May 2, 2024 at 8:30 AM - Operations Committee Meeting

Rationale:  We have nothing to consider for unfinished business.

Rationale:  M.E. Collins continues to remove dirt from the Cat Paws on the Wanahoo wetland complex, (pictures attached).

Also, a picture of the wetland renovation after the rains.

Rationale:  The O & M crew removed many trees on the Wanahoo wetland renovation area. We packaged and delivered trees to the NRCS offices. We've planted 5 out of 10 sites but, that is only 15% of what we have to plant.

Rationale:  The engineering firms, HDR and Hazard Engineering reviewed with staff the alternatives in their study for the rehabilitation of Cottonwood 21-A. One alternative creates an auxiliary spillway to the east rather than flowing over the county road. The other alternative uses the same footprint of the existing auxiliary spillway with an increase in size. Quantities of soil to be moved are close to equal for either alternative, and we will be purchasing land and easements also.
The firms need to confirm and finalize some items with NRCS before they present their 60% completion results to the NRD and NRCS.

Rationale:  The City of Wahoo's electrical contractor continues work on the rerouting of power around the dam. The contractors are on site to start the Round-About project. We have obtained a Right-of-way permit for the filtering systems to be installed by NDOT's contractor.

Rationale:  Drone Contractors submitted bids to the Papio-Missouri NRD which were due Friday, April 12.
Papio received six bids from drone companies out of Lincoln, Dunbar, Ashland, Nebraska City, Gresham and Union, NE. The Ashland company was eliminated for not providing a NDA Certificate.
The County Weed Departments and NRD's can use any of the five drone contractors. Their prices vary is some regard. 

Rationale:  The District has advertised our JD CX15 mower for over a month. Bids were due Tuesday, April 30 at noon. We did not receive any bids.
We will continue to try and sell the mower by re-posting it on Facebook Market Place. We are asking $15,500.

Rationale:  Bids for haying NRD recreation areas were due on Tuesday, April 30th, at 4:00 pm.
We received hay bids from 8 different people. The bid tally sheet is attached. The high bid for Wanahoo and Czechland is Matt Sillivan and the high bid for Homestead is Dan Kadavy.

Rationale:  Vance Behren's residence at 648 S. River Road in Thomas Lakes was washed away by the March 2019 flood. He is now requesting to rebuild the house on the same lot 47 (letter attached). The Clear Creek levee was restored by the Corps of Engineers in 2020 and the area of the Behrens lot was restored with rip-rap extending upstream.
A mitigation plan and flowage easements were developed in 2006 by the District and COE for this area due to the significant flood hazard and risk of property damage and life loss.
The District can make its own decision since the flowage easements are not a feature of the WSCC Project and the cost of the easements were not credited to the Sponsors' (NRD) cost-share for the Project. With that said, the COE does not recommend any new structure construction which is contrary to the intent of the Mitigation Plan of 2006. (See COE Letter attached). It's suggested to read both letters thoroughly for a decision next month.
Mr. Behrens states that "if we were allowed to build, I am looking at the potential of a concrete structure supported on large drilled piers that are 30 or 36 inches in diameter with the floor line well above the BFE.  The design of the foundation system would be based upon the recommendations of a geotechnical investigation and would allow floodwaters to flow under the structure".
Two pictures are attached of the Behren home before and after it was taken by the Platte River.
 

Rationale:  We have not received any applications or requests for payments.

Rationale:  For the month of March, the District received $3,432.50 in annual park permit revenue. The year by year break down is listed below. 
 

Month	Monthly Total	YTD
March 2024	$3,432.50	$19,942.50
March 2023	$4,355.00	$73,017.50
March 2022	$5,720.00	$75,262.50
March 2021	$9,980.00	$85,656.85
March 2020	$5,357.50	$96,317.50
March 2019	$4,455.00	$82,252.50

Rationale:  For the month of March, the District received $6,630.14 in camping revenue. The year by year comparison is below. 
 

March 2024	$6,630.14	$13,621.36
March 2023	$4,754.57	$127,792.00
March 2022	$5,232.26	$129,922.83
March 2021	$10,462.19	$118,152.11
March 2020	$2,369.23	$134,027.78
March 2019	$2,119.08	$93,337.36

Rationale:  After meeting with the board of Live Well Go Fish, they would like to proceed with their grant application to secure funds for building a storage structure for their boat and equipment at Lake Wanahoo.  They would like to build an addition to the existing Wahoo FD building located north and west of the Wanahoo boat docks. Discussion and direction is requested to notify LIve Well Go Fish if it is LPNNRD's intention to work with them allowing this project to proceed.

Rationale:  In order to provide a more secure park, we have been looking into a security camera to be placed on the light pole located at the NW corner of the parking lot at the education building.  Diode Technologies (which supports our current building camera system and internet service) has submitted an estimate to provide wifi access to the camera and light pole. Once service is provided, we can explore a range of cameras to meet our security needs.

Rationale:  The Clint Johannes Education Building at Lake Wanahoo was rented 23 times with 3 NRD events. Revenue for the month was $2,547 (this includes 2 half-price rentals for a church event).

Rationale:  The KTIC radio ads and Wahoo newspaper e-ads during April featured the three recreation areas. The May ads will feature the upcoming chemigation permits deadline. 

Rationale:  The LPNNRD Facebook/Twitter pages, and the website are some of the fastest ways to get information out to the public. Tracking analytics are a way to see how many people are seeing the information. Sometimes a decrease in reach or impressions can mean there is an error with the Facebook/Twitter pages or the website. Facebook and Twitter posts range from 10 - 15 posts per month. 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
April 1-29	7,565	8,361	1,592
March	8,024	9,151	1,557
February	8,395	8,208	1,531
January 2024	13,669	1,078	1,513
December 2023	2,381	135	1,501

 

TWITTER	Total impressions	Engagements	Followers
April 1-29	810	59	423
March	803	75	426
February	1,033	34	416
January 2024	1528	86	417
December 2023	711	51	411

Top Posts on Facebook and Twitter:
• Set Your Sites at Wanahoo now available
• Earth day teacher flyer
• Happy Earth day
• Coffee Lakeside flyer
• NRD Recreation Exploration

 

WEBSITE	Users	Traffic Channel Changes	Top Pages	Devices
April 1-29	1,958	Organic 6.3% Direct -2.35% Referral -6.73% Social 0%	Lake Wanahoo Home Czechland Outdoor Recreation Forestry	Mobile 57% Desktop 41.5% Tablet 1.5%
March	1,489	Organic -8.51% Direct -32.94% Referral -47.5% Social -16.67%	Lake Wanahoo Home Czechland Forestry Staff	Desktop 48.9% Mobile 48.8% Tablet 2.3%
February	1,838	Organic 0.8% Direct -9.6% Referral 64.3% Social -61.8%	Home Lake Wanahoo Forestry Downloads Czechland	Desktop 52% Mobile 45.8% Tablet 2.2%
January 2024	1,718	Organic 51.06% Direct 1.06% Referral 63.3% Social 937.5%	Home Lake Wanahoo Downloads Czechland Staff	Desktop 51.4% Mobile 47.3% Tablet 1.3%
December 2023	1,075	Organic -20.26% Direct 3.1% Referral -2.27% Social -81.58%	Home Lake Wanahoo Downloads Staff Czechland	No data

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). As of mid-September changes for traffic channels and devices will show increase or decrease for the month.

Top referral clicks from: nrdnet.org 36, visitnebraska.com 14, Wahoo newspaper website (LPNNRD digital ad) 1.
Clicks from Facebook: 31.
Clicks from Twitter: 0.
 

Rationale:  The Butler County Fair will be held Thursday, July 11 - 14. A single booth option is 8 foot x 10 foot for $130. There are other sponsorship opportunities available full details attached.
- Purple Ribbon sponsor: $50-$250 (name on schedule flyer)
- 1st in Class sponsor: $500 (name on schedule flyer, logo on large banner, name on advertisement poster)
- Champion sponsor: $1000 (same as previous, plus 2 tractor pull tickets and 2 concert tickets)

Rationale: 

• April 4th: St. Wenceslaus Pre-K classroom visit.
• April 11th: Coffee Lakeside with Paula Hoppe. Close to 30 people attended this event talking about the sparrows of Nebraska.
• April 17th: Survival Club had a guest speaker, John Miyoshi, to give an introductory fishing lesson. 12 students attended.
• April 18th: Fremont Ecofair. Over 300 4th grade students from Fremont schools attended. Our station talked about pollinators and how important they are; we also handed out trees. Big thank you to John Goldsberry and Tom McKnight for helping out!
• April 19th:  85 students from Wahoo Elementary's kindergarten class learned about arbor day.
• April 21st: Schuyler 4-H group learned about Earth Day. 
• April 22nd: 85 students from Wahoo Elementary's kindergarten class learned about Earth Day in the morning. And 40 students from North Bend's 5th grade class learned about Earth Day in the afternoon. Big thank you to Andrew Tonnies for his help in the classroom!
• April 24th: 45 7th graders from North Bend middle school learned about Earth Day.
• April 25th: 25 students from Archbishop Bergan Early Childhood center learned about the 'world below our feet: soil and earth worms.' 

Rationale:  May 1st: Spring Conservation Sensation
May 2nd: St. Wenceslaus Pre-K field trip
May 6th: Wahoo 4th grade field trip PM
May 7th: Wahoo 3rd grade AM & North Bend 2nd grade PM
May 8th: North Bend 1st grade PM
May 9th: Coffee Lakeside
May 13th: Wahoo 2nd graders field trip PM
May 14th: Ashland Greenwood Water Day
May 17th: Survival Club camp out at Lake Wanahoo - overnight
May 18th: Fishing Derby Fremont State Lakes
Take a deep breath
May 31st: Nocturnal night


 

Rationale:  We will be hosting the East Central land judging competition this fall, October 2nd, and are currently looking for a location to host it. Attached is a map of how the contests are broken up. If you would be willing to host, or know of any landowners in these counties, who may be open to hosting or at least getting more information, please reach out to me. We would like to secure a location sooner rather than later. 

Rationale:  The 2023 water quality reports and consumer confidence reports (CCR) were distributed as per state policy.  Public notices were posted at both villages, as well as our website, and notice was included in bills.
The RWD is actively looking for software alternatives to our existing WaterWorks billing program.  We continue to experience glitches and errors that "can't be explained" by PWG.  The past few months of billing have been particularly cumbersome for staff, and also for HBE oversight.  The RWD plans to have a recommendation by start of FY25.
Work continues on the lead service line inventory (LSLI), the RWD has sent out multiple notices to customers and has received ~25% response.  The RWD will have to personally contact and possible personally verify service connections if customers are unwilling to verify, or request RWD assistance.  Below is an example of the LSLI that will be submitted to EPA by 10/14/24:

PWS Name: Bruno Rural Water District				PWS ID: NE31-21171
Operator Signature:				Date:
#	Locational Identifier	System-Owned Classification	Method of Determination	Customer-Owned Classification	Method of Determination	Lead Bearing Material Present
1	1530 35 1/2 Road, David City, NE, 68632	non-lead: plastic	Installation of water service - development of RWD	Non-lead: copper	Owner certified	None

Rationale:  Routine monthly sampling completed, meters read and bills mailed 5/1.

Rationale:  The Bruno RWD was notified that David City will be changing out the 4" meters in master meter vault in the coming month.  The vault contains a transmission main bypass that will allow for uninterrupted service to our customers.
Routine monthly sampling completed, meters read and bills mailed 5/1.