(CHADRON)-The Chadron city council gave an official welcome to new city manager Wayne Anderson at their meeting Monday night by voting in his employment contract as the new manager. Interim city manager Ted Vastine bade a public farewell to city employees and the community-at-large, although he will be staying on for the next couple of weeks as a consultant for Anderson. Anderson’s first official day will be next Monday, August 13^th.

            The council passed a resolution in support of participation in Nebraska’s Economic Certified Community Program. Nebraska Northwest Development Corporation executive director Deb Cottier shared with the council that the program helps a community be prepared for new business prospects and elevates the community to where some businesses may take notice. There are also two grant-related programs available to members of the program.

            Certified public accountant George Klein presented his audit of the city’s 2010-2011 fiscal year. He reported two main issues of importance, one regarding the need of additional training for current staff in order to better prepare statements and the other regarding interest bearing accounts at two local banks not being fully secured by September 30, 2011. The audit did not disclose any instances of noncompliance or significant deficiencies.

            The council recommended the awarding of two bids for city projects, one for the Chadron airport and the other for a water main replacement on North Mears Street. Public works director Milo Rust recommended that the airport project, which will include cleaning and sealing joints and cracks as well as pavement repair and marking of airport runways, be awarded to Scodeller Construction of Wixom, Mich., for a total price of $671,311.50, subject to approval and funding by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics. Rust said the city of Chadron will be responsible for a little over $29,000 of the cost of the project, whereas the state will chip in another approximate $10,000 more and the FAA will cover the rest. There’s a slight possibility that the construction company will employ local help for the project.

Council members decided to award the water main replacement project to Buettner Construction of Chadron and to roll two blocks of North Mears Street, those between Niobrara and Norfolk Avenues, into the same project for a savings cost of $5,000. The total cost of the project will be $150,000. Utilities superintendent Tom Menke said the city has budgeted $80,000 for the project during this fiscal year and will obtain the additional funding from the upcoming budget cycle. Menke said the project will probably not commence until the weather cools down a little.

 

(Questions? Comments? E-mail news@chadrad.com.)

(Copyright 2012 KCSR/Chadrad Communications, Inc. May not be reproduced in any form without permission.)