Grand Island Economic Development Corporation President Mary Berlie addresses Grand Island’s City Council April 9 about an LB840 grant for Dramco Tool, (Carol Bryant, Central Nebraska Today)
GRAND ISLAND — Grand Island’s City Council unanimously approved an LB840 Job Training Economic Development Grant for Dramco Tool for job creation and training on April 8.
The City Council voted 9-0 to approve the motion. City Council member Chuck Haase was absent from the April 8 meeting.
Mary Berlie, President of the Grand Island Area Economic Development Corporation, gave a presentation about the project.
Berlie described Dramco as “an exceptional business partner in our community.” Dramco has had an apprentice program since 2017. She noted that Dramco created a veterans’ globe statue that is at the Hall County Veterans Park.
According to a memo to City Council from City Administrator Laura McAloon, Dramco has requested $120,000 for 10 new jobs and $40,000 for training for those employees. All positions will have a minimum starting pay of $25 per hour. The grant funding will be distributed over the next five years. The proposed training funds represent approximately 10 percent of the training costs Dramco expects to incur.
Dramco currently has 58 FTE employees and estimates that each new employee will receive a minimum of 160 hours of on-the-job training. According to its website, Dramco Tool does mold building, die building, machine building, design engineering, custom fabrication, and custom machining.
The City Council also voted 9-0 to approve an LB 840 job training and economic development grant for GIX Logistics and termination of an unused 2023 grant.
According to a memo to the City Council from McAloon, the City Attorney’s Office prepared a new contract that is specific to training of employees. The training costs would be reimbursed at 100 percent of the training costs as submitted with the amendment. The new grant would replace the previously approved but unused LB840 grant.
At the start of the April 8 meeting, Mayor Roger Steele praised the Legislature for passing LB17 on March 25. The bill incorporates Camp Augustine into the state parks system.
“This is a very big deal. I want to thank the Nebraska Legislature,” Steele said.
Steele also thanked the City Council for purchasing Camp Augustine, which will be connected to Mormon Island State Recreation Area.
In another matter, the City Council voted 9-0 to approve a request from Hooker Brothers Sand and Gravel for a conditional use permit to operate a sand and gravel operation east of Blaine Street and North of Schimmer Road. The issue was on last month’s agenda, but at the meeting, a neighbor raised a concern about whether the operation would affect a well on his property.
Regional Planning Director Chad Nabity said the city does not anticipate problems with nearby wells. He wrote in a memo to City Council that an additional condition be added to the agreement.
‘Applicant will take reasonable efforts to avoid negatively impacting public health, safety, and welfare during the duration of this conditional use permit such as those that may impair wells on neighboring properties,” the condition said. If there are negative effects, “this conditional use permit may be terminated by the Grand Island City Council prior to its scheduled expiration.”
The conditional use permit is for a 10-year period. At the end of the mining period, Hooker Brothers intends to develop the site for residential uses.
“The wells on neighboring properties are surrounded by existing sandpit lakes within a half mile to the northeast and west. In the opinion of city staff, the level of the lakes is the level of the ground water at any given time, and it is unlikely that this activity would negatively impact those existing wells,” Nabity wrote.
In an presentation to City Council for information only, Chief Financial Officer Patrick Brown gave an update about recommended changes to Chapter 27 of City Code, which provides guidance in procurements made with city funds.
Brown said the updates included reorganization of sections of Chapter 27. He told the City Council that the city has not had a procurement officer since the late 1990s. Some duties have been handled by the city’s legal department.
“Our intention is to get it out of the legal department,” Brown said.
Brown reviews purchases after they have gone through a series of review by people such as department heads. Brown would like to see some cooperative agreements with vendors, such as purchasing office supplies, to lower the cost of those purchases. By reviewing all of the purchases, Brown can look for possible areas where cooperative agreements with vendors could be sought.
The City Council also discussed situations where the Mayor could approve purchases. Originally, that level was proposed for purchases less than $50,000. Council member Mitch Nickerson objected to that amount.
“I think it’s a word called transparency,” Nickerson said. He said that a $50,000 amount with no oversight by the City Council is not right.
Brown then suggested lowering the amount to $10,000. Mayor Roger Steele said he thought that “$10,000 is far more defendable than $50,000.”
Chapter 27 also gives spending levels for awards to be given to city employees to recognize them for years of service to the city. For instance, for an employee who has worked for the city for five years, up to $75 could be spent. For an employee with 35 or more years of experience, up to $225 could be spent.
City Administrator Laura McAloon noted that city department heads had met with Brown to draft the proposed changes to Chapter 27.
An item approved in the consent agenda was approving acceptance of a $50,000 grant from the Peter Kiewit Foundation for the All Aboard for the Stolley Train fundraising committee. The committee is raising funds to renovate the children’s train and adjacent area at Stolley Park. The City Council has approved $150,000 to support the train project. The fundraising committee has a goal of raising $750,000, according to a memo to City Council from Parks and Recreation Director Todd McCoy.
