November 10, 2025 at 4:30 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:  This month's education program will be the Shell Creek Students' presentation on their ongoing Shell Creek Sampling.

Rationale:  The November Board Meeting will be held at the Newman Grove Ag Education Building. The Shell Creek students will give their annual update at 4:30 p.m. Lunch will be provided after the Student update and Board Meeting will follow. 

Rationale: 

December Committee Meetings 

Our normal Committee Meeting day would be Thanksgiving Day, November 27th.  The meetings will be held as follows:

Projects Committee - Tuesday, November 25th - 7:30 am
Operations Committee - Tuesday, November 25th- 8:30 am
Water Committee - Tuesday, November 25th - 9:30 am
Executive Committee - Tuesday, November 25th - 11:00 am

January Committee Meetings

Our normal Committee Meeting day would be New Year's Day, which is Thursday, January 1, 2026.  The January Committee Meetings will be held as follows:

Projects Committee - Tuesday, January 6th - 7:30 am
Operations Committee - Tuesday, January 6th - 8:30 am
Water Committee - Tuesday, January 6th - 9:30 am
Executive Committee - Tuesday, January 6th - 11:00 am


 

Rationale:  Attached is an amendment #3 from HELM that will add network equipment and improve performance and reliability for connectivity to the maintenance building, Clint Johannes Education Building, and Guardshack at a cost not to exceed $5,270.  

Rationale: 

We have a need for a printer/scanner for the Water Department in the basement. In the process of getting quotes for a printer/scanner it was brought to our attention that Microsoft is phasing out traditional print servers and ending support for basic authentication in early 2026. Microsoft is moving to Universal Print and Windows Protected Print Mode (WPP) that eliminates the need for third-party print drivers and enhances security.

Century Business Products has prepared a proposal to upgrade our current copier/scanner, add a color printer/scanner in the basement and update our printer at the front desk. Both of the printers/scanners will have modern platforms like Microsoft Exchange 365 and Universal Print and WPP. 

Our current monthly cost is $324.39 for one copier/scanner. They have proposed upgrading our current copier, adding one in the basement and updating the front desk printer. The new monthly cost would be $578.26 with supplies and service included. (see attachment)

Rationale: 

We are currently advertising to fill our vacant Water Resources Technician position and have eight applicants as of today.  Resumes are due November 14th. 

Rationale: 

Grant will be available to review the September Financial Statements.  

Kyle Overturf informed us he is waiting for the Feds to release the Compliance Supplement for the Single Audit. They cannot issue the financials until the Final Compliance Supplement comes out. 

Rationale: 

There is nothing to consider for unfinished business.

Rationale:  Nothing to report.

Rationale: 

The O & M crew assisted with State land judging preparation and the event. We are dealing with beaver issues on 2–3 of the Cottonwood dams. Continued spraying trees when the weather was warmer and sprayed some Phragmites. Assisted in drone spraying Canada Thistle on two Sand/Duck Creek dams.

Rationale:  We are waiting for the Federal Government to open to gain their opinion on HDR's preliminary scope and fee estimate for various tasks needed to complete the design services for Cottonwood 21-A.

Rationale:  Last month, the scope of services and fees were approved for the Wanahoo dam spillway joint repairs and stilling basin mitigation through Phase II and Phase III — bidding & construction. An executable agreement for the Wanahoo Phase II/III services was signed and Houston is proceeding.

Rationale:  An RFP is out for the repairs to the trail and jetties. The bids are due Friday, November 7th and will be reviewed at the Board Meeting for a possible decision.

Attached sheet summarizes bids for the Lake Wanahoo Jetty and Trail Repair. We received 7 bids ranging from $89,569 and $167,570. A motion will be needed at Board Meeting to accept the low bid from Jansa Earthworks in the amount of $89,569.40.

Rationale:  Find Bessey Nursery's price list attached. The price of bareroot seedlings has risen ten cents to $1.05 for 2-year-old seedlings and $1.00 for 1-year-olds. There are 5 species not offered through their selection due to staffing shortages. For those trees not offered, we must order out of state. Out-of-state prices range from $1.10 to $1.50.
We currently sell our handplants at $1.25 and machine plantings at $2.50. 
With some discussion, a motion was made.

Rationale:  The District will need a tree cooler for our tree program. Staff is planning on a 16' x 18' x 8' cooler to be built in the vehicle shed. Attached are quotes: two are wood construction with a concrete floor but doesn't include a refrigeration unit and electrical. The other quote is a pre-fab cooler with cooling unit but doesn't include the concrete floor, electrical or refrigeration installation.
Wood construction quotes are Buckmaster Const. $19,551 and Hancock Const. $11,800. C-Plus Refrigeration Equip. $27,084.
Staff is recommending a wooden structure. We did receive one quote for just the concrete floor from R & B Construction at $3,870.
We received 4 quotes (attached) from refrigeration companies; Tech Masters - $14,503.80, Marking Refrigeration - $14,550.00 and $15,300.00 w/ heater, and Kaar Sheet Metal - $16,761.87.
Electrical would be separate.
John Goldsberry will contact a source for a possible used pre-fab unit before the Board meeting, then a decision and possible motion can be made.

Rationale:  Chuck Andel hayed Homestead Rec. Area and took 84 bales at 66.3 tons and paid the district $4,442.10.
Dan Kadavy hayed Czechland Rec. Area and took 125 bales at 75 tons and paid the district $3,375.00.

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

Rationale: 

For the month of September, the District received $2,987.00 in annual park permit revenue.

Rationale: 

For the month of September, the District received $16,009.52 in camping revenue.

 

Sets Your Sites has offered to set up power monitoring devices (at no initial charge to the District) inside the electrical camper pedestals at Czechland's camping area.  The goal is to help us know when someone shows up to camp during the hours we are not around.  

Rationale:  The Clint Johannes Education Building at Lake Wanahoo was rented 13 times in October, with 1 NRD event. Revenue for the month was $1,225.

Rationale: 

E.J. Hancock will be here to describe and answer questions regarding his proposed art/conservation project for our Wanahoo Recreation Area.

Rationale:  KTIC radio ads schedule:
October: no-till drills
November: water use reports due December 15
These ads are attached.


Digital display ad schedule:
September 8 - December 31, 2025: Environmental Education
September 8 - October 31, 2025: Outdoor recreation
October 22 - February 28, 2025: Tree orders
Attached is the campaign report for September 1 - October 28.

Campaign Overview
Total Impressions: 77,773
Total Clicks: 113
Click-Through Rate (CTR): 0.15%
Site Visits: 113
Top Locations: Fremont and Wahoo led in impressions and engagement. Wahoo had the highest CTR at 0.25%.
Device Breakdown: Mobile accounted for over 72% of impressions, reinforcing the importance of mobile-optimized creatives.
 

Rationale: 

Top Posts for Facebook and X during October included:
• October Coffee, Lakeside Flyer
• RFP for Wanahoo’s May 2024 flood event rehabilitation
• Nitrogen Reduction Incentive Act program
• Lakeview FFA Test Your Well Night flyer
• Press Release and photos from State Land Judging at Wanahoo

On the LPNNRD website, we received traffic from NARD (31), Facebook (24), Nebraska tourism (5).

The full reports are attached. 
 

Rationale: 

• October 8th: Survival club — surviving natural disasters (20)
• October 9th: Coffee Lakeside - Elkhorn Coffee Company (20)
• October 22nd: State Land Judging (see attachment)
  • 2025 State Land Judging Individual Champions:
    1. Natalie Nutzman, Milford
    2. Ryan Rempel, Beatrice
    3. Ayzlee Haertel, Elmwood-Murdock
    4. Carson Towle, Elmwood-Murdock
    5. Preston Sjuts, Doniphan-Trumbull
    2025 State Land Judging Team Champions:
    1. Elmwood-Murdock (Ayzlee Haertel, Carson Towle, Grayson Schroll, Cami Dieter)
    2. Heartland (Riley Quiring, Madalyn Janzen, Lane Farrall, Faith Hiebner)
    3. Beatrice (Ryan Rempel, Savannah Bolli, Zeb Edeal, Emily Doyza)
    4. Doniphan-Trumbull (Preston Sjuts, Jon Kovanda, Riley Bishop, Joe Schuler)
    5. Syracuse (Kaden Knake, Ryan Damme, Drew Paulson, Baylor Borer)
• October 24th: St. Wenceslaus pre-K - Trees (28)

Rationale: 

• November 13th: Coffee Lakeside - Water Department 
• November 19th: David City HAL am & Survival Club PM

TBD: St. Wenceslaus Pre-K, Fremont H.S., Science and Scenes event, other classroom visits. 

Rationale:  Currently working on setting up dates to view the 3 projects and the presentations that will be given to either the committee or the board. 

Do we want to release the next round of grant money with a due date in December? Or do we want to stick with the late spring due date?

Rationale: 

Adventure Camp About the Environment (ACE Camp) is a 4-day, 3-night summer camp that emphasizes plant-soil-animal relationships, range management, wildlife, aquatics, forestry, and water quality. The camp features field and classroom activities designed to provide a varied, fun, and educational summer camp experience.

Recreational activities at ACE Camp include fishing, collecting macroinvertebrates, close encounters with educational animals, campfires, swimming, and the famous Water Rockets activity. 

Students will complete camp with a better awareness of natural resources careers by learning from professionals who work in those fields every day.

ACE Camp takes place in June. After many years at the Nebraska State 4-H Camp near Halsey, ACE Camp is now held near Burwell at Kamp Kaleo.

Students going into 7th and 8th grade from across Nebraska take part in ACE Camp. 

Fees and registration are $235 per camper. The Lower Platte North NRD would like to sponsor up to 10 students with a full camp fee reimbursement in FY 2026 ($2,350).

Rationale:  Routine monthly sampling, meters read, bills to be mailed 10/31

Rationale: 

Representatives from the Village of Abie and JEO were present to discuss moving forward with incorporating Abie into the Bruno RWD.  Attached is JEO's scope of services proposal to update the study to submit for funding approval.  Also attached is a draft interlocal agreement between Abie and the NRD for moving forward with study and a potential rural water district.

The Lower Platte North Natural Resources District (LPNNRD) has been working in coordination with the Village of Abie on the development of the Village of Abie Rural Water District project. JEO Consulting Group, Inc. (JEO) previously completed the original feasibility and engineering study for this project, establishing detailed familiarity with the technical, environmental, and design aspects of the proposed system.  In consultation with the Nebraska Department of Water, Energy, and Environment, the District has received an opinion confirming that JEO’s proposed scope of services and associated fees are fair and reasonable for the work to be performed. Given JEO’s prior involvement, specialized knowledge, and demonstrated capability, the LPNNRD finds that retaining JEO through a sole source selection is in the best interest of project efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and continuity.

The Lower Platte North Natural Resources District (LPNNRD) and the Village of Abie have cooperatively developed an Interlocal Agreement to advance the Village of Abie Rural Water District project. Under the terms of the agreement, project costs will be shared equally between the District and the Village on a 50/50 basis. The agreement further specifies that the District will bill the Village of Abie for its share of the project costs in two equal installments, due on July 1, 2026 and July 1, 2027.

Routine monthly sampling completed, meters read, and bills to be mailed 10/31

Rationale:  Last month, the Committee asked staff to reach out to Dan Wondercheck as his application scored 385.78, but the field had 21.5% Class 6 soils.  Dan is willing to work with the NRD on this site to get it approved.  Staff has redrawn the map which allows this site to meet the criteria.  Dan had already leveled the field and planted a cover crop, so the field would look different.  (Staff had not visited the site to verify it).  Dan would be asking to run the pivot through the area not approved that would need to be dry. 
  
A map and scoring sheet are attached.  The Committee reviewed the map provided by staff, which showed only a small sliver would be needed to meet the criteria of less than 20% of Class 6 soils.  It was suggested to o continue requiring cover crops on the soils.  

Jon Engel received an expansion of acres variance LPN-V-024-0645 for 35 acres.  Jon would like an extension on this variance to get his pivot installed.  Staff would recommend a 6-month extension. 

Rationale:  A presentation will be given by DWEE and LPN staff for the annual update on the V-IMP.  

Rationale:  The GWMP is going through review at DWEE, which they have 90 days to submit comments.  

Jon Mohr from LRE (Spheros Environmental will be the new name) explained the scope of service offered by them to evaluate the current variance scoring and recommended changes to reflect the updated data.  The other changes included groundwater quantity management procedures along with finalizing the GWMP for a total cost of $26,200 for all three tasks.  (Attachment explaining all the tasks)

These were recommended updates from the GWMP and the Committee felt it would be beneficial to consider these tasks.  

Rationale:  LRE will give an update on the special quantity subareas. The plan is to present this information to producers in the first week of December.  

Rationale:  Robinson MeadowBrook G.P. applied on 12 fields for soil moisture sensors. The application allows for 50% up to $750 with one application per entity.  This is a program the NRD started in 2021 to encourage producers to install soil moisture sensors.  

Attachment.

Rationale:  The flow meter maintenance program will be taking place in Madison, Platte and Boone counties. Postcards were sent out to producers earlier this week. 

Rationale:  Staff is conducting fall water level measurements.  

Rationale: 

No new wells have been reviewed and approved for decommissioning since the last Committee meeting.

 

Rationale: 

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

Well Owner	Type of Well	Cost Share Estimate	County

 

Rationale:  An invoice for Richard Hoppe has been submitted for our Flow Meter Cost Share Program for 2 meters with the total cost share amount being $2,000. 

Rationale:  The group did not receive funding from the WSF grant but is planning on doing small-scale research in specific areas.  Katie will be reaching out for areas where the LPN would like to utilize the Ttem equipment.  

Attached is a graph with tentative funding within the ENWRA budget. 

Rationale:  The group is planning on meeting on Wednesday, November 12 at 10 am in the Board Room at Lower Platte North NRD. 

Rationale:  The Source Water Grants for Mead and Yutan were not approved. We have been in contact with both communities to discuss how they want to proceed.

Jake Maslonka will be attending the village of Malmo board meeting on November 3rd to discuss Wellhead Protection with them.

Rationale: 

The 2nd Annual UNL-TAPS (Testing AG Performance Solutions) Sprinkler Irrigated Corn Farm Management Competition will be conducted in 2026 at the Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center (ENREEC) near Mead, NE. The competition has three awards: 1) most profitable; 2) highest input use efficiency; and 3) greatest grain yield. The farm management competition will host approximately 30 teams made up of individuals and groups. Each team will be assigned a "farm" comprised of four randomized plots within the same field, totaling approximately one-half of an acre. TAPS personnel will manage each farm (i.e., plots) based on participants’ management decisions. The yields and costs from each farm will be scaled to represent 1,500 acres of production, as this provides an opportunity to market an amount of grain that is more representative of a modern size farm. Participants will make a series of seven farm management decisions throughout the contest period, that include crop insurance selection, hybrid type, seeding rate, irrigation management, nitrogen management, fungicide application, and grain marketing. The production management decisions made by each team will be imposed on the individual team’s assigned plots under the variable rate center pivot irrigation system at ENREEC. All other management categories will be controlled by the TAPS team, e.g.  planting date, residue/soil management, etc. These decisions will be based on best management practices and be identical across all farms. 

Each farm’s decisions and farm specific information will be kept until the season’s end, and only available to authorized team members and TAPS personnel. Information and data that is general in nature, including plot photos, weather, crop status (e.g., growth stage advancement), and data collected by various technologies, water sensors, aerial photographs, etc., will be posted to the website, as it is collected. Supporting information, such as leaf area index, plant height, and plant nitrogen uptake may be made available to the participants as available or at the end of the growing season.  Each competitor will have an opportunity to use innovative technology, test new methods, observe different approaches to solving similar issues, socialize, and discuss the problems, successes, and challenges of the farming business.

Registration is free to participants via eternal contributions to support the program.  Actual costs are estimated at $500 per team.  Nine other NRDs contribute to TAPS, with the vast majority contributing $1,000.  Discussion is requested to support TAPS along with promoting the program to LPNNRD producers.  NRD staff are planning to participate.

 

Rationale:  Partners are working to schedule a meeting before the end of the year.  Directors will be notified once a date is picked.

Rationale:  Attached is an invoice for the NRD's portion of the West Fremont/Platte Township Scoping project.  Also attached is the interlocal agreement and project closeout documentation.

Rationale:  The next scheduled meeting is November 18th with December 2nd as a backup date.  A preliminary design and cost estimate for the Church/School project is expected soon.
Bill submitted two completed septic system upgrades:
 August Runge III in Platte County.  Total cost was $14,775.56.  SCWIG's 60% cost share puts the payment at $8,865.34.
Steve Gehring in Platte County.  Total cost = $14,083.70.  SCWIC 60% cost-share = $8,450.22
We received an application for septic system upgrade from James & Linda Mostek of Newman Grove; 60% cost-share estimate $8,600

Rationale:  Monthly construction update highlights:
TCI mobilized to site 26A and completed sand drain installation, and has principal spillway pipe installed and ready for riser construction.
Shanahan moved back to site 27 to resume embankment work; finished channel cleanout and started auxiliary spillway excavation.  They also installed two settlement plates; the plates are used to monitor embankment settling to ensure that no tolerances are exceeded.  Survey shots are conducted weekly during embankment fill.
Attached are:

• latest construction log with photos, and 26A pipe
• Olsson invoice (construction oversight)
• TCI invoice

Rationale:  Site 77 is currently under national review with NRCS; the review will be completed by a contracted consultant. 
Sites 84 & 55 have been reviewed by State dam safety.
Our 404 permit completed the public comment period last month.  Coordination with NRCS on final biological assessment has been delayed due to government shutdown.

Rationale:  Invoice attached

Rationale:  Nothing new to report due to government shutdown.

Rationale: 

Our recently approved agreement was presented to the County Commissioners on October 28th.  The County Commissioners were concerned about long term liabilities for non-routine maintenance/repairs.  We are currently working through some updates to the interlocal agreement that the NRD will present again at the next County Commissioners meeting on November 4th, 9:00am.  This update will need to be approved at the Board Meeting.  The most recent draft including the update is attached.

Discussion regarding the ability for General Manager Gottschalk to approve potential funding offer from the State is requested.

The Lower Platte North Natural Resources District (LPNNRD) and Saunders County, Nebraska (County), have been cooperatively engaged in the Morse Bluff Dike Project to enhance flood protection and infrastructure resiliency. An amended Interlocal Agreement between the District and the County has been prepared to update project terms and responsibilities, including the retention of Mainelli Wagner & Associates, Inc. as the engineering consultant for the project through a sole source selection. Mainelli Wagner has extensive prior experience with the Morse Bluff Dike system, is the engineer of record for the County, and is uniquely qualified to complete the necessary design and construction oversight efficiently and cost-effectively.  Additionally, the District anticipates receiving financial assistance for this project through the Nebraska Department of Water, Energy, and Environment (NDWEE) and desires to authorize staff to execute related funding agreements as they become available.

A motion will be needed at Board Meeting - I move that the Lower Platte North Natural Resources District approve the Amended Interlocal Agreement with Saunders County for the Morse Bluff Dike Project, including the retention of Mainelli Wagner & Associates, Inc. as the sole source engineering consultant for the project.  Further, I move to authorize the General Manager to sign and execute all necessary and future funding agreements with the Nebraska Department of Water, Energy, and Environment related to the Morse Bluff Dike Project.
 

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.