Laurel City Council waiting to move forward on lift station upgrade

LAUREL – The Laurel City Council did not have a lot of new business to discuss and vote on July 8, as it tabled two agenda items.

The one item of new business council members did take action on was a lift station upgrade on Cedar Avenue, which was approved conditionally.

“The ($68,000) bid for this project is from Iowa Pump Works for a new lift station to replace the aging lift station that is in place currently,” Interim Laurel City Administrator Dan Kuhlman said. “The question the council had was whether or not we needed to have multiple bids for this project, or if we could just accept this one bid. The League of Nebraska Municipalities will be answering that question for us.”

The council tabled the other two items of new business for more information at its next meeting.

One of those new business items was either amending the city’s ordinance on all-terrain vehicles or creating a new ordinance to allow golf carts on city streets, which council members previously discussed at their June 10 meeting.

The council asked Laurel City Attorney Keelan Holloway to look into drafting a new ordinance for golf carts with most of the same rules the current ATV ordinance has in place.

“More information and discussion will happen in the following months,” Kuhlman previously said.

The other new business item council members tabled was Cedar County’s request for funding assistance from the city for aerial photos of properties throughout the county.

The county, which is searching for a new company to tackle the phototaking task, has requested $5,000$10,000 per year from the city to help fund this project.

Kuhlman noted the council has reached out to the county because it would like more information on the project before committing city funds.

Ryan Poots, an Omaha-based sales manager for EagleView, gave a presentation on June 25 to the county commissioners on the services the business provides, including aerial imagery, property insights and software.

The potential price tag of entering into an agreement with the company made the commissioners hesitate, with estimated total costs ranging from just over $86,000 to more than $176,000, depending on what proposal the county would go with.

In the meantime, the county is seeking cost estimates from other businesses like EagleView that provide similar services.

In old business July 8, council members heard an update on Quick Med Claims LLC, the company that handles the city’s emergency medical services insurance billing.

“There was an ambulance call where the patron only has Medicare, and no secondary insurance,” Kuhlman previously said. “They had asked Quick Med Claims for a hardship write-off due to being on a fixed budget. I will be working with Quick Med Claims to inquire about a payment plan, or any other form of reconciliation for this account.”

In the update, Kuhlman noted Quick Med Claims is following up with the hardship write-off request, “and asking the individual to get on a payment plan.”

The other old business item the council dealt with was on the ongoing issue of dilapidated houses.

Holloway was not present at the meeting, so a small update was given by Laurel Mayor Keith Knudsen.

“Warrants have been secured to inspect the interior of the houses, and the inspector has been scheduled for those inspections,” Kuhlman said.

Council members approved three of the four building permits listed on the agenda, including for: - Doug Koester: 12-by-8-foot deck/146-foot-long fence/45-by-15foot driveway.

- Randy Patefield: 20-by-18-foot deck.

- Keelan Holloway: 230-foot fence. The council did not approve a permit for Josh Hart, who requested one for a 28-by-40-foot garage addition.

The Josh Hart building permit was tabled for more information. He will need a variance in order to build the garage to his requested specifications.