March 30, 2023 at 8:30 AM - Operations Committee Meeting

Rationale:  We do not have any unfinished business.

Rationale:  We are anticipating a prescribed burn this Spring by the Bohemian Alps PBA in the area of Wanahoo where Ducks Unlimited wants to restore the wetland and our soil borrow area is located. We will be mowing firebreaks.

With the assistance of the Game & Parks Burn Crew, we burned off a couple fields just off of Hwy 109 on Friday, March 24.

Rationale:  The O & M crew continues to cut trees on our recreation areas and at Rawhide Ditch. Check garbage and restrooms at Homestead and Czechland Lakes. They are also servicing vehicles and equipment.

Rationale:  Collins has submitted Pay Application #4 (attached) for $39,923.02 and is requesting release of a portion of the retainage. As of this application, $53,516.45 is being held in retainage and the balance to finish is $61,646.46. If we release 50% of the retainage, the balance to finish would be $34,888.23. If we release 25%, the balance would be $48,267.34. We could also release retainage based on an itemized approach also. 
A final walk through with Houston Engineering and M.E. Collins will occur after the area is seeded. A punch list will be developed at that time.

Rationale:  Heimann with the assistance of Olssons has developed a bid proposal application to recondition the remaining 22 wells over the next three years.
Proposal requests were sent to 5 well drilling companies and are due April 26. The request asks that the well reconditioning be completed by November 1st of each year.  

Rationale:  As reported at the last meeting, the Corps of Engineers has not financially closed out the Western Sarpy/Clear Creek Levee Project. So, the District should not sell any of the 6 lots at this time. In a meeting on March 23rd, the Corps stated that neither the sponsors or the Corps owed funds to either. But there's an issue with a culvert in the levee in the National Guard Camp that drains Turner Lake to the Platte River. The culvert is too low. Therefore, when opening the gate of the culvert, Platte River water backflows into Turner Lake. The COE has had knowledge of this for 2 years.  We are waiting for an answer as to why, a remedy, and who funds this remedy. 

Rationale:  The District currently mows the Cotterel and Ames Levees with a JD 4450 and 15' mower at a rate of $60/tractor hour..
The committee was sent information from the 2022 NebGuide to assist in establishing a new rate. NebGuides pages are attached.

Rationale:  The District will start managing the Wanahoo lake level one foot down from the conservation pool elevation of 1210 when G & P finishes their Northern Pike sampling.
The District will follow the NE Dept. Natural Resources directive in regard to releasing water for irrigation purposes this summer as reported at our January meetings.

Rationale:  Lower Platte South NRD assisted financially with the repair of the Fuse Plug in the National Guard Camp back in Sept. 2020 and paid LPN $14,641.66 (which is 50% of the local sponsor share).
They are requesting that LPN reimburse them $11,713.32 because we will now receive another 15% from FEMA and 5% from NEMA totaling 95% cost-share. If the CDBG-DR (Community Block Grant) we are applying for comes through on the final 5%, LPN would then reimburse LPS the full amount.
In regard to the Community Block Grant, Chapman and Heimann are working on these grant applications for our four project sites that were damaged by the 2019 flood.

Rationale:  Tom Mountford has sent us a statement of work for engineering services and a template of an RFP. We will draft an RFP and have NRCS review it. NRCS has a application for design and planning on Cottonwood 21-A ready for us to sign. Once it is signed and our RFP is approved, we will advertise and send RFP's to engineering firms.

A motion will be needed at Board Meeting to approve signing the design contract with NRCS after Legal Counsel approval.

Rationale:  We have not received any applications or payment request.

Rationale:  Heimann and Schomer met with Henry and Marty Waverka on Friday 3/24 to discuss the potential of installing an archery range on the Wanahoo property.  This will be Henry's Eagle Scout project. Staff has selected a location on the west side of the lake, north of the boat ramp parking lot (see attached map). The range will have 4 targets from 10-40 yards with the potential for expansion in the future. Henry will be looking for sponsors to pay for the materials. At this time, if the Board is agreeable to the project, the District would pledge the ground and some labor to the project. We would also write an interlocal agreement with the Big Game Conservation Association, or similar group, for future upkeep and material purchase. 

Rationale:  Gottschalk and Schomer met with Jake Miriovsky regarding a fish cleaning station at Lake Wanahoo. We discussed potential locations and the pros and cons of each. JEO will be working on an estimated cost for the different locations and get back to us as soon as possible. Staff will be looking into grants including but not limited to the Sport Fish Restoration Act Grant, administered by Nebraska Game & Parks Commission. 

Schomer also met with a representative from Commercial Recreation Specialists regarding a marina/dock system. They are currently putting together an estimate and hope to get it back to us in April so we can assess the viability of the project. This may also fall under the scope of the Sport Fish Recreation Act Grant.

Rationale:  For the month of February, the District received $3,852.50 in annual park permit revenue. The year by year break down of annual permit sales is listed below. 

 

Month	Monthly Total	YTD
February 2023	$3852.50	$19492.50
February 2022	$3825.00	$21707.50
February 2021	$7935.00	$24937.50
February 2020	$6070.00	$22185.00
February 2019	$9677.50	$24635.00

Rationale:  For the month of February, the District received $4,267.89 in camping revenue. The year by year comparison is listed below.
 

Month	Month Total	YTD
February 2023	$4267.89	$8297.90
February 2022	$3540.62	$7148.58
February 2021	$6189.12	$10940.62
February 2020	$1929.90	$4490.82
February 2019	$1607.00	$3974.00

Rationale:  During the month of March, the building was rented 17 times with 1 NRD event. Revenue for the month was $1,120.

Rationale:  March's KTIC radio ad featured a last reminder for upcoming Nitrogen certification classes or to take the test online. April will feature chemigation permit applications are due by June 1 along with prices.

March's Wahoo Newspaper e-ad featured Wanahoo permits available. April will feature an ad for all 3 recreation areas.

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
March 2023	5,403	5,791	1,450
February 2023	8,800	9,065	1,435
January 2023	3,663	100	1,427
December	5,758	163	1,421

 

TWITTER	Total impressions	Engagements	Followers
March 2023	1,906	94	399
February 2023	4,044	213	397
January 2023	1,954	95	391
December	2,570	102	388

Top Posts on Facebook and Twitter:
• Groundwater Awareness week posts highlighting groundwater quality and quantity
• Upcoming beekeeping flyer
• Boat docks in at Wanahoo
• Pictures from Sydney’s St. Wenceslaus Pre-K visit about soil
• NRD Recreation Exploration

 

WEBSITE	Users	Traffic Channel	Top Pages	Devices
March 2023	1,662	Organic 64.6% Direct 21.9% Referral 10.7% Social 2.7%	Lake Wanahoo Home Czechland Lake Downloads Forestry	Mobile 49.34% Desktop 47.71% Tablet 2.95%
February 2023	1,446	Organic 63.2% Direct 21.8% Referral 7.7% Social 7.3%	Home Lake Wanahoo Downloads Forestry Nitrogen Certification	Mobile 49.45% Desktop 47.65% Tablet 2.90%
January 2023	1,614	Organic 67.9% Direct 20.8% Referral 8.3% Social 3%	Lake Wanahoo Home Forestry Czechland Lake Nitrogen Certification	Mobile 50.87% Desktop 47.15% Tablet 1.98%
December	1,156	Organic 62.7% Direct 22.9% Referral 8.7% Social 5.7%	Home Lake Wanahoo Forestry Downloads Contact	Mobile 49.39% Desktop 48.62% Tablet 1.99%

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: 45 from Facebook, 2 from Twitter.
Referral clicks: 75 from NARD, 19 from Visit Nebraska, 6 from NGPC, 2 from the ad on Wahoo Newspaper’s site.
 

Rationale:  The LPNNRD received three scholarship applications for the Shell Creek Watershed Monitoring Group Scholarship: 

Mara, Ranslem, Newman Grove. She has participated in the Shell Creek Watershed Monitoring program since 7th grade. Her plans after graduation include attending UNL, majoring in biology then continue to medical school to be a Physician's Assistant.

Eliza Bailey, Schuyler. She has participated in the Shell Creek Watershed Monitoring Program the last four years. Her plans after graduation include attending Southeast Community College, majoring in Nursing and Diversified Agriculture.

Kathryn Novacek, Schuyler. She has participated in the Shell Creek Watershed Monitoring Program the last four years. Her plans after graduation include attending Northeast Community College, majoring in Veterinary Technology.

 

Rationale: 

• March 9th: Coffee Lakeside: Lake Ecosystems. The presentation covered lake ecology, fish kills, spring turnover, and invasive aquatic species. 3 people attended. 
• March 10th: Wahoo High School Careers Class. Talked with 10 students about my career in natural resources and what we do here at the NRD. 
• March 14th: Gave the same Lake Ecosystems presentation to attendees at the Senior citizen center in Wahoo. 8 people attended. 
• March 15th: Survival Club. John Miyoshi talked with students about fishing. 
• March 23rd: Went to St. Wenceslaus Pre-K classroom to talk about heathy soils, earthworms, and more. 28 students did some soil finger painting and ended the visit with a little dirt in a cup (see attachment). 

Rationale: 

• April 5th: All about bees event (see attached flyer).
• April 6th: Coffee Lakeside: Paula Hoppe is our guest speaker and she will be talking about waterfowl identification. 
• April 11th: Presentation at the Senior Citizen Center over the power of nature-based play and why people of all ages should be spending more time outdoors. 
• April 18th: Survival Club - Campfire starting. 
• April 20th: Fremont Eco-fair.
• April 23rd: Community Fishing Event at Lake Wanahoo. 

Rationale:  2022 Water Quality reports were received for both RWDs (attached) and have been posted to our website.  Per state policy we will also publicly post and notify all customers.
Benal and Elliott attended NeRWA's Annual Conference 3/13-15.  Both received enough CEUs for Grade 4 license renewal due 12/31.  Major topics throughout the conference were; Lead Service Line Inventory (LSLI) and Emerging Contaminant (PFAS, nitrate) and potential/probable future implications to rural utilities; i.e. increased testing/monitoring and possible infrastructure upgrades.
RWD is started to build our LSLI and doesn't foresee any major obstacles with reporting.  When Colon RWD was developed any lead, or galvanized, service components were replaced during meter installation.  All Bruno RWD customers are new (post lead ban 1984) and shouldn't pose a risk

Rationale:  Routine monthly sampling completed, meters read and bills to be mailed 3/31.  RWD responded to 2 locate requests.

Rationale:  Routine monthly sampling completed, meters read and bills to be mailed 3/31.  RWD responded to 3 locate requests.