wanahoo, 42 acres on Czechland and 25 acres on Homestead. Bids were opened during Committee. The District received six interested hay bidders, the list is attached.

Rationale:  The District sold the JD 4430 to "The Ranch Ministries" for $13,500. Ranch Ministries is an organization in South Dakota that provides hunting opportunities for "Wounded Warriors" or disabled veterans. The tractor will be used on their property for planting food plots and mowing.

Rationale:  The District has ordered 12,625 trees. The District has planted one of eight sites.

Rationale:  At Homestead Lake, the underground tank for the well developed a leak. The O & M crew dug up the system, but does not have the capabilities to repair it. AWS was hired to repair/replace the system, the cost is $5,817.33.
At Czechland Lake, the camping group that burned items other than wood and left a lot of personal trash last season are back. The written warning system we developed in our District Park Regulations is in use. Heimann issued a warning to the couple immediately.

Rationale:  The face of Swedeburg Dam B-2 needs refurbished. The District had Ken Kotera start preliminary planning on this project. Ken has since fully retired. Heimann had Jerry Kabourek with M.E. Collins look at the site and give a quote.
Option 1: To use fabric and Type "B" rip-rap, the estimate is $22,710.
Option 2: Reshape dam face and haul in dirt, reseed is estimated at $23,737.50.  Both options require dewatering to some point.
The Committee directed staff to attempt to get two other quotes for this project.

Rationale:  We had an estimate to repair the spillway conduit joints from Peerless Heartland last June of $14,400 to $19,200. That company will be contacted again for reconsideration.
We also received estimates from McGill Restoration of Omaha to reapair the joints in the conduits, those estimates range from $59,808 to $90,236.(see attachment)
DNR Dam Safety is also recommending that all significant cracks in the emergency spillway steps be filled.
Staff would like to proceed again with Peerless Heartland for a re-evaluation.

Rationale:  LPNNRD staff has been working with NRCS requesting federal assistance from the Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWPP) on several District sponsored and owned projects that sustained flood damage.  NRCS has responded with a letter and is scheduling site visits at a few sites that appear potentially eligible,  We plan to pursue FEMA assistance on those projects deemed ineligible for EWPP.

Rationale:  On April 25th, LPNNRD  Directors Saeger and Olson along with staff members Mountford and Elliott, met with Fremont Rod & Gun Club, City of Fremont and  Dodge County representatives to discuss and tour flood damages to the Rod and Gun Club area that also includes damage to the City of Fremont. Attached is a graphic that shows the flow patterns documented during the March 2019 flood event. The graphic shows several breach locations that led to flood flows impacting Fremont and Inglewood. The second attachment is a map showing the damage locations (boxed numbers with leaders) on the Rod and Gun Club property, listing the lake numbers within that property. The Rod and Gun Club property experienced a significant breach into their Lake #8. Flows continued east and breached into Lake #5, Lake #7, and then County Road 19 into NGPC’s Fremont State Recreation Area Lake #20. Flows then continued east into Lake Liba and toward Fremont. The breach at County Road 19 and the breach between Rod and Gun Club’s Lake #5 and Lake #7 have been temporarily fixed. The large breach into Rod and Gun Club’s Lake #8 has not been repaired. The breach at Lake #8 presents a significant risk to the temporary repairs at County Road 19 and other infrastructure further east, as that location is currently connected to the Platte River and will experience increased flows during even small runoff/precipitation events.  The Rod and Gun Club is seeking a required public sponsor to apply for federal assistance through FEMA/NEMA.  While it was discussed that Fremont, Dodge County and LPNNRD sponsor this repair, Fremont offered to be the lead entity moving forward.  Because of application assistance deadlines, this topic will be discussed at every committee meeting of needing to proceed.  JEO addressed this topic with the Projects Committee. It is uncertain exactly what long term commitment we will be asked to consider, however in the short term, support of public  sponsorship of the the Fremont Rod and Gun Clubs federal project application is being sought.

Rationale:  Annual permit sales for April totaled $10,347.50 (see attached spreadsheet). Net sales for 2019 totals $38,831.50. 

Rationale:  As of 5/1/2019, online reservations have totaled $16,625.29.

Rationale:  Gottschalk met with 7 candidates for the Wanahoo Technician position and hired 5 people to work 80-100 hours per week total. 

Rationale:  Staff met with a representative from Collins Construction regarding the repairs to the breakwater which was damaged during the flood in March. The price Collins gave us was $48/ton for placed rock.  All areas of exposed fabric will have material cut, wash-outs filled and a new rock placed along the entire breakwater.  Initial estimates of rock with a 10% overage, call for approx. 1,200 tons total ($ 57,600)
Staff understands this is an estimate and will keep close communication with the contractor as to actual quantities required.  In addition, any rock hauled into the staging area but not used on the project will be hauled to designated NRD stockpile at the rate of $25/ton.

Rationale:  Staff has begun work on the construction of the dock at Pork Chop Island. After the March Board Meeting staff reevaluated the dock system, and the cost associated with the purchase of materials, and has to decided to build the dock in house. Major cost savings and a speed up on completion were the main factors for the change in plans. Staff hopes to have the island ready by mid May.

Rationale:  The exterior of the building is nearly complete. Inside construction, subcontracted by Hancock Construction, will begin the week of May 5th.
Staff plans to have geo-thermal bids ready for approval at the May 13th board meeting.

Rationale:  We have had a few inquiries regarding our Bank Stabilization Program. Cooperators are told to send in a cost share application. If the work to be done is new work they must first obtain a 404 permit from the Corps of Engineers to be eligible for NRD cost share assistance. They may not need a 404 permit if it's maintenance on an existing project.

Rationale:  The May KTIC Radio Ad and Wahoo Newspaper eAd are promoting the three NRD recreation areas: Homestead Lake, Czechland Lake, and Lake Wanahoo.  The ads are attached.  
 

Rationale:  After May 1^st, LPNNRD education outreach efforts will reach over 2,000 youth.
 

Date	School/Group	Grade/Age	# of students	Topic	Staff
Monday, May 6th & Tuesday, May 7th	St. Wenceslaus	Preschool	17/20	Lake Wanahoo field day	TePoel/Mountford/Elliott/Breunig/Andersen/Benal/Brueggemann/Schomer/Poole
Wednesday, May 8th	Wahoo Public	8th grade	70	Clean-up day @ Wanahoo	TePoel/Schomer/Gottschalk
Friday, May 10th	Wahoo Public Head Start	Preschool	40	Lake Wanahoo field day	TePoel/Mountford/Elliott/Breunig/Andersen/Benal/Brueggemann/Schomer/Poole
Monday, May 13th	North Bend Public	3rd Grade		Wildlife	TePoel
Thursday, May 16th	Schuyler Central Elementary	3rd grade		Geocaching	TePoel/Brueggemann
Wednesday, May 22nd	Wahoo Survival Club	8th Grade		Camping overnight	TePoel/Gottschalk

Rationale:  LPNNRD received 2 applications for the Shell Creek Watershed Monitoring Program Scholarship.  This scholarship is awarded to two high school seniors, participating in the Shell Creek Watershed Monitoring Program, who plan to pursue higher education relating to science or natural resources.  The two applicants meet all of the eligibility requirements.
 

Rationale:  Spring Conservation Sensation was held on Wednesday, May 1^st from 9 am-2 pm at Czechland Lake recreation Area.  309 students attended from St. Wenceslaus (Wahoo), Logan View, North Bend, Bellwood, St. Mary’s (David City). St. John’s (Weston), David City, and Wahoo.
 

Rationale:  LPNNRD is partnering with Saunders County 4-H to once again provide an Outdoor Recreation Workshop at the Lake Wanahoo NRD Recreation Area on Friday, May 31st.  The event is scheduled from 9 am- 3 pm.   The workshop is open to youth ages 8-18 and will provide sessions on knot-tying (LPNNRD), disc golf (LPNNRD), owls (Papio-Missouri NRD), and archery.  Saunders County 4-H is coordinating the registration to 4-H’ers.  Non-4-H members and non-Saunders County residents are eligible to participate.  Registration costs are $5 for 4-H’ers and $8 for non-4-H’ers.  Spots are limited, so youth are encouraged to register as soon as possible before the May 27^th deadline.   The flyer and registration form are attached. 
 

Rationale:  LPNNRD is partnering with Saunders County 4-H and Mead FFA, Ashland-Greenwood FFA, and Bishop Neumann FFA chapters to provide the Saunders County Youth Ag Tour on Friday, June 7^th from 9 am- 4 pm. The tour is open for youth in grades 7^th-12^th. Youth will spend the day exploring career opportunities in agriculture and learning more about Saunders County agriculture businesses.  Stops on the tour include Raikes Feedlot, Wahoo Locker, NRD conservation programs, and local production agriculture with Alex & Kris Kavan.  The deadline to register is Friday, May 31^st.  This program is free for youth to attend.  The flyer is attached.

LPNNRD is sponsoring a scholarship that tour participants are eligible to apply for.  The tour is made possible with generous sponsorship support from Farm Credit Services, Frontier Cooperative, Saunders County Livestock Association, Saunders County 4-H, and the Mead FFA, Ashland-Greenwood, and Bishop Neumann FFA alumni groups.
 

Rationale:  All hardware has been installed for the remote meter reading on both Colon and Bruno RWDs.  Phoenix Web Group/Small Data Inc have provided the NRD RW Dept with a beta version of the billing software that was utilized this month (alongside the existing software) and performed well.  Elliott and Rezac should have the bugs worked out with PWG/SD within the next month or two.

Rationale:  On 4/10 Tim Thares of DHHS conducted the Sanitary Survey for the Colon RWD.  No serious violations were noted, but a couple minor deficiencies were noted and have been addressed.  Noted deficiencies were:

• Missing screen on air-relief vent
• One of our sample sites (meter house) has been deemed "invalid" as ALL sites need to be within distribution system.

Fixes and repairs that will be conducted this spring/summer w/in the Colon RWD:

• Fire hydrant on Pine st.
• Butterfly valves?
• Twelve meter antennas that need to be replaced.
• Two new customer hook-up (Zeleny & VFD)

Meters read and bills went out 4/30.
Testing completed  4/16.
 

Rationale:  While checking the line Elliott noticed that particular customer had a hose hooked up to a yard hydrant and submerged in a cattle tank.  The customer has been notified that this is a "cross connection" with potential for backflow contamination.  A hose bib vacuum breaker was provided to prevent backflow situation.

Meters read and bills sent out 4/30.
Testing completed 4/16

Rationale:  Attached is the signed NET grant contract to do projects within the Phase Areas along with the submitted WaterSmart Grant.
The WaterSmart grant was submitted on April 23 for $105,751.42 which is a 50-50 grant. LPNNRD will have around $7,500 match with in-kind, but the remaining $44,500 will be actual cash outlay.  This grant will assist in the management of the SQS areas with real-time information.   
The NET grant goes over 2 years, with Year 1 totaling $86,770 and Year 2 totaling $53,700.  The LPNNRD's share for Year 1 is 18,675, with some in-kind included. 

If the LPNNRD moves forward on grants for meters, which probably will be a WaterSmart Grant, staff will also pursue a NET or WSF grant to help in the 50-50 match. 

Rationale:  Attached is a draft variance ranking sheet, which will be used on the 2019 variances. 
The ranking sheet shows the following: 
>Minimum Score of 300 is needed to be considered for variance approval.
>Once a variance is submitted and not approved, it will be carried over for 3 years.
>Land Classes 6-8, with slopes, greater than 20% of the parcel not eligible for a variance

The Committee discussed the changes proposed with an updated ranking sheet (attached) being proposed for 2019 variances ranking.  Committee asked staff to send out letters to producers who variances have not been approved over the last few years before the May Water Committee. The majority of the variances have been carried-over are from 2012-14.  

Rationale:  Attached is a draft Policy for Certification Acres, which a motion was passed at the April 8th Board meeting to clarify the "2 out of 10 rule". 

Rationale: 

Wells Permits Approved: #

Landowner	Number of Wells	Number of New Irrigated Acres	Type of Well	County	Subarea
James Brock	1	0	Replacement Irrigation	Platte	Middle Shell Creek
Taake Farms	1	70	New Irrigation (Variance)	Boone	Upper Newman Grove
Lynn Wondercheck	1	80	New Irrigation (Variance)	Boone	Upper Shell Creek

 

 

 

 

 

 

The total number of approved permits for 2019 is 9

Location of Approved Well Permits for 2019:  Correct as of 5/1/2019

County	Irrigation - New	Irrigation - Replacement	Stock	Commercial	Municipal	Other	Total
Butler	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Colfax	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Dodge	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Boone	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
Madison	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Platte	0	2	0	0	0	0	2
Saunders	1	0	0	0	1	1	3
Total	3	4	0	0	1	1	9

 

Rationale:  Staff has been receiving calls about drainage issues and tile drains.  Drainage issues are usually handled as a civil matter.

Rationale:  Russ O. and Daryl A. met with Terry Lutjens on the flow meter that was located at the pivot point in which the pivot also pumps livestock waste.  It was explained to Terry that the Board was not going to allow an electric bill to suffice for giving credit for total water pumped through the flow meter.  Russ and Daryl talked to Terry at the well and showed him options to re-install his flow meter located before the intake of the lagoon water.  Terry will only need to install some straighting vanes to have the meter installed correctly at the well.  Terry told us that he will move the meter to the well, but still felt the meter was not reading correctly.  Tri-City will look at this meter again while they are doing maintenance on other meters.  Concern is that the meter is being compromised with lagoon water.    

Rationale:  Update on Flow Meter Maintenance Program. Tri City is working on the regular maintenance of our flow meters that have been installed in SQS #1 & #2. We are in the third year of the maintenance rotation. There are 76 meters in the SQS areas that are going to visited this year. They will visit each meter once every four years. An additional 73 meters outside of our Special Quantity areas are going to be visited this year for routine maintenance. This is the first year for this additional maintenance district wide. These additional meters are in close proximity geographically (Platte & Colfax) to the SQS meters that they are visiting this year. In total they are visiting 149 flow meters. 

149 meters x $55 per meter visit/routine maintenance= $8,195

It was suggested at the Committee Meeting to add the option of Cease and Desist in the Flow Meter Policy, should there issues for non-payment of parts billed to the landowner.

Rationale:  Six online tests have been completed since previous meeting (see following table).

Cert #	Cert date	Name	Re-cert	Comments
6409	3/29/2019	Chris Armstrong	Yes
7199	3/29/2019	Wade Phillips	No	LPSNRD producer
6174	4/3/2019	Rhet Mehaffey	Yes
6440	4/9/2019	Robert A Hedges	Yes
7200	4/11/2019	Robert Frey	No
7201	4/15/2019	Kyle Luckey	No

Twenty-one producers have passed the Online Test in 2019.

Rationale: 

For 2019 we have 297 renewals and 6 new permit applications for a current total of 303.  Inspections on new and renewal permits have not started.

Attached are a breakdown of renewals and new permits per County.

Rationale: 

The LPNNRD has received # ==== livestock permit applications from DEQ since the last Water Committee meeting.

Name	Livestock	Type of Permit	Legal Description	County
Gehring Finisher	Swine	New	NW NE Section 8-18N-01W	Platte

 

 

Finisher Unit that will hold 5000 head.

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
Carol Zimmer	Irrigation	$804.59	Butler

 

Rationale: 

Ground Water Level Summary Comparison of Spring 2018 to Spring 2019
Aquifer	Number of Wells Measured	Median Change (Feet)	Mean Change (Feet)	Number of Wells Increased	Number of Wells Unchanged             (+ or - 0.3 Feet)	Number of Wells Decreased
Subarea
Platte Valley	57	1.05	0.83	42	7	8
Bellwood	5	1.46	1.53	5	0	0
Fremont	7	0.58	-0.14	5	1	1
Fremont East	3	-0.23	-0.07	1	1	1
Leshara Platte Valley	1	0.86	0.86	1	0	0
North Bend	9	1.06	0.96	5	2	2
Octavia	5	1.34	0.81	3	1	1
Platte River Uplands	4	0.37	0.28	3	0	1
Schuyler	6	1.83	1.76	5	1	0
Wann	17	1.15	0.92	14	1	2
Shell Creek	46	3.85	4.05	46	0	0
Lower Newman Grove	2	3.86	3.88	2	0	0
Lower Shell Creek	6	1.36	2.45	6	0	0
Middle Shell Creek	17	5.48	4.19	17	0	0
Newman Grove	3	4.78	3.63	3	0	0
Platte Center	6	3.86	3.45	6	0	0
Shell Creek Uplands	2	6.63	6.63	2	0	0
Upper Newman Grove	9	3.27	3.40	9	0	0
Upper Shell Creek	1	2.63	2.63	1	0	0
Todd Valley	22	0.72	1.37	17	2	3
Todd Valley	22	0.72	1.37	17	2	3
Uplands	56	1.15	1.10	43	5	8
David City	18	2.28	1.24	14	1	3
Leshara Uplands	4	0.47	0.58	2	2	0
Morse Bluff	3	1.27	1.89	3	0	0
Prague	6	2.33	2.30	5	0	1
Swedeburg	9	0.32	-0.09	5	2	2
Weston	7	1.04	0.74	6	0	1
Yutan	5	1.29	1.59	4	0	1
Yutan South	4	1.25	1.24	4	0	0
TOTALS	181			148	14	19
				81.77%	7.73%	10.50%

Rationale:  Staff distributed close to 200 sample kits throughout the District.  As of May 1, Midwest Labs was not offering its discount, so we have been telling homeowners that the cost-share ended May 1.  Water Sampling Kits are still available at the Extension offices and here at the NRD office.  Water samples can still be analyzed, but the cost will be responsibility of the homeowner after May 1. 

Rationale:  Staff members Tom, Daryl and Will will be attending June 5-7 in Salt Lake City.

Rationale:  Three have been hired for the summer intern positions:

• Noah Franzen, Fremont - Fisheries & Wildlife major, will be sophomore at UNL
• Alec Weisser, Lincoln - Water Science major with emphasis in Hydrology, will be junior at UNL
• Cameron Devers, Seward - Environmental Science major with emphasis in Biology, junior at Concordia University

All three interns will start at LPNNRD next Monday, May 6^th.  The NRGWT training and test will be Wednesday, May 29^th.  Location has not yet been determined as Jennifer Swanson, NARD, is awaiting information from other NRDs regarding their summer interns.
 

Rationale:  No unfinished business to address.

Rationale:  Clint Vandenberg - Bone Creek WS (Butler CO)
                               WASCB w/ TO - $12,500.00

Rationale:  SWCP Tree Cost-Share Assistance
            Waylan Dicke - Platte Co - 200 trees - $217.50

Rationale:  None

Rationale:  Leon Vermeline - SEC 20-15-6- North Fork Wahoo Creek  
                 10AC - $1900.00

Rationale:  On April 29th, LPNNRD Director/SCWIG member Matt Bailey along with Mountford attended a SCWIG meeting in Columbus. Bill Bos, NRCS, gave an update on several projects underway along with potential for two or three others. The group will continue to follow-up on future opportunities to use approximately $80,000 of old grant funds along with approximately $400,000 of newly approved grant funding from NDEQ and NET.  Attached are minutes from the group's April 28, 2019 meeting.

Bailey and Mountford have been in contact with Daryoush Razavian, Olsson, who is the hired engineer for Union Pacific Railroad assigned to Shell Creek railroad bridge replacement on road 15 just east of Schuyler.  This 1929 bridge has been a choke point inhibiting Shell Creek Flows to the Platte River and enhancing flood damages on lands east of Schuyler for many decades.  On May 8th a meeting was held with UPRR, Colfax County, SCWIG and LPNNRD representatives to coordinate county bridge replacements on roads 14 and 15.   We were pleased to learn that the UPRR has this bridge on their priority list to be replaced as early as this year.  The ultimate goal is to finally have a properly sized structure to more adequately pass flood flows and reduce flood damages to the north.  It appears that the replacement bridge will have at least double the capacity of the existing 50' bridge span.  As part of this process, UPRR requests that LPNNRD and Colfax County have an agreement stating that we intend to work with landowners for channel improvement and benching, north of the railroad between county roads 14 & 15, to reduce restriction of flood flows to the new bridge.  Colfax county will be providing verbal to use for an eventual interlocal by the next Projects Committee Meeting on May 30th. 

Also, as attached, we received one application for a potential septic system upgrade, however after inspection, this may be just a maintenance issue.  

 

Rationale:  Mr. Sprunk has indicated an interest to complete this project so we meet with him to review the project plans and answer questions in May. If everything is approved by Mr. Sprunk, the project could be ready for summer construction.

Rationale:  We have approximately $80,000 of  NDEQ/EPA 319 old grant funds available for projects and are awaiting an agreement from NDEQ regarding the approval of our new $300,000 319 funding.  Poole and Mountford attended an Nebraska Environmental Trust (NET) grant workshop in Grand Island on April 12 regarding our newly approved $104,688 from Nebraska lottery funds. These funds will be used mostly for grade control & stream bank stabilization projects along with upland landowner erosion control projects.  

Rationale:  Attached are Newman Grove invoices totaling $1,482.49.  We are being asked to reimburse for the actual costs for the water testing equipment and supplies which totals $1,413.25.  The shipping cost of $69.24 will be paid by the School  for water testing equipment and supplies purchased for 2019. The Committee recommendation for reimbursement is requested. The District's expense will be deducted from Shell Creek banked (prepaid) grant funds.  

Rationale:  As supported by the Board, several Newman grove students attended the UNL field trip on April 22nd.  This event was a big success as the students toured the water sciences lab and listened to several presenters discussing water quality and related UNL's work on how it relates to issues in Shell Creek. Attached is Elbert Traylor's (NDEQ) summary of what occurred  that day. 

Rationale:  Attached is FYRA's April 26th  invoice for $51,857.52 and report on work completed on the Wahoo Creek Watershed Plan.  Also attached is Mike Sotak's e-mail on work accomplished with NRCS on plan economics. After this payment, there will be $106,971.71 remaining under contract. 

Rationale:  We have prepared a reimbursement request to NDEQ for summer 2018 Lands for Conservation (LFC) payments.  We are preparing for 2019 LFC approvals and are still anticipating Saunders County to present an assistance request for grade stabilization structures near priority bridge locations. 

Rationale:  Attached is Olsson $19,635.09 invoice and progress report for contract work completed in the Wahoo Creek Watershed.  Most of this work involved soil anayliss for Wahoo Creek Dam Sites 26a, 26b & 27. After this payment, $1,873,228.13 remains under contract.

Rationale:  LPNNRD and FYRA has continued to work with Buried Past and NRCS cultural resource personnel to answer questions and provide additional information regarding historic and archeological information. Buried Past has recently submitted their finial 91 page report (April 2019) for NRCS review and a five page summary of their conclusions and recommendations is attached.  Anyone interested in looking at Buried Past's full detailed report, it can be found at:   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1raIiHaiHWfx1zOlzlrxrTCxjCQzerFYr/view?usp=sharing

No invoice has been presented at this time.

Rationale:  EPA has approved the Water Quality Watershed Plan that has been lead by the Alliance and basically covers about a third of our District not previously covered by a plan. We will be working on completing a project implementation plan with NDEQ assistance.  Mountford has been requested to attend their next meeting on May 13th.  

Rationale:  To assist communities, entities and others in their disaster recovery processes, LPNNRD has worked with JEO (under our HMP grant), to host a Recovery Workshop Open House on April 30^th, 2019 from 3:00 - 6:00 pm at the Union Bank & Trust in Wahoo Wahoo,.  This turned out to be a successful event with several entity representatives attending. Experts were available to answer questions regarding disaster funding, community floodplain management, flood insurance, NEMA/FEMA recovery processes, engineering concerns, and how to complete the request for public assistance forms.  People came with questions and received guidance on applying  for federal grant assistance. JEO contacted numerous individuals by e-mail, post cards and phone calls (attachments)  in an attempt to get as many there as possible.  JEO offered to conduct this work for $10,000 of which 75% is reimbursable through the HMP grant.
This meeting  sets the stage for the upcoming Lower Platte North NRD Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan Update, allowing for a discussion focused on how jurisdictions can incorporate disaster recovery efforts into long-term resiliency projects.  

Attached find an invoice from JEO for work completed on the Hazard Mitigation Plan and Workshop in the amount of $4,905.00.  This amount includes expenses for the funding workshop held on April 30th. 

Rationale:  On April 18th, there was another meeting including representatives from Fremont, Dodge County and LPNNRD to review a revised draft interlocal agreement to address Dodge county water issues.  Attached is the revised interlocal for Committee/Board review and potential approval to be a member of the Joint Water Management Advisory Board.  This interlocal is basically generic, intended to identify various entities/partners willing to work together to work on future Dodge county water issues.  By itself, does not commit anyone to any specific effort or project.   Specific tasks or project would be considered with separate future addendums to the agreement. 

While the committee has been generally in favor of being a part of an Interlocal, no recommendation was offered until it was known what entitles were actually going to take part and after all final changes were known. 

Brain Newton, Fremont City Administrator, has since made final edits along with contacting all other proposed entities,  who have now indicated that they will sign the agreement.   

At the May 13th  Board meeting,  a motion approving the Joint Water Management Advisory Board Interlocal Agreement and authorizing the Board Chair to sign the agreement will be needed to proceed.  
 

Rationale:  On April 25th, LPNNRD  Directors Saeger and Olson along with staff members Mountford and Elliott, met with Fremont Rod & Gun Club, City of Fremont and  Dodge County representatives to discuss and tour flood damages to the Rod and Gun Club area that also includes damage to the City of Fremont. Attached is a graphic that shows the flow patterns documented during the March 2019 flood event. The graphic shows several breach locations that led to flood flows impacting Fremont and Inglewood. The second attachment is a map showing the damage locations (boxed numbers with leaders) on the Rod and Gun Club property, listing the lake numbers within that property. The Rod and Gun Club property experienced a significant breach into their Lake #8. Flows continued east and breached into Lake #5, Lake #7, and then County Road 19 into NGPC’s Fremont State Recreation Area Lake #20. Flows then continued east into Lake Liba and toward Fremont. The breach at County Road 19 and the breach between Rod and Gun Club’s Lake #5 and Lake #7 have been temporarily fixed. The large breach into Rod and Gun Club’s Lake #8 has not been repaired. The breach at Lake #8 presents a significant risk to the temporary repairs at County Road 19 and other infrastructure further east, as that location is currently connected to the Platte River and will experience increased flows during even small runoff/precipitation events.  The Rod and Gun Club is seeking a required public sponsor to apply for federal assistance through FEMA/NEMA.  While it was discussed that Fremont, Dodge County and LPNNRD sponsor this repair, Fremont offered to be the lead entity moving forward.  Because of application assistance deadlines, this topic will be discussed at every committee meeting.  JEO addressed this topic with the Projects committe and will be available at the May 13th Board meeting to discuss the topic as well.  

JEO gave a presentation on Flooding around the Fremont and Dodge County area as attached.  Committee members present commented that Fremont is the logical entity to sponsor the R&G Clubs federal assistance applications and no recommendation was offered at this time.

 

 

Rationale:  LPNNRD staff has been working with NRCS requesting federal assistance from the Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWPP) on several District sponsored and owned projects that sustained flood damage.  NRCS has respond (letter attached) and is scheduling site visits at a few sites that appear potentially eligible,  We plan to pursue FEMA assistance on those projects deemed ineligible for EWPP.  

Rationale:  As attached, Greg Johnson, USACE,  has requested a new letter of intent from LPSNRD, regarding their, PMRNRD and LPNNRD's support and local sponsorship toward a possible Lower Platte River Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study for federal fiscal year 2021 budget. While we originally supported a letter of intent for this study, we have since had questions/concerns on what is the potential for actual benefit to LPNNRD by participating.  The original hope and indication was that it could lead to federal assistance for flood prevention projects along the Platte River, but this seems a bit vague how this would happen.  There is also the issue of starting something new with USACE while we have been struggling to close out the Sand Creek Restoration and Western Sarpy Clear Creek Projects. 

As outlined  in Greg's email, they are pursuing a feasibility study instead of a watershed study. The advantage is that the report can establish a project (or projects) which can be authorized for cost-shared construction. The disadvantage is that the cost sharing on the study is 50-50 (instead of 75-25).  The Corps budget process favors flood risk and navigation, so their thought is to keep ecosystem restoration in the proposal, but bolster the description of how it would serve multiple purposes of reducing flooding; increasing floodplain storage; reconnecting disconnected habitats; and restoring instream, wetland, and riparian habitats. They believe there is significant opportunity to achieve all of those goals along the Lower Platte. 

We are unsure what LPNNRD may be asked to support in the future, but LPSNRD has sent an intent letter (attached) to keep the door open for a possible study opportunity with USACE that could potentially assist with federal funding for flood planning and projects. No formal recommendation from our Board is being requested at this time, but as more details emerge, be may be asked about our interest in participating in a study later this year.

Rationale:  Attached find a bill from PMRNRD for our 2019 payment on the Western Sarpy Clear Creek Project in the amount of $133,680.94.

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.