September 1, 2022 at 8:30 AM - Operations Committee Meeting

Rationale:  We don't have any unfinished business.

Rationale:  Nothing to report under wildlife programs or areas.

Rationale:  O & M staff have finished our annual mowing circuit. We mow the face of the Cottonwood 21-A, areas at Sand/Duck Dam 2, Czechland, Homestead, Cotteral and Ames Levees, Rawhide Ditch 8 & 10, areas of Clear Creek Levee and Lake Wanahoo areas.
We have also been cutting & treating trees at Clear Creek Levee and Wanahoo.
We have accomplished O & M on 7 dams in recent days.
We have another beaver problem on a Swedeburg Dam. Our hired trapper has been notified. We also had a beaver problem at our diagonal ditch on Rawhide. A trapper from North Bend trapped two at the same rate as our hired trapper.

Rationale:  Mike Sotak and Ethan Miller were present for an update on the stilling basin apron floor design repair. Sotak stated that this project and design is a unique situation, there isn't anything out there to compare it to. They are communicating with other engineers and using other resources for the best solutions. The plan is to grind down the existing unlevel floor to have a minimum12" depth/thickness. The plan is to use fiber re-enforce concrete, which will give a more uniformed strength to prevent cracking.  The floor will be poured in 6 panels in a checker board fashion. There are 168 anchors in the floor, and waterstops around the entire perimeter and all joints.
The design will be passed on to the Dept. of Natural Resources Dam Safety for review and comments, hoping to have bids approved at the October Board meeting. 

Rationale:  Heimann and Gottschalk met with Tom Townsend, President of the Thomas Lake HOA regarding the sale of the six NRD lots. The HOA has an interest in acquiring some or all of the lots. The HOA would like some time to update their by-laws and policies regarding how the lots may be used and coincide with the easements that have been written. Updated by-laws and policies can then be properly disclosed when advertising the lots for sale. Townsend will notify the District after the updates and we can proceed with a sealed bid or auction for the lots.

Rationale:  In June 2021, the Board approved $10,000 to assist the North Bend Tree Board with completing their trail system. The trail was completed in July 2022. Find attached a letter of request for payment and an invoice for the concrete work.

Rationale:  Staff is inquiring to the Pheasant Forever Bohemian Alps Prescribed Burn Association and whether the district can be a member (membership $25) or provide an annual donation for the purpose of getting the group to do prescribed burns on the Wanahoo property annually. The PBA is also in discussion with UNL as they would like more local opportunities for prescribe burn training.

Rationale:  The District has worked with two irrigation water right landowners on Sand Creek downstream of Lake Wanahoo this summer. Next irrigation season, if necessary, the district will ask the landowners to request the Dept.of Natural Resources to investigate stream flows above and below Lake Wanahoo. The DNR will then determine, if necessary, how much water the district must release from the lake for downstream irrigation.

Rationale:  We have requested and are still waiting for the revenue report from the Schuyler Co-op.

Rationale:  We don't have any applications or payment request at this time.

Rationale:  For the month of July, the District received $6,292.50 in park permit revenue. The year by year break down of annual permit sales is listed below.
 

Month	Monthly Total	YTD
July 2022	$6,292.50	$68,865.50
July 2021	$6,430.00	$79,562.50
July 2020	$7,332.50	$87,472.50
July 2019	$7,925.00	$75,310.00

Rationale:  For the month of July, the District received $18,175.50 in camping revenue. The year by year comparison is listed below.
 

Month	Month Total	YTD
July 2022	18,175.50	79,740.06
July 2021	15,326.94	82,512.76
July 2020	12,615.36	87,645.40
July 2019	18,046.00	60,916.46

Rationale:  During the month of August, the building was rented 19 times, with 5 NRD events. Revenue for the month was $740.
 

Rationale:  August’s KTIC Radio ad and Wahoo Newspaper e-ad continued with the variance request applications.

Rationale:  The LPNNRD Facebook/Twitter pages, and the website are the fastest and low-cost ways to get information out to the public. Tracking analytics are a way to see if people are seeing the information and what ways seem to be most effective. If you are on Facebook or Twitter, please like, follow, share, or retweet the Lower Platte North NRD posts!

Total reach/impressions show how many people saw the post/tweet. Engagements include likes, comments, shares/retweets and link clicks.
 

FACEBOOK	Total Reach	Engagements	Followers
August 1-29	16,690	386	1,408
July	8,613	214	1,388
June	7,325	413	1,384

 

TWITTER	Total impressions	Engagements	Followers
August 1-29	4,688	207	380
July	3601	158	377
June	3,114	140	372

Top Posts on Facebook and Twitter:
• Back to school night flyer
• Cover crop demo pictures
• Wildflowers and wine flyer
• Variance request deadline
• Story Walk Grand Opening flyer



 

WEBSITE	Users	Traffic Channel	Top Pages	Devices
August	2,113	Organic 66.9% Direct 24.4% Referral 7.4% Social 1.4%	Lake Wanahoo Home Czechland Lake Outdoor Recreation Downloads	Mobile 59.73% Desktop 37.77% Tablet 2.51%
July	1,844	Organic 70.8% Direct 20.6% Referral 7.5% Social 1.2%	Lake Wanahoo Home Czechland Lake Outdoor Recreation Homestead	Mobile 60.68% Desktop 37.36% Tablet 1.95%
June	1,833	Organic 69.2% Direct 19.1% Referral 10.1% Social 1.6%	Lake Wanahoo Home Czechland Outdoor Recreation Downloads	Mobile 60.67% Desktop 37.7% Tablet 1.64%

Traffic channels: organic traffic means they use a search engine then choose an option that includes lpnnrd.org, direct traffic means they type in lpnnrd.org directly (or have it bookmarked), and referral traffic is any other traffic not from a search engine or social (such as a link from another site).

Social clicks: 20 from Facebook, 2 from Twitter.
Referral clicks: 7 from NARD, 3 from Game & Parks, 3 from Visit Nebraska.

Rationale:  Attached is the first draft of the Long Range Plan. The appendices and levy information will be available after September's hearing.

Rationale:  The Lower Platte North NRD is hosting the Land Judging contest on Wednesday, October 5. We will be looking for volunteers in the coming months for help on the day of the contest and the day after the contest for scoring. Also, we will need a board motion to pay the registration fees for all participants for the contest as we have in the past. Registration is $2 per student.

Rationale: 

• August 3rd: Back to School Night. Boat rides with live well go fish and lots of indoor and outdoor activities. Approximately 30 attendees.
• August 4th: Newman Grove day. Met with the students who are involved in the shell creek watershed project. Met with teachers and other educators to discuss getting this type of opportunity to more schools. 
• August 11th: Coffee Lakeside. This month we talked about fireflies. 6 people attended.
• August 12th: Nocturnal Night. Indoor and outdoor activities were available. We had a mothing station outside and an attendee caught a mole cricket. The night ended with a nature walk through the trails and smores at the building. Approximately 22 attendees. 
• August 17th: Wildflowers and Wine. Students from UNL's Bee lab came and talked about native bees. We walked the prairie for plant ID. Ended the night tasting wine from Cellar 426. Approximately 40 people attended. 
• August 18th: Story Walk grand opening. The current story is, Have you seen Mary?, by Nebraska author Jeff Kurrus and photographs by Michael Forsberg. 
• August 31st: State Fair. I went to the state fair to operate the large groundwater model at the sustainability pavilion.

Spent a lot of time answering emails and phone calls getting classroom visits set up for this school year. 



 

Rationale:  Kaiden is our CEO student for this semester. He is a senior from WHS who will be with us from 2:00-3:30 every school day until December 16th. 

Rationale: 

• September 1st: First Presbyterian Church group meeting. They want to know more about the LPNNRD, what I do specifically, and what events we have coming up. 
• September 6th: First Survival Club meeting with Wahoo Public Middle School. We are opening it up to 6-8th this year to hopefully draw in more kids. Last year only 3 students were involved and eventually they stopped coming as well. 
• September 7th: District Greenhand Day in Columbus. Talking about careers in natural resources and then playing some games. 
• September 8th: Fremont Middle School Outdoor Day. NRD will run 4 different stations (Tree planting, Wildlife CSI, Technology/drones, and Aquatic Ecosystems/Groundwater). 
• September 12th: St. Wenceslaus Pre-k classroom visit.
• September 15th: Helping Papio NRD run a Macroinvertebrate station for a field day they are hosting.
• September 22nd: Range Judging Contest. 
• September 24th: Apple Orchards and Cider event*

Rationale:  Elliott has been in contact with Neil Johnson of Phoenix Web Group in regards to issues with our remote meter reading.  We are currently in the process of replacing cell service for Bruno RWD and reworking the antennas for Colon.  Elliott is also working on battery upgrades for meters in both districts.
The RWD responded to 9 locate requests this month.  

Rationale:  Routine coliform sampling completed, meters read and bills to be mailed 9/1.

Rationale:  Bruno RWD completed semi-annual disinfectant residual testing this month; this test is required for public water systems that continually treat their water.
Routine monthly coliform sampling completed, meters read and bills to be mailed 9/1.