September 29, 2022 at 8:30 AM - Operations Committee Meeting

Rationale:  We have no unfinished business to consider.

Rationale:  Schomer and Heimann met with members of Ducks Unlimited and NE Game & Parks on the Wanahoo Wetland Enhancement Project in the area of our dirt barrow area. A Ducks Unlimited surveyor will get elevations of the entire area sometime before December. Detailed plans will then be developed on how much area will be excavated and where materials will be deposited on site. The NRD and G & P would like to prescribe burn the area in late winter/early spring of 2023. Then control the vegetation by either mowing (if dry) or aerial spraying. Estimated construction in the Fall of 2023. Area map attached.

Rationale:  O & M staff continues to remove trees from all of our public grounds and project areas. A beaver dam on the Rawhide Diagonal ditch culverts was removed.
Heimann accompanied the Corps of Engineers on their annual inspection of the Clear Creek Levee system. The inspection went well with no major infractions.
The RCC crack contractor, Fisher Building Services, is on the job filling cracks in the Wanahoo RCC auxiliary spillway. 

Rationale:  The Wanahoo stilling basin apron floor project is currently being advertised. A list of contractors have been notified of the project. The design and specs have been reviewed by DNR Dam Safety. A pre-bid site showing took place on Wednesday, Sept. 28th at 10:00 with three contractors present. The bid opening is Oct. 5 at 2:00 pm at the LPNNRD office. LPNNRD approves a bid or rejects all bids at the Board Meeting Oct. 10.

Rationale:  The Thomas Lake Homeowners Association has drafted some new by-laws for the lots the District proposes to sell. Staff will contact the Association's president for more discussion regarding future use. Our new easements allow for removable items such as tents and RV's to be used on the four lots on the Thomas Lakes high ground. New HOA rules will not allow removable items. Not allowing removable items may affect the price of the lots. We may move forward with a sale in the next couple of months or after the first of the year.

Rationale:  Staff would like to become a member of the Pheasant Forever Bohemian Alps Burn Association ($25). It was also mentioned that the District could possibly make an annual donation to the PBA for their use in purchasing equipment or repairs. A donation may also be an incentive to assist in burns annually on the Wanahoo property. Find their Prescribed Burn Unit Activity Report Form attached.
There is an Interlocal Cooperation Act Agreement between LPNNRD, NGPC and PF for the operation & maintenance of Lake Wanahoo and Pheasant Forever Wetland areas (see attached). Item 3.b. in the agreement states how LPNNRD, G & P, PF will work together to provide labor, technical assistance, and equipment for controlled burns.
Even though there's an interlocal agreement saying they should be assisting, it doesn't mean the district can't contribute to expenses for their work and assistance in helping other landowners care for their grasslands.

Rationale:  Attached is a proposal from Olsson's for Professional Services Wanahoo Dam Instrumentation Monitoring, (see Scope of Services). The agreement covers three years; January 2023 - December 2025. The cost for this contract for services is $56,469.35, of which $1,869.35 is for additional services on the previous contract related to the evaluation and consultation on the pressure relief wells.
In the previous contract, the District did not elect to do Task II unless it was necessary. Olsson's is now stressing that Task II is important for these reasons; 1) Recent changes to the outlet channel, including additional pressure relief wells, will impact the models and warning conditions. 2) The yellow flag elevations are based on now-outdated models and will likely change with respect to reservoir pool elevations.3) With the history of collected instrumentation measurements, we can now develop a more accurate prediction of the dam’s stability based on actual measurements.
A dam is a dynamic system, and understanding and predicting its behavior requires on-going analysis with up-dated data.

 

Rationale:  The District received payment of $535.35 from Schuyler Coop for grass drill rental during the first half of the year. Nine cooperators used the grass drill.

Rationale:  JEO has completed a draft of the dam assessments on Cottonwood 21-A and 7-A through the NRCS Dam Assessment Program. The NRCS cost-share for construction is 65%. We are awaiting DNR Dam Safety review of the reports. The reports will then be reviewed by NRCS. (Attached is a segment of the report explaining the Rehabilitation Alternatives and cost and also an aerial of the design change to the auxiliary spillway.) The Dept. of Natural Resources Dam Safety lists 21-A as "Unsatisfactory Condition". Alternatives for Cottonwood 21-A  as follows:
Alt-1 - Restore Auxillary Spillway, Raise Top of the Dam, & account for an additional 100 years of sediment life, estimated cost of $4,540,000.
Alt-2 - Replace Spillway System with Weir & Box Culvert, & eliminate the auxiliary spillway, estimated cost of $4,200,000.
Alt-3 - Realign Auxillary Spillway & Roadway, Evaluate Sediment Storage, estimated cost of $1,750,000. ($1,390,000 - $2,500,000).
Alt-4 - Non-Federal, Replace Principal Spillway w/ Box Culvert & Restore Auxilliary Spillway, Do not Increase Sediment Storage, estimated cost of $3,340,000.
Alt-5 - Non-Federal, Realign Auxillary Spillway & Roadway, Do not increase sediment storage, estimated cost of $890,000.

Federal alternatives need a 100 yr design life both for sediment storage and for materials used. JEO has modified Alternative 5, which could potentially get federal dollars, some items or changes can sometimes be negotiable. NRCS will review and in the next phase of Planning & Design some strict criteria may be negotiable and the exact rehab may or may not be one of the ones listed. There are more steps or phases we must discuss with NRCS.

Alternatives for Cottonwood 7-A are as follows:
Alt-1 - Increase Design Life by Increasing Storage Capacity, estimated cost of $5.5 - 6.5 million.
Alt-2 - Increase Design Life by Periodic Sediment Removal, estimated cost of $22.1 - 43.1 million. 
 

Rationale:  The District currently charges $1.00/tree for hand plants and $2.00/tree for machine planting. Bessey Nursery has raised their prices .05, charging .87/ tree for 2023. In the past two years, Bessey has raised their price .09. The out of state nurseries we order from have also raised their prices and charge anywhere between .83 to over $1.00/tree. 

Rationale:  Dan Kadavy completed haying the Homestead Lake area. He had 66 bales at a total weight of 42 tons. He over paid at a rate of $82.50/ton, his bid was $81.00/ton. He will be reimbursed $57.59. His total payment to the district is $3,421.44.
Ken Cejka hayed a portion of Wanahoo. He had 83 bales at a total weight of 51 tons. His bid was $88.00/ton, he paid the District $4,488.00. 

Rationale:  We have not received any requests for payment or applications. Information regarding 404 permitting was sent to one cooperator.

Rationale:  For the month of August, the District received $2,902.50 in park permit revenue. The year by year break down of annual permit sales is listed below.
 

Month	Monthly Total	YTD
August 2022	$2902.50	$71,768.00
August 2021	$2700.00	$82,262.50
August 2020	$5035.00	$92,507.50
August 2019	$4302.50	$79,612.50

Rationale:  For the month of August, the District received $15,626.91 in camping revenue. The year by year comparison is listed below.
 

Month	Month Total	YTD
July 2022	15,626.91	95,366.97
July 2021	11,405.61	93,918.37
July 2020	18,197.95	105,843.35
July 2019	14,509.18	75,425.64

Rationale:  During the month of September, the building was rented 24 times, with 2 NRD events. Revenue for the month was $1,460.
 

Rationale:  September’s KTIC Radio ad and Wahoo Newspaper e-ad continued with the variance request applications, then switched after the 15^th to promote the NRD’s three recreation areas. 

Rationale:  Analytics

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
September 1-26	2,893	104	1,408
August	17,232	387	1,408
July	8,613	214	1,388

 

TWITTER	Total impressions	Engagements	Followers
September 1-26	2,348	149	381
August	4,784	207	380
July	3601	158	377

Top Posts on Facebook and Twitter:
• Pictures from the Range Judging contest at Camp Moses Merrill
• Pictures and an article from the Highboy Cover Crop Interseeding Project (HiCCIP) demonstrations
• PATH program open at Wanahoo
• Drought monitor comparison to 2012



 

WEBSITE	Users	Traffic Channel	Top Pages	Devices
September 1-27	1,547	Organic 74.3% Direct 19.6% Referral 5.8% Social 0.3%	Lake Wanahoo Home Czechland Lake Outdoor Recreation Staff	Mobile 59.21% Desktop 38.98% Tablet 1.81%
August	2,270	Organic 66.6% Direct 24.6% Referral 7.6% Social 1.3%	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%

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: 5 from Facebook, 0 from Twitter.
Referral clicks: 16 from NARD, 10 from Visit Nebraska, 4 from ad on Wahoo Newspaper’s site.
 

Rationale:  The Long Range Plan recent draft is attached. The final copy will be prepared for approval at the October Board Meeting.

Rationale: 

• September 1st: First Presbyterian Church group meeting. 
• September 6th: First Survival Club meeting with Wahoo Public Middle School. Opening it up to 6th & 7th was a great idea because no 8th graders came to the first meeting.
• September 7th: District Greenhand Day in Columbus. I talked about careers in natural resources and then I brought in native grasses and wildflowers for a prairie jeopardy game. 
• September 8th: Fremont Middle School Outdoor Day. Over 200 students attended.
• September 12th: St. Wenceslaus Pre-k classroom visit. We talked about water and made another raindrop collage featuring pictures the students found in magazines that showed water being used or things that needed water. Picture attached. They also got to meet Elton. 
• September 15th: I helped Papio NRD run a nature walk station for 3rd graders. Roughly 60 students.
• September 22nd: Range Judging Contest. It went really well--around 260 students competed. 

 

Rationale: 

• September 29th: Wachiska Prairie Day. I'll be helping out with an elementary educational day learning about prairie ecosystems. 
• October 5th: East Central Land Judging Contest. As of right now, we have close to 260 students attending. Pits will be dug by the O&M crew on Monday the 3rd. For those that are volunteering, you'll be receiving an email soon with details of the event. We will be scoring the contest in the office the next day.
• Monday October 10th: Wahoo 3rd grade field trip at Lake Wanahoo.
• October 12th: Aquinas Catholic 8th grade classroom visit.
• October 13th: Coffee Lakeside.
• October 17th: Fremont Trinity Middle Schoolers at Lake Wanahoo.
• October 25-26th: I & E meeting.

 

Rationale:  On 9/12 the RWD was notified of a leak in the village of Colon.  ME Collins repaired the leak.
The village has been upgrading the phone lines the past month which has required more line locations (19 total locates) and construction inspection as the new lines were bored.
Routine monthly sampling completed, meters read and bills in the mail 9/30.

Rationale:  On 9/2 the RWD was notified of a leak at the Waste Connections landfill.  The leak was caused by a failed gasket within the meter pit.  The gasket was replaced by RWD staff.
The RWD has been working with JEO and Black Hills Energy over the past month planning for gas line expansion that will cross/parallel our water line east of David City.
Routine monthly sampling completed, meters read and bills in the mail 9/30