July 8, 2024 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 the consent agenda.

Rationale:  We held a construction update meeting with JEO, Scheele - Kayton and our new office subcommittee on 6-26-24.  Gottschalk will update the committee on items discussed.  
At the June 25th City of Wahoo's regular City Council meeting, the decision was made for the City of Wahoo to proceed with their annexation plans moving north along Chestnut St, across the four lane to our new office building site.  This will allow us to have all utilities supplied through Wahoo as well as the potential for fiber optics.

Rationale:  The Governor's office has set up a meeting on Tuesday July 30th at 1:00 pm for the Governor to meet with all Nebraska NRDs collectively.  This meeting will take place at the NARD office in Lincoln and each district is asked to have their General Manager and Board Chair (or other appointed board member) available to attend.

Rationale:  At the June 10th NARD Board Meeting, the Board approved a mandatory increase on employee contributions from 5.5% to 6.5% and employer contributions from 6% to 7% effective January 1, 2025. 

Each district is asked to approve the attached resolution. 

Rationale:  I continue to review handout distributed to all NRDs from Don Blankenau regarding procedural changes required by our State legislature.  I will get back in contact with Jovan to assist in clarifying exactly how our LPNNRD procedures will need to be altered to adhere to these requirements.

Rationale:  This is the time of year we are reviewing and compiling information to develop our budget for next fiscal year.  Please get in touch with me if there are any questions or recommendations regarding line items or budgeted dollar amounts.

Rationale:  Resumes were due on June 21st. 

A motion will be needed at Board Meeting - To ratify the hiring of Brandon Beethe for the GIS/Grant Specialist position, with a starting date of August 12th. 

Rationale:  Discussion and possible action on creation of a new position of Assistant Water Manager.  

Rationale:  Grant reviewed the May Financial Statements with the Executive Committee.

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

Rationale:  We have received notice from Dodge County about a tax roll correction Dillon Companies Inc. (Kroger) - 2020 Tax Roll Correction #5688 & 2021 Tax Roll Correction #5689.  The total amount of $1,527.57 will be withheld from our next disbursement. (See Attachment)   

Rationale:  Attached find a listing of Lower Platte North NRD assigned sinking funds and balances. 

Rationale:  If we plan to hold a budget workshop we need to set the date and time. We normally hold it before the August Board Meeting.  The Executive Committee set Tuesday, August 6th at 5:00 p.m. for the Budget Workshop. 

Rationale:  To hold the Budget Hearing Monday, August 12th at 5:00 p.m. and Levy Hearing Monday, September 9th at 5:00 p.m , which is one hour prior to the scheduled Board Meetings. 

Rationale:  There is no unfinished business to address.

Rationale:  Ducks Unlimited has sent an invoice for the Wetland Restoration Project on the Wanahoo property (attached). The Pruss Excavation was paid $87,201.30 and DU services (engineering, survey, staking, etc.) is $35,567.77 for a total of $122,769.07. DU contributed $53,128.82, LPNNRD $49,640.25 and Game & Parks $20,000. The District did receive credit of $3,227.50 for in-kind work. The contract between DU, NRD and G & P estimated the cost at $145,000.

Rationale:  The O & M staff has been doing O & M and inspections on our watershed dams. O & M consists of cutting or spraying trees (seedlings), filling rodent holes, spraying noxious weeds, clearing debris from principal spillways. Also, assisted in clearing debris on the Wanahoo dam.

Rationale:  HDR has sent out a 60% draft of Chapters 1-6 and appendices D & E for our review on the Supplemental Watershed Plan on Cottonwood 21-A before it's sent to the NRCS. They intend to send this draft to NRCS the week of June 24.
HDR will schedule a 60% review meeting in July.
HDR received a geotechnical report from NRCS that confirmed alternative concepts allowing for finalization of alternatives. 

Rationale:  Work continues on Hwy 77,92/109 Round-About. The contractor is installing the storm water drain system. The District is waiting for an agreement from NDOT for the cost of installing the filter systems around the Windstream lines. The cost of installing the filter systems is estimated at $35,000. When the project is completed, the District will ask Windstream for reimbursement.

Rationale:  FEMA/NEMA visited Saunders County on Tuesday, June 25th to inspect flood damage. They inspected all areas of the Wanahoo property. We believe the damage to the Wanahoo property and Saunders County will meet the monetary threshold for assistance. FEMA/NEMA will review what qualifies.  

Rationale:  After each inspection of the Clear Creek Levee by the Corps of Engineers, the District is flagged for raising a segment of a tie-back levee that connects to the Clear Creek Levee on the north end without permission through the 408 permitting process. (See aerial photo)
The District did not raise the levee, the landowners of the Clear Creek Drainage District did because they sandbagged the tie-back in consecutive years, 2017 & 2018. The tie-back levee also almost breached years before this while the COE was renovating the levee system. The contractor on site hauled in material to prevent that failure.
The COE believes the tie-back levee was raised above the Clear Creek levee elevation and wants the District to hire a consulting firm to prove hydraulically this area will not create a rise in water elevation elsewhere along the system. If approved bu the COE, there would be changes to the As-Built drawings and the O & M Manual updated.
Heimann is waiting for some answers from the COE regarding the details they need.

Rationale:  Kirk Brand is requesting a larger CMP (corrugated metal pipe) in the county road ditch and his field, which drains into Rawhide Ditch 8 along Co. Rd 24 (see aerial attached). The large amounts of rain took a long time to drain his field. The existing pipe is 18". Heimann has asked Dodge County to look at the situation and to potentially assist with a replacement.

Rationale:  The Lower Platte Weed Management group was informed that the Dept. of Ag will not fund any grants this next fiscal year. The Weed Group has been successful in the past few years in obtaining grants. The Papio-Missouri NRD is asking if we and Lower Platte South NRD would contribute an additional $30,000 this next fiscal year on top of our already committed $30,000 that is written in our agreement.
We have asked Papio for an account balance from our funds we have contributed in the past.

Rationale:  We haven't received any applications or payment request.

Rationale:  For the month of May, the District received $14,024.00 in annual park permit revenue. The year by year break down is listed below. 
 

Month	Monthly Total	YTD
May 2024	$14,024.00	$45,667.00
May 2023	$17,235.00	$50,105.00
May 2022	$14,877.50	$51,790.00
May 2021	$14,032.50	$62,340.00
May 2020	$29,177.50	$67,225.00
May 2019	$15,597.50	$50,510.00

Rationale:  For the month of May, the District received $17,571.80 in camping revenue. The year by year comparison is below. 
 

May 2024	$17,571.80	$41,796.45
May 2023	$16,882.93	$43,895.23
May 2022	$20,720.50	$42,486.91
May 2021	$18,148.57	$50,833.79
May 2020	$29,202.83	$54,667.95
May 2019	$13,572.47	$27,160.95

Rationale:  The Clint Johannes Education Building at Lake Wanahoo was rented 24 times with 8 NRD/education events. Revenue for the month was $1,562.50.
 

Rationale:  The KTIC radio ads and Wahoo newspaper e-ads during June featured the availability of cost-share for abandoned wells. July will feature the upcoming variance deadlines.

Rationale:  The LPNNRD Facebook and X pages, along with the website are some of the fastest ways to get information out to the public. Facebook and X posts range from 12 -18 posts per month. If you are on Facebook or X, 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.

X (Twitter) made changes to the site again and no longer allows viewing analytics unless you are a premium member.

The month of June had 21 posts total. Facebook followers: 1,625 (up 11 from May). X followers: 431 (up 4 from May).

Top Posts on Facebook:
• Hiring GIS/Grants Specialist
• Wildflowers and Wine Flyer
• Hazard Mitigation Plan Meeting Reminder
• Natural Resources Camp flyer
• Shared video from Ward Laboratories about fertilizer

 

WEBSITE	Users	Traffic Channel Changes	Top Pages	Devices
June 1-26	2,018	Organic -25.16% Direct -20.16% Referral -53.46% Social 103.85%	Lake Wanahoo Home Czechland Outdoor Recreation Downloads	Mobile 64.6% Desktop 34.5% Tablet 0.8%
May	2,895	Organic 40.51% Direct 17.95% Referral 63.64% Social -33%	Lake Wanahoo Home Czechland Flood Damage Reduction Staff	Mobile 62.8% Desktop 35.5% Tablet 1.7%
April	2,012	Organic 6.3% Direct -2.35% Referral -6.73% Social 0%	Lake Wanahoo Home Czechland Outdoor Recreation Forestry	Mobile 56.4% Desktop 42.1% 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%

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).

Top referral clicks from: NARD’s website 17, visitnebraska.com 21, Wahoo newspaper website (LPNNRD digital ad) 0.
Clicks from Facebook: 44.
Clicks from Twitter: 0.
 

Rationale:  Upcoming county fair booths and activities:
• Booth set up at the Butler County Fair July 11-14
• Booth set up with kids activities on Tuesday, July 30 from 3pm-5pm
• Booth set up at the Dodge County Fair July 31 - August 4

Rationale:  The Summer edition of the Viaduct is at the printer and will be sent to area newspapers mid-July to end of July.

Rationale: 

• June 3rd: Kid's Summer Institute, Dip Netting - CANCELED
• June 5th: KSI - Bird Watching at Lake Wanahoo with 9 students.
• June 6th: Coffee Lakeside, Calling all caretakers had 0 attendees & 25 students at Cedar Bluffs summer school program explored natural resource based stations. 
• June 10th-14th: NRD CAMP hosted up to 11 students a day. We focused on herpetology, fungi, birds, survival skills, plants and insects with a plethora of outdoor activities. See pictures.
• June 11th: Schuyler 4H night at Czechland Lake with roughly 20 people (families of all ages). Kids went fishing, exploring and critter catching, and finished the night with smores. See pictures.
• June 15th: Lion's Club Fishing Derby at Lake Wanahoo - CANCELED
• June 17th: KSI Nature Journaling with 17 students.
• June 18th: Wildflower Bouquets KSI with 13 kids.
• June 19th: Happy Hearts Daycare Morning at the Lake - CANCELED
• June 20th: KSI Disc golf AM had 22 kids & Cedar Bluffs summer school program field trip PM CANCELED. Wildflowers and Wine night was postponed until this day and had close to 25 attendees. 

Rationale:  This was my biggest impact year to date since I began in December of 2020. Below is a breakdown of the impact on youth and adults for every full year I've been here.

• FY 2021 - 809 youth, 43 adults
• FY 2022 - 2,774 youth, 295 adults. These numbers do not include the 513 students that attended both the land and range judging contests we hosted and co-hosted that year.
• FY 2023 3,504 youth, 326 adults.

My goal for FY 2023 was to reach two new schools I've never been to for educational visits. Arlington, Linden Elementary (Fremont), Archbishop Bergan Early Childhood Center, Scribner Snyder, and Ashland Greenwood were the five new schools I worked with, amongst regular visits to North Bend, Wahoo Public, St. Wenceslaus, Lindsay Elementary, Schuyler, Newman Grove, and East Butler.

I hosted 12 NRD events compared to 10 the previous year. 10/12 months we hosted a Coffee Lakeside. We provided education to every grade level K-12 in schools across our district. I gained over 70 people to my email listserv, bringing the number from 130 to over 200 people. This is imperative when sharing information about the LPNNRD and specifically the education department. 

Sending out a hard copy mailing to all the schools in our district; emails to all school administration and teachers; as well as a heavier social media presence were imperative in getting into more classrooms. Andrew Tonnies sharing these on social media directly impacted my ability to get into more North Bend Classrooms, as they specifically mentioned seeing it from him. Please help spread the word about the opportunities we provide! Building great relationships with individual teachers has them asking for me to return. I will continue to push our reach into the furthest corners of our district and look for unique ways to bring learning opportunities to people of all ages. 

Rationale:  Routine sampling completed, bills mailed 7/1, and staff continues work on lead service line inventory.

Rationale:  The RWD was contacted by a rural resident along our Bruno rural water line and would like to hook up to our system.  This particular residence is located on the opposite side of the Bruno/David City highway and will pose a unique challenge.  Elliott is looking into the feasibility (costs) and reaching out contractors, and the highway department/DOT.
Routine sampling completed, bills mailed 7/1, and staff continues work on lead service line inventory.

Rationale:  Dave Hume recommends utilizing the current scoring sheet for variances until LRE has a chance to review the process.  A scoring sheet is attached which the staff is planning on using for the 2024 variances.  This is the scoring sheet that has been used since 2021.  

Rationale: 

The total number of approved permits for 2024 is 18

Location of Approved Well Permits for 2024: Correct as of 6/19/2024

County	Irrigation - New	Irrigation - Replacement	Stock	Commercial	Municipal	Other	Total
Butler	3 supplemental	2					5
Colfax	1						1
Dodge	1					1	2
Boone
Madison
Platte		3					3
Saunders	5	2					7
Total	10	7				1	18

 

Rationale:  Becky Appleford and Phil Luebbert presented at the Committee Meeting on the Drought Plan Proposal to include in the Hazard Mitigation Plan. This is a 75-25 cost share grant with NRD share of the $95,000 proposal being $23,750.

This will allow the NRD to assist communities in drought awareness and determine their needs in preparing for a drought.  

Attached is an updated proposal. 

Rationale:  Attached is an invoice for a nitrate assessment project for Shell Creek of $9,189.16 per contract.  

Rationale:  An invoice is attached for $1,920.00 which is part of the contract with LRE.  The posters attached were displayed at the stakeholder meetings along with the presentation shown. 
At the June Board meeting, $35,000 was approved to be included in next year's budget to review groundwater level graphs and triggers.     

Rationale:  The policy that was presented at the May Water Committee is attached.  One change is the RO units requirement for nitrates from 3 ppm to 6 ppm for the acceptable number after installation of the units. 
Staff recommends putting $20,000 into next year's budget.  

Suggestions to include in the policy from the Committee meeting would be a followup on operation and maintenance after 1 or 2 years.  It was also suggested that the unit needs to stay with the residence once installed.  
 

Rationale: 

2023 is the twenty-first year for this Phase 2 Area. 

Year	Nitrate-nitrogen Range	Percent Nitrate-nitrogen 0 to 8.0 ppm	Percent Nitrate-nitrogen 8.01 to 10.00 ppm	Percent Nitrate-nitrogen 10.01 to 15 ppm	Percent Nitrate-nitrogen greater than 15 ppm
2004	0 to 25 ppm	46.3% (44 of 95)	8.4% (8 of 95)	45.3% (43 of 95)
2005	0 to 25 ppm	47% (44 of 94)	15% (14 of 94)	38% (36 of 94)
2006	0 to 24 ppm	41% (29 of 71)	14% (10 of 71)	45% (32 of 71)
2007	0 to 31 ppm	48% (48 of 100)	9% (9 of 100)	43% (43 of 100)
2008	0 to 28 ppm	53.75% (43 of 80)	7.5% (6 of 80)	38.75% (31 of 80)
2009	0 to 22 ppm	45.5% (41 of 90)	15.5% (14 of 90)	39% (35 of 90)
2010	0 to 35.7 ppm	48.65% (54 of 111)	11.71% (13 of 111)	39.64% (44 of 111)
2011	0 to 26.6 ppm	51% (56 of 110)	6% (7 of 110)	43% (47 of 110)
2012	0 to 28.9 ppm	57% (61 of 107)	9% (10 of 107)	34% (36 of 107)
2013	0 to 25.8 ppm	50% (53 of 107)	9% (10 of 107)	14% (44 of 107)	26%
2014	0 to 22.3 ppm	51% (55 of 108)	13% (14 of 108)	18% (39 of 108)	20%
2015	0 to 32.3 ppm	43% (31 of 72)	8% (6 of 72)	14% (35 of 72)	33%
2016	0 to 35.1 ppm	34% (25 of 74)	11% (8 of 74)	26% (41 of 74)	26%
2017	0 to 23.5 ppm	36% (27 of 74)	15% (11 of 74)	19% (36 of 74)	22%
2018	0 to 30.9 ppm	40% (25 of 63)	11% (7 of 63)	22% (31 of 63)	28%
2019	0 to 24.5 ppm	46% (22 of 48)	10% (5 of 48)	28% (21 of 48)	22%
2020	0 to 20.5 ppm	33.33% (20 of 60)	13.33% (8 of 60)	35% (21 of 60)	18.33% (11 of 60)
2021	0.12 to 27.7 ppm	40.6% (26 of 64)	15.6% (10 of 64)	25% (16 of 64)	18.8% (12 of 64)
2022	0.13 to 23.0 ppm	43.75% (28 of 64)	12.50% (8 pf 64)	26.56% (17 of 64)	17.19% (11 of 64)
2023	0 to 19.8 ppm	50.8% (32 of 63)	15.9% (10 of 63)	20.6% (13 of 63)	12.7% (8 of 63)

Rationale: 

2023 is the eighth year of this Phase 3 Area.  This Phase 3 area went into effect September 1, 2015.  The 55 sections of this area first went into a Phase 2 Area in 2004.  The ten sections that were in Phase 2 are now in Phase 3.  As such, the 2020, 2021 and 2022 numbers (at bottom of table) are for 65 sections.

Year	Nitrate-nitrogen Range	Percent Nitrate-nitrogen 0 to 8.0 ppm	Percent Nitrate-nitrogen 8.01 to 10.00 ppm	Percent Nitrate-nitrogen 10.01 to 15 ppm	Percent Nitrate-nitrogen greater than 15 ppm
2004	0 to 47 ppm	30% (42 of 139)	10% (14 of 139)	60% (83 of 139)
2005	0 to 120 ppm	31.3% (74 of 236)	10.2% (24 of 236)	58.5% (138 of 236)
2006	0 to 53 ppm	28% (50 of 181)	14% (26 of 181)	58% (105 of 181)
2007	0 to 99 ppm	32% (75 of 231)	10% (22 of 231)	58% (134 of 227)
2008	0 to 46 ppm	28% (53 of 190)	12% (23 of 190)	60% (114 of 190)
2009	0 to 57 ppm	33% (72 of 216)	6% (13 of 216)	61% (131 of 216)
2010	0 to 57.5 ppm	31% (70 of 229)	7% (15 of 229)	62% (142 of 229)
2011	0 to 65.8 ppm	28% (67 of 241)	9% (21 of 241)	63% (153 of 241)
2012	0 to 52.6 ppm	29% (70 of 241)	9% (21 of 241)	30% (150 of 241)	31%
2013	0 to 94.0 ppm	25% (63 of 252)	9% (23 of 252)	31% (166 of 252)	36%
2014	0 to 101.0 ppm	27% (68 of 251)	9% (22 of 251)	27% (161 of 251)	37%
2015	0 to 53.3 ppm	23% (55 of 238)	12% (29 of 238)	25% (154 of 238)	41%
2016	0 to 50.5 ppm	25% (58 of 228)	10% (22 of 228)	26% (148 of 228)	40%
2017	0 to 53.4 ppm	25% (60 of 238)	6% (14 of 238)	29% (164 of 238)	41%
2018	0 to 56.9 ppm	26.5% (50 of 189)	6.3% (12 of 189)	25% (127 of 189)	42%
2019	0 to 39.4 ppm	25% (53 of 209)	11% (22 of 209)	23% (134 of 209)	42%
2020	0 to 50.8 ppm	26% (69 of 261)	6% (15 of 261)	26% (66 of 257)	43% (110 of 257)
2021	0 to 43.0 ppm	25.5% (67 of 263)	8.4% (22 of 263)	24.3% (64 o 263)	41.8% (109 of 263)
2022	0 to 58.5 ppm	23.0% (57 of 248)	6.45% (16 of 248)	29.43% (73 of 248)	41.12% (102 of 248)
2023	0 to 46.5 ppm	26% (68 of 263)	6% (17 of 263)	24% (63 of 263)	44% (115 of 263)

 

Rationale:  Attached are the streams that will be included in the model that shows flowing water.  

Rationale: 

For 2024, we have 653 renewals and 36 new permit applications for a current total of 689.  Inspections for 39 renewal permits, and 27 new permits have been completed.
Report is attached.

Rationale:  Staff have been sampling monitoring wells throughout the district for nitrates, irrigation suitability and pesticides.  The plan is to assist Newman Grove and Platte Center with more extensive sampling in their Wellhead Protection Areas.         

Rationale: 

There are no new wells that have been reviewed and approved for decommissioning since the last Committee meeting.

 

Rationale: 

no new wells have been plugged, reviewed, and ready for cost share payment approval this month.

Well Owner	Type of Well	Cost Share Estimate	County

 

Rationale:  From the awareness that LPN has been conducting, a producer in the area planted soybeans in the rotation with the local elevator exchanging for corn.

Rationale:  Attached is the ENWRA budget for 2024-25.  The LPNNRD contribution is $30,000 per year with Katie Cameron making a presentation on the projects this fall.   

Discussion and presentation on UNL Mesonet Weather Stations were given.  The following is the website to obtain that information. 

https://mesonet.unl.edu

Attached is some additional information about the weather stations.  
 

Rationale:  Attached are some new ideas for projects or education to include in the drought consortium work plan.  

Rationale:  This week's beach Bacteria and Harmful Algal Bloom results are now posted on the NDEE web page (Current Health Alerts and Sampling Results For This Week). 


Good news! There will be no lakes on Health Alert this week. Iron Horse Trail Lake and Maskenthine Reservoir will be removed from Health Alert.
There will be 0 beaches on Health Alert this week.

Current Lakes on "Health Alert"
Lake	County	Microcystin (ppb)	Sample Date
NONE!!!

When a lake exceeds 8 ppb of microcystin it will be placed on Health Alert. If a lake is under a Health Alert, signs will be posted recommending people avoid full body contact activities such as swimming, wading, skiing, jet skiing, etc. 
We have 5 beaches with E.coli testing above 235 colonies/100 ml.

Lakes with High E.coli Bacteria
Lake	County	E.coli (MPN)	Sample Date
Carter Lake (Omaha)	Douglas	387	6/17/2024
Fremont Lake No. 9 (SRA)	Dodge	>2,419	6/17/2024
Harry Strunk Lake (Medicine Creek Reservoir)	Frontier	238	6/17/2024
Lewis & Clark Reservoir at Weigand	Knox	>2,419	6/17/2024
Maple Creek Recreation Area Lake	Colfax	1,300	6/17/2024

When E. coli bacteria levels test above 235 colonies/100 ml a Health Alert is not issued. However, conditions are at a higher risk to human health when swimming. Considering the more rapid changes in bacteria conditions, signs are not posted with these higher levels. Although, we want people to be aware of beach conditions and use their own judgment as to whether they use a listed water body.
Have a good day.

Justin Haas
State Lakes Coordinator
Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy
P.O. Box 98922
245 Fallbrook Blvd., Suite 100
Lincoln, Nebraska 68509-8922
Direct: 402-471-4224 | Main office: 402-471-2186
http://dee.ne.gov | Twitter | Facebook

Rationale:  Attached is an interview in Irrigation Leader with Governor Jim Pillen.  

Rationale: 

24-D-1

TOM SCHRAK

$                       3,594.56

Wildlife Habitat (1912 trees)

Rationale:     An update meeting on 6/24 with JWMAB members, JEO, NRCS, NRD, and USACE discussing comments from state NRCS on watershed plan economics and environmental planning.  Items to be addressed before Plan EA submitted to National NRCS in Little Rock:

• Economics: issues with monetizing wetland benefits - JEO is not moving forward with this scenario.  There will be recalculations for revised BCA, looks like ~0.95:1
• Environmental: Platte River depletion/accretion calculations.  JEO and NRCS needed to clarify how to proceed with this element.  There is also concerns as to status of existing wetlands within detention cell area and how that will impact permitting potential.

The extra review by state NRCS should decrease the time for review at national and the timeline is still on for Plan review by fall.
 

Rationale:  The North Bend drainage ditch project is lingering in the easement acquisition process as the engineer has submitted another change order requesting additional funds.
Larry Ruzicka plans to attend next month's Projects Committee meeting to request assistance on the lower (South) end of Central cutoff ditch.  A preliminary plan and estimate is attached.

Rationale:  A SCWIG meeting (agenda attached) was held 6/18 in Columbus, topics:

• South benching project: Cech Const awarded the contract, and yet to begin due to weather.
• Bill Bos Projects: waiting on contractors for septic replacements, well work and the Runge project.  Inspected the Sprunk grade stabilization with NRCS engineers and reassured Tom that it was functioning properly.
• SCWIG will be looking at incorporating cover crops as a cost-shareable BMP.
• Shell Creek Celebration 9/12/24 at Bailey's Shed with guest presentations and a tour of Shell Creek Benching/UP Bridge Project

Rationale: 

Rod Flodman

Onsite Wastewater

$6,300

Rationale:  The Biological Assessement (BA) received approval from FWS and this was the expected last piece to our USACE 404 permit.  We were told not to expect word on permit before 6/30.
On 7/1 NRD will be present at Saunders Co Planning to speak to our application for a Conditional Use Permit for construction of the first three structures.
Olsson delivered final designs to DNR on 6/14

Rationale: 
On 6/18 Vanek's signed easement paperwork and on 6/21 Snitily signed the final easement for the first three sites.
On 6/20, Danielle Allen and Elliott met with Leonard Cuda, owner, and Dave and Paul Pearson, operators, for site 85 to begin process for next set of easements.  Allen and Elliott also met with Wahoo Library Board, owners for a parcel on site 66.  Allen and Elliott have more meetings scheduled the week of 7/1.

 

Rationale:  The NRD has receieved multiple S&E complaints recently due to intense rains.  Elliott is meeting with involved parties, the S&E complaint process:

• NRD is contacted by landowner with sedimentation/erosion damage due to neighboring field operation.  
• NRD staff meets with owner(s) on site to inspect and determine S&E "validity"; 5 ton/ac/yr TOTAL soil loss
• Valid S&E complaint -> advise owner to contact USDA Farm Service for a compliance check (assuming Farm Program participant)
• NRD will contact (via letter) landowner of property in question and explain S&E status and options for NRD assistance to mitigate the situation.
• NRD monitors S&E cases until resolution (management practice or structural solution) is decided upon.

Rationale:  The first round of meetings will wrap up with a virtual meeting on Wednesday, June 26 at 10:00 am.  These meetings are for jurisdictions (Entities able to levy taxes: Counties, Townships, Fire Departments, Schools, ect.)  The first two occurred in Wanahoo on 6/17 and in David City on 6/20.  The jurisdiction representatives all have homework, worksheets due on July 26, that will help complete their jurisdictional profile.  Things like a listing of vital facilities and equipment and whether they have backup power etc.  An invoice and more detailed progress report is attached. 

Rationale:  Jason Buss with Nebraska Trails Foundation will be in person at Committee to explain the proposed Trail-With-Rail project from David City to Columbus.  The Nebraska Trails Foundation is requesting the LPNNRD be the fiscal agent for the Federal ATIIP grant, filing in line with the letter of support approved in January of 2023.

- This project is for a Rail-with-Trail easement with Burlington Northern Santa Fe, which means the Property will remain owned by the railroad.  
- The ATIIP grant is for a feasibility study to be conducted by the railroad to evaluate the potential project for easement with preliminary engineering and environmental.  
- The Foundation is not asking the Lower Platte North NRD for any part of the $20,000 matching funds.  They will provide these funds through the Nebraska Trails Foundation, Columbus Area Recreational Trails, Bike Walk Nebraska, The Rails to Trails Conservancy and other public entities involved.
-They are not asking for NRD to draft the grant, they have drafted it for review prior to submission including letters of support from Columbus, David City, Bellwood and Butler County.  

The Foundation is excited to help take this next step of the project with the NRD.  They are fortunate to have the same process happening simultaneously with the Rail-with-Trail project from Lincoln to Valparaiso with the Lower Platte South NRD.  Together these projects will very nearly connect Columbus to Lincoln and the other trail networks continuing the Great American Rail Trail.

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.