City Council - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call this meeting to order. This will be the purpose of the public hearing for the annual budget. Could we have a roll call, please?

George Klein.

Here.

Shane Shepherd.

Here.

Mark Graves. Here. Kevin Alexi.

Here.

Clay Anderson.

Here. Okay. As I mentioned, this is a public hearing for the annual budget for fiscal year 2026-27. And if we could have some information presented by the staff regarding the budget, what we're looking at. And if not, I can read some figures to you.

We'll have Michelle give kind of a general brief overview of it, and then we'll answer any questions for you if you have any particular specifics for us.

Hi, Michelle Stoke, finance officer, city of Chadron, 234 Main Street in Chadron, Colorado. so after having gone through the budget at the workshop did i really we're in nebraska shatter nebraska sorry I've been here five years, you'd think I'd remember. After having had the workshop with council and with the first draft and sending out a second draft, we came up with the first reading copy I don't know if you've had a chance to look at it or if you have any questions on it. We made a bunch of cuts and it is now balanced with about 300,000 350,000 in fund balance for the general fund. And there are some errors in this first reading, and I've been working on the second reading ever since this was published, so I have already made a bunch of corrections. But if you find something that you are concerned about, let me know. And I'll double check it, make sure it's been corrected. If not, I'll correct it. It's a first run at this.

I think I'll add just a few things there. I mean, the general fund that we're looking at is we're going to be requesting the $5.8 a million dollars, which is a 7% decrease for our overall budget for the general fund itself. That is with several different areas that we have asked for some decreases in some of the areas. Building and zoning in particular are going to be asked to cut down 12%. And then we did cut the contingent reserves by 53% too as well. in order to make the balanced budget for what was asked for from our workshop for the council itself. As far as when you start going through the individual departments, you can see that several of the things that we've done, especially in fund 13 and several of the other ones, we have moved some of the dollars and cents to some of the other fundings. mechanisms that are available to us which should help us in the long run because it should make more sense as it's being asked for. We did cut out several of the things that you guys did ask for. One was like the city car that we asked for a replacement. You guys told us to probably eliminate that and we did that. Um, we did eliminate the batwing mower, which was another thing out there at the airport, which was asked. And we did eliminate that one too. Those are two of the biggest dollars items that we did cut. But, uh, one of the things that we did, uh, stressed on was we tried to still improve the utilities and the infrastructure of the city itself. Uh, so we did keep the, the street department as strong as possible. But even still then, we're still only looking at probably one block and then probably a lot of patchwork to be done throughout the whole area itself.

so um the items that we had budgeted for the aquatic center um we moved that into fund 45 because we looked at the language on the bond um for the aquatic center and it stated that we could use that money not only for the debt service but also mean maintenance and improvements on the aquatic Center and so since we have an item $30,000 item for the aquatic Center we moved out over into fun 45. some other things we reclassed into different funds we pushed some of the things for the park and what else

Yeah, we moved $20,000 out of the parks and cemetery, moved that into the infrastructure fund of 56, I think. I know it was. And so we've tried to do some of those things as per several of the requests from our council members to do those things. And still stayed with the same maintenance and the overall status. I think, Mark, too, on the page five, page, excuse me, page eight of your council should be that page that you're looking for. Oh, that I'm looking for? Okay.

I think is the one that you're looking at.

That's it? Yeah. Nope, that's fine. So you'd have that. But you'll see that we did move some of the projects around the reclassification in order for us to get the budget balanced properly. And I think, like I said, Michelle and I, we started going through it again and we found a few more things that we need to get changed around a little bit, but for the most part, it's pretty close.

I did have a question in Fund 13. Okay. What page? Where the PD roof was part of the capital expenditures. Right. I did not see that in this one. Right.

We are able to. We've already contacted Weathercraft. Is that right? Weathercraft. They're able to get that work done yet this year. And in Rick's budget, he believes that we have that dollars and cents to do that. So we're not going to budget it for next year. So the $25,000 was pulled out. I also will note that the fire department's doors that we did, we re-estimated that instead of 60, we put that down at 50 for those two new doors to accommodate the new taller apparatuses that are coming in. Was there any other questions that we could possibly answer for you?

I noted grants. That's fund 71. Yes. It shows a decrease of 100%. That's not saying we're not doing any grants. We're just not adding to those balances.

Well, that grant fund is mislabeled, and I do need to change it. That's one of the errors that I had found. And the grants, let me see if I can find it.

Is it CDBG money?

didn't know if that was just pass-through or why like the numbers it's the reclassification of what we've got yeah so we're not really doing anything in in the grants it's it's actually the TIF It's actually the CDBG fund. And once Domino's paid their note in full, we remitted that back to the state. And now, since we have about $2,500 in the bank balance, we're going to close that bank balance and send that off to the state, too, per their request. So we won't have a CDBG. program unless we reapply and then we have to have a certified administrator manager for that and I'm not. I haven't taken that class so that's probably the biggest reason why they're closing it down on us. And plus, we're not using it. Domino's was our last project, our last note on it. So that will not be in next year, probably.

And I think you've explained this before, but I may be a little dense and don't quite comprehend. On these, how do we end up with a negative balance in a budgetary area

A cash balance? Yeah. This one... I mean, I'm sure that then at the end of the year that comes out of a different fund to make it... Yeah, it'll net into the minor funds for audit purposes, so it won't really be a negative overall. cash balance but part of what's going on here is the uh the note was paid off and we sent that money to the state so that's part of the negative balance because it's reducing that and the asset is gone too which is the receivable So that's part of what's going on there. I have to dig into it and fix it before I can close that fund. I have to figure out where that money goes to or if that's even a legitimate balance.

Okay. Any other questions, comments about As we continue to work on it, probably of most interest to the general public is how many tax dollars we're going to be searching for from personal and real property taxes. And this first reading, it's $1,427,192. How does that compare with last year? I was going to look that up and I got busy today.

It's still 0.45 per mill levy.

so based upon what you think at your estimated value depending on the evaluation yeah tom you were shaking your head no it's not 0.45 we're down below point uh 0.39 is what we are 0.39 mill levy right now so and it's going to be a little bit lower if we stay with it so that is an opportunity for the council if they would like to raise those mill levy up for to in order to help offset some of the expenses But the last year we estimated 1.33 million. Dollars on it and so it's about 100,090 $93,000 more.

And and to project that I used the current year evaluation. And I just kept it level for the valuation increase that it would be the same.

Because we won't get our valuations from the county until mid-August.

A couple weeks.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think it's August 20th or 21st. 20th.

It has to be out.

Yeah. So.

We don't have a good idea. And the year before, we received $1.23 million for property taxes. Yeah. Just so you have a comparison for the last two years.

Any other questions?

i would encourage the council to send emails to both michelle and i copy us and we'll try to get those answers out to you guys but we can send it out through katie to get all the answers that you guys are looking for and requesting

Okay. If not, all the council members are here, so we do not need a motion to excuse any of the council members. So we'll make a motion to adjourn the public hearing. Second that. Motion by Shane, seconded by?

I second your motion.

Oh, okay. You second? Okay. I made the motion. I didn't know I did. And second. Shane seconded. Could we have roll call, please?

Shepherd?

Yes.

Graves? Yes. Alexi? Yes. Anderson? Yes. Klein?

Yes. Get my stuff in order so it goes smoothly. I call this regular meeting of the Chatham City Council to order. Would you please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

God, indivisible, with the liberty

As required by section 84 dash 1412 subsection A, the Nebraska statutes notice is hereby given that a copy of the Open Meeting Act is posted for your examination on the wall inside the door to the City Council Chambers. I'd like to welcome all of our guests to tonight's meeting. Could we have roll call please?

George Klein here. Shane Shepherd here. Mark Graves here. Kevin Alexi here. Clay Anderson.

Yes. We have a motion for approval of the agenda. I'll make a motion to approve the agenda.

I'll second that.

Motion by Clay, seconded by Mark to approve the agenda. Can we have a roll call, please?

Shepherd?

Yes.

Graves? Yes. Alexi?

Yes.

Anderson?

Yes.

Klein?

Yes. I move to approve the consent agenda. I'll second. Motion by Shane, seconded by Kevin to approve the consent agenda, which includes minutes from the city council meeting held July the 20th. There are minutes from the problem resolution team meeting that was held June 24th. Had the monthly treasurer's report. I took some time and looked at it and for nine months our revenues are 8.6 million and expenditures are 11.1 and there's a lot of things that go into that but it just kind of indicates the size of the city and what we're dealing with through our finances. Is there any other comments, any questions about that? Michelle, I did note that on the One of the color graphs, you need a legend for 2025 and 2026. When you have those colors identified on that, it's skipping the last two. You've got a new color, but it doesn't explain what year it goes to. I was looking at my kitchen table last night, and I said, I don't know what this... I figured out what color went to what's here, but... Just keeping you on your toes, George. Pardon?

Just keeping you on your toes.

Yeah, I know, yeah. Okay. No other questions about that? We have roll call, please.

Shepherd?

Yes.

Graves? Yes. Oleksii?

Yes.

Anderson?

Yes.

Klein?

Yes. Okay, item B on the agenda is discussion regarding the flock automated license plates readers. I'm just going to set out. We'll start with Chief is going to give us a little bit of presentation background of them and how they're used and then to help ensure that the meeting proceeds in an orderly and efficient manner. We will follow the following guidelines. Individuals wishing to speak need to say their name and address and fill out their contact information on the sheet on the podium, which will include their name, address, and phone number. We will allow individuals speaking in favor of the LPRs up to 20 minutes total. We will also allow individuals speaking in opposition to the LPRs up to 20 minutes total. Each speaker will be limited to three minutes and speakers may not yield or transfer any portion of their allotted time to another person. And like all speakers, direct their comments to the council, maintain respectable decor, and limit their remarks to the agenda item. Chief? Mr. Mayor? Give us a little short summary.

Mr. Mayor, Council, Rick Eckstein, Shattern Police Chief, located at 125 Main Street here in Shattern, Nebraska. I've been asked to speak about the flock cameras that the City of Shattern has had in place since 2023. I implemented that program back then after attending a conference in October of 22. down in Kearney, Nebraska. I talked to then Police Chief Brian Waugh, who is now the Colonel of Nebraska State Patrol, about his program that he was running in Kearney. And I looked at the system, along with another chief and a sheriff here in this area, and ultimately decided to partner with them on a trial basis to see how the system would work for our area. Those agencies were Gordon PD and Sheridan County. And we partnered together to experiment with flock to see if it would have a usefulness in this area. which ultimately we found that it did, and that was brought to budget hearing ever since 2023 to current year to the city council, and the public's always invited to budget hearings. So it's been out in the public. What the flock is is a camera system, and I've got them located on the edges of town on Highway 20 and Highway 385. So they're at 16th and 385, 20 and Linden, and then one out by Wallstrom Ford along the highway there at the entrances and exits of town. There are no flock cameras inside of town, and I'm not asking the council to put any more in. I asked for the cameras that I have because it was the means that I had within my budget to spend the money on, not asking for any more or any more money. What these cameras do is they snap a photograph of a vehicle as it goes by. When it goes by, that photograph, if it has a license plate in it, is compared to NCIC, a national database. And it looks for stolen motor vehicles. Is the person registered to that vehicle a sex offender? Is it a missing persons vehicle that's been entered into the system and they're missing? Is it a potentially dangerous offender that's coming through Chatham? Those are the things that it looks at instantly on every plate that goes by it. Other than that, if it has no hits, That data, that picture, is stored for 30 days and then purged by the company. And that is per our contract that we signed with Flock. My officers would have the ability to search that database of 30 days for a criminal justice purpose that's legitimate or a safety purpose. As an example, if we get a theft at Walmart, a theft by shoplifting, and the shoplifting suspect on the surveillance video at Walmart gets into a red Ford F-150, We can't read the plate for the surveillance cameras at Walmart, but we certainly can time and date it to when that offense took place and compare that in flock to see if it went by the camera and develop a suspect. When an officer logs into the system, it's multi-authenticated, so it takes two different ways to get in, and only law enforcement officers with my agency have access. So they multi-authenticate into the system. They have to list a case number and a reason for their search. And if they do not, they would be in violation of shutter and PD policy, which is online and posted for the public's view. They conduct that search. If they get a hit on the vehicle as far as they find their suspect vehicle, now we have a lead as to we have a registered owner of a vehicle that we can contact and find out who was driving it. When there is a hit, let's say on the NCIC, the officers are not able to just pull a vehicle over because it hit. They actually, by policy, have to go and verify the information that it was hit on and run that through our dispatch center. For clarity purposes, my dispatchers do not have access to the flock system. Only sworn law enforcement personnel with my agency have that. The sheriff's office does not have access to it. It's not their system. That's why my dispatchers don't have access to it. It's a shattered police department access only. This system, over the three years we've had it, we've recovered several stolen motor vehicles. We solved an armed robbery of one of our local banks with it. Otherwise, I don't believe that we would have developed a suspect in that case. We have recovered an elderly endangered person out of Colorado on that system and returned them to their family. And this morning, I got reminded by a business owner here in town who had four rims and tires taken from him that it assisted in him saving $5,000 because we were able to, he had a plate, but he didn't know, that's what he had was just a license plate, got the suspect, got the stuff that was stolen back to him. And he thanked me for the system and wanted me to voice his support for the system foreshadowing. Some of the myths I've heard, I've been in contact with Flock a lot this week. People concerned, and rightfully so, about tracking. Well, the system doesn't track. It does what I just said. It takes a picture. It has no way to Bluetooth in and track a vehicle through town. Once it passes, we have no idea where it goes until it would hit a camera again. And like I said, they're only on the outskirts of town. They're not in town. Let's see. Data retention has been a big one. Like I told you, my contract with FLOC is for 30 days retention. State statute mandates that we can hold it up to 180 days. This system is only 30 days, and then it's gone. And when I do my audits, because by policy I have to audit the system and how the users are using it, when I do my audits, you can't go back and do a search for more than 30 days out. So that data is gone as far as we know. They're not allowed to sell the information without our permission as well, which we have not granted permission to sell our information. And they can't share our information by contract. We control who we share with. And right now, I share with three agencies. I share with Sheridan County, Gordon PD, and Scotts Bluff. I do not share with the Nebraska State Patrol right now. I do not share information or data with the federal government. The system itself, I hear about budget. This camera system cost me $2,500 per camera. So I spend $7,500 per year, which is fairly cheap. I found a system and a technology that we can afford as a city of Chatham to utilize and benefit and solve crimes and keep the community safe. without spending $20,000 on a standalone system that now I have to maintain personally and buy. So it's a subscription-based system that we utilize. It's fairly affordable. And my contract just was renewed this last year. I have one more year left at that price. That's about all I got until I get questions and stuff, unless you folks have some questions up on the council.

So, uh, I got a question, uh, may a couple, um, on the, so the way I understand it doesn't do facial recognition or anything like that.

It's not like the vice mayor. No, I asked that question. There's no facial rec. They're not looking for people. And I don't recall ever seeing images of people in the cars that catches the car, the characteristics of the car car. What color is it? Does it have a dent in it? Yeah. It's going to photograph it. So it's a picture, but nothing with people. I did ask the question to actually talk to the flock representative today. I asked the question about AI because I heard this was an AI-driven system. And he said, it is true, there is AI in it, but that's in the search database. It's not in the camera itself. The AI is used to help us narrow down our search parameters in law enforcement. It's not used in the camera system. We're taking these pictures.

And the way I understand it, the only way that... The only way that the data can be held other than 30 days is with like a court order or subpoena.

You'd have to have a search warrant to retain that data or a subpoena. Or if you have an ongoing case that becomes part of a prosecution, then it would obviously be held for evidence and discovery and would become part of the court processes. Awesome.

How often did you say that you do your audit?

By policy, it's twice per year, but I actually go through it. I try to go through it every month. Generally, it's every other month, depending on how busy I am. I just did it last week, actually. And I go through and I look at exactly what's going on within the system with my users, what they're searching for, and correlate that back to actual case numbers within my records management system. Make sure it's a legitimate law enforcement purpose. If an officer was looking somebody up without a case number or without a cause, I would see that in the system, and then I would go question them. So early on, I had to train the officers up on how to use the system, obviously. We'd have officers not put a case number in, but they'd have hit and run accident. So then I'd have to go find the hit and run accident, verify with the officer that it was legit, and then make sure I told them the importance of why that information needs to be there. But as an example on that, I'm working on a customer portal that's a transparency portal with Flock. And I think you guys were sent that link. Looking at the transparency portal, we've used the system, my officers have used the system three times in the last 30 days on cases. Those cases, motor vehicle theft, a welfare check of a subject that was having suicidal ideations, that was actually me that did that. And I was assisting another agency that requested me to assist to see if that person had come through shadow. And a traffic infraction, which was actually a hit and run motor vehicle accident that the officer was looking up to see if they could find the suspect vehicle that hit another car. And I hope that with your guys' approval, we'll be able to put that transparency portal onto our website so the general public can see exactly what the officers are doing. By all means, we should be accountable to our public. And that's what I enjoy about tonight. I'm glad to see so many people here actually asking questions and making their statements because nobody comes and talks to the chief in his office. And it's going to be nice tonight to hear you guys. So thank you for coming.

So on the city's website, you do show your, they're not quarterly, but every other month you post the number of hits that you have.

By state statute yearly, we have to submit stats on the LPR system to the Crime Commission, and then those get published on the Crime Commission website. We also are mandated to put them on our website, and also mandated to put a printed copy within the walls of the police department in public view, which is my lobby, which I do every year, around February 18th, because that was the start of our system.

Has the system in Chadron ever misidentified a license plate?

Yeah, the numbers, the digits aren't always right. So that's the importance of the officers going and looking and verifying that the 4 is not an H or an H isn't a 4. Those mistakes happen. It's technology, and that's by policy why it's written the way it is. My officers can't just pull you over because it hit. They have to see it with their own eyes and run it through dispatch.

And you mentioned... There's no use of it without a case number. Has there been, other than the training issues you mentioned, have there been cases where an officer has accessed it without a case number?

No, sir. Not within my agency. We were very careful. I was actually very hesitant about bringing LPR to Shattern. And it took a lot of convincing to get me there. But what ultimately did it for me, and I'll just tell you the story, I don't want to take everybody's time up, but I'll tell you the story on it, is I was working a domestic violence case. And I had a gal telling me about her partner who had done some domestic violence but was living out of state. She was worried he was going to come back into state. And it clicked with me. That is a situation where I could actually use a license plate camera like this put that plate in as a hot list plate because that suspect could come back. Instead of running extra patrol all the time, which we do, I can't be everywhere at one time. If he came in from outside of town, I would know he came to town, and maybe we should get around to her house and take a look, if that makes sense. So that was kind of the tipping point for me, and it's been good ever since. My guys and gals have not misused this system. I know there's cases of that across the country. There's bad cops out there. They do dumb stuff. And they got called out for it. Some of them are getting fired, rightfully so. But that's just not the case with my staff right now. You have to trust the people that you put into the positions. You guys have put me as your police chief for Shannon. I think I've done a fairly decent job. I'm not going to say an awesome job. I've done a decent job, and I'm still learning. And I will make my mistakes. I'm not perfect, but I think we do a pretty good job. And you entrust me to hold my people accountable, and I will do that. I'm not scared to fire anybody. I'm not scared to disappoint anybody. If I find them misusing the system, I'll hold them accountable. That's all I can ask for is your trust. and during your audits have you ever come across any outside agency trying to access it without prior authorization from you no because with the system you have to authorize other users to use it it's not just because we have them other everybody can access them so right now Like I told you, there's three agencies that have access to my system. Other agencies that would want to access it have to ask. And we would have to grant that permission. Just haven't got to that point. Do I think eventually it will be networked? Probably. LPRs are statewide. State Patrol is putting them in. They're in almost every community in the Panhandle now. Gordon, Boxview County, Alliance, Scotts Bluff, Goering, North Platte, Kearney, Grand Island, South Sioux City. This is a growing network. I was just talking to a guy that works for South Dakota. They just put in 40 some odd cameras this last year. They're looking to add to it next year. Rapid City PD has it. Fall River County has it. It's just a growing network. Now, are they all connected? That's up to the agency and how much we all Could I, as an agency head, share that information? Yeah, I could. Right now, transparency, three agencies have access. And I think they're the right agencies to have access with what we deal with with people crossing county lines.

And if I'm not mistaken, there's a lot of other communities that have other things similar to Flock.

So the major players are Flock. A company called Motorola, which they run vigilant cameras, and then Axon is also getting into the game and making a big push. Does Motorola run an alliance? Right now they are, but they are looking to change to Flock here very shortly, exceptionally shortly. I think there's a presentation tomorrow on it. And we could turn them on in our cars. Our cars are capable of it through Axon. I have never opted to turn those on. And there's a reason. Gary PD has the same in-car camera system as we do with Axon. And for $60 a month, it's pretty cost prohibitive when you start running multiple cars. You can turn it on and read everybody that's going by you as you're working. They ran a pilot program on it and weren't getting any success with it. They have found more success with their stationary cameras. Like I said, where other agencies have put theirs compared to where I did. I think the mayor asked me not long ago why I chose the areas I did. That's the ingress and egress of our town. I don't care what happens in town. I do care who's coming into our town. I trust our citizens are calling us, doing their reports. We have two major highways and a lot of people come to go through those highways. I'd like to know when we got bad actors coming through so I can do my job and help protect you guys. Okay. All right. I'll leave it up to the public. Thanks, Chief.

Okay. This time I'll allow individuals speaking in favor of the LPR's combined total of 20 minutes, three minutes per person. You'll be number one. You're elected number one. Please remember to tell us who you are, where you live. Oh, my name's Carl Ray. I live in Chatham.

Wait just a moment. This is pro. This is in favor of right now.

This is pro.

This is what?

Pro. Pro what? In favor. In favor of.

Oh, against.

Then this is the pro.

See, that's what I was going to say. I was remiss and forgot. So I'm in my Sergeant Schultz mode. I hear nothing. I see nothing.

Are there anyone wishing to give us any comments in favor of the LPRs? If not, we'll move on to individuals in opposition.

Sign in, please. My name is Roger, sir. I've lived in Chatham for about 35 years. Pardon me here while I write quick. I've been a resident about 35 years. I'm retired from Lincoln Police Department with a bachelor's of science degree in criminal justice from the University of Nebraska. Things have changed tremendously since I was a law enforcement officer to the beginning in Lincoln. Technology is changing as we speak. All phases of our life are being affected by technology, and technology is being affected by artificial intelligence. What we're talking about when we say flock cameras are security cameras owned by a corporation called Flock Safety. Flock Safety. Anyone can look up... information about flock safety. I believe the headquarters is in Atlanta, Georgia. It's a, according to public information, an $8.4 billion corporation. They do have surveillance cameras nationwide, maybe Mexico, maybe Canada, I'm not sure where all they have. There are pros and cons. But one of the primary concerns of all citizens should be our citizen rights. Are these cameras violating our constitutional right, right to freedom? If you look on the media, your podcast, your cell phones, Facebook, There are many, many podcasts about flock, and I don't venture to say it is almost impossible to find a positive one to the negative. I got one yesterday morning from the chief of police of Fort Collins, Colorado. It's a public podcast. He says, and I quote, I don't want anything, I don't want to do anything that diminishes the trust of the public with the Fort Collins Police Department. After 18 months, the Fort Collins City Council voted to terminate the flock contract. That is because of public trust and pending lawsuits about violating people's civil rights.

Your three minutes is up. I'll give you another 15 seconds to summarize.

Well, I started a program in Lincoln called Crime Stoppers, and when I came to Chadron, I brought that program with me. There is a program that became defunct because of lack of support from law enforcement that does major work without technology. Doesn't cost the taxpayers a dime. People support it. There's $2,000 in the account right now that's been there for years without a program. Thank you. So that is a viable alternative.

Okay. Thank you.

Now, Coach?

Yeah.

Okay.

I apologize for earlier because sincerely, I forgot my hearing aids. So feel free to yell at me. I won't take it personal. An idea from 1770s that today seems a bit almost obtuse in our society. Pardon?

Did you introduce yourself?

I already did. I'll do it again. Carl Daly, Dawes County. I've lived in Chatham since 1972. And what else do you want to know? I figure you know my bona fides.

Address?

Oh, 369 King Street, Chadron. Okay. Okay. Ben Franklin said, they who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. That idea today is as valid as it was in the 1700s. I had someone ask me, now I've heard it and it was even asked of me today, what does it matter if mass surveillance? I'm not doing anything wrong. Well, what happens when the definition of wrong changes? How many definitions can you think of from when you were a kid are not the same today? When I was a kid, we roughhoused in the back of a station wagon at 65 mile an hour down a highway. rode in the back of a pickup at 55 mile, no helmets, no seat belts, no, well now it's illegal to do that. Definitions change, laws change. So when it changes, how is that gonna affect you? Is suddenly that surveillance of you something that maybe you don't like? So think about it. The other thing is, I went to the flock website and I read their stuff. What's circulating out there? I've researched it, but you'll have to do it on your own, but I'm gonna tell you what I believe and what I know. 12 states have faced criminal charges or termination for using flat cameras to stalk other people. Georgia, 20 officials have been arrested for violations and using the system improperly. At least 24 cases nationwide over a two-year period, officers used the system for personal reasons. They have been caught. Flock was caught illegally sharing and selling their data. Lawsuits and audits of Flock showed San Francisco, El Cajon, San Jose illegally shared their information. I'm not saying it will do that, but I'm saying it can happen. Scale of surveillance. San Jose was searched 2,500,000 times in six months with minimum oversight. San Francisco data, 1.8 million out of state, out of state agencies accessed their system in seven months. Legal challenges. There are cases pending right now going in front of the Supreme Court of the United States, reference Fourth Amendment and possible Third Amendment. challenges to mass surveillance. The ACLU, who believe me, are no friends of mine, but the ACLU is taking up every case they can where a person believes they have been injured by something with luck. My time. Okay, thank you. I got to fill up my paperwork here. Okay. Paperwork never ends, does it?

Thank you.

Oh, come on.

I'm just writing here.

Keith Crofit, 452 Main Street, previously on the council as well. Just going to read some numbers out here really quick. And I appreciate Chief Fickstein bringing up some of the things that I had concerns with. I do appreciate that they actually have some auditing. However, twice a year, even every month or every other month, that's a month of malfeasance that could be happening with no one observing. Brandon Upchurch, he was attacked by a canine, got $35,000 settlement after Flock misidentified his vehicle as stolen. A flock misread a couple's vehicle for being stolen. They were held at gunpoint while their six-week-old baby sat in the back of the vehicle. Brian Hoffer was held at gunpoint on Thanksgiving because his rental was flagged by flock as being stolen. If only 1% of all the failures of flock, that's still 200 million misread license plates every month. Not every year, every month. Viejo, California, did a test. 37% were misreads of plates. Roseville did it. 71% of flagged plates were not actually stolen. They were misreported. Brittany Gillum, just down in Aurora, Colorado, $1.9 million settlement because her car, while her family was in it, was flagged as stolen. And the Aurora police pulled her over. It's coming. when Rick was talking and I appreciate you actually made this case for me so the federal courts have said the reason flock has gotten away with this for now is because it's not widespread surveillance until enough cameras are out there to track people and that's happening the cities sure have it but now you can't even go through the panel you talk about the state of Nebraska has cameras all over Well, there we have met the burden of proof. The Supreme Court just turned over that you cannot check cell phone records in an entire area to look for one suspect. That is mass surveillance. It is search without a warrant. The way the courts are going and the momentum, FLOC is going to be included in the same way. Not because the three cameras in Chadron, but because three cameras in Chadron, while not right now connected because the chief says no, what happens to the next chief that comes in? What happens with the next council that wants to open it up? What happens in the ordinances coming up saying you're going to share it with the state of the state patrol and the department? Who's controlling the data at that point? There's not. Anyone who's in IT knows that that 30-day delete from server means you can't access it. The data is not gone. I guarantee that data is still out there somewhere, whether it's held by flock or federal agency or just other agencies that are saving the data on their local systems. But regardless, I do appreciate that they have to put in a case number, and I do appreciate the idea of having a portal. Those are two things I was going to bring up. So I'm glad that there are stretches there. But nonetheless, the mass surveillance is the issue. We don't have a choice. Facebook tracking you? Don't have it on your phone. Don't use it. Anything else? Yeah.

Okay. Moving up next.

I'm Tim Hardy. I own a house at 711 Bordeaux, and I'm here to discuss my concerns. I'm delighted that you've put in place the policies that you currently have, but I don't believe that they're adequate. You can check this online as I did. Seventy-five percent of the data from FLOC eventually gets public. It's available. You can buy it. In this case, we currently have some things that make it more difficult. But as soon as you share the data, and we're only sharing it with a few places, those people then who we don't have control over, they can share it. And that's inevitably how the flock data gets into the national database. And then it can be used contrary to the way that it's intended. If you're trying to track your ex-wife so you can beat her again, you can buy the information online. If you're stalking someone, you can buy that information online. Private investigators can buy it. The federal government buys it all the time. So this information that the government's not entitled to is information they can buy online. And it can be used for nefarious purposes. And it's only as good as the safeguards. And our police chief does not control what they do in Scotts Bluff, or in Gordon, or any place else. And if we share it with the state of Nebraska, they're going to be able to, you know, you've lost control of it then. And I think it's important that you can check my statistics, because I got them from consulting online, that 75% of the data from flocks eventually makes it into the marketplace.

Thank you.

hi tracy schuler i'll put my address down here but since this is broadcast i don't want to have my address out there on the internet i do appreciate chief coming in and talking you answered many of my questions but i still do have a couple more is the city notified when other agencies use the data from the cameras if they run a search

So yeah, I can see, I can see a search. Do I know what they searched?

Okay. And then, um, you said you've solved a few crimes with us. Okay. Um, you were talking and, um, I was kind of trying to take some notes here. You mentioned, um, that you want to know when bad actors are coming through. Um, if you're only searching the data due to a current crime, How are you knowing the bad actors are coming through, when they come through?

Through the running of the place through NCIC. Stalling motor vehicles, wanted persons, those are the things that's missing kids.

So when that database gets a hit, let's say, you're notified that person just came to town?

Yes, ma'am. Instantly on my cell phone.

Okay. So you're not having to run searches necessarily on people with a police cause. You're being notified that there's somebody that may be committed a crime someplace else who right now doesn't have a warrant out for them or anything, but they've come through your town?

It actually will in fact let me know if the restaurant does have a warrant for their arrest.

Okay.

If they don't, are you still notified?

No. It's just an active warrant. It tells me that they have an active warrant. It tells me if it's a stolen

of you tells me if it's a missing person tells me if they're a potentially dangerous offender tells me if they're a sex offender okay um i'm wondering what safety do the other three agencies have in place for their protection as well i think that was brought up you have great ones in place it sounds like but these other agencies let's say gordon police officer wants to run a search on somebody because they ticked them off one day do you have any way of saying no you can't search our database for that i can shut off any agency that i wish Right. Agency as a whole, but not a specific search for... They don't have to prove to you, like our information for Shadron, they don't have to prove to you that they're pulling it for a good cause.

No, I trust that they're administrators because I know these administrators. Okay. I'm doing the same thing that I... Sure. The case number and the reason.

Okay. The story about your domestic violence, and that's a terrible thing, but was there an arrest out for this person that comes back into town, or were you just searching to give her peace of mind, and you didn't really have something out for him?

This was what kicked me to want to get the system out.

You're trying to look for him and then you're like, let me search my camera and see if he's here?

It clicked with me at that time. I use that as an example why it clicked with me that this system could be very valuable. It wasn't used in that case.

Okay, I misunderstood then. I thought you were saying that you could run that. I do agree that these flat cameras can take away a lot of our privacy. I do believe it's a breaking of the Fourth Amendment. You know, we shouldn't have to be searched when we're out in public. You know, you're collecting all this data on people that are just innocent citizens that one day could be used for nefarious reasons. So I caution you against doing it.

Thank you, Tracy. Anyone else?

Hi, my name is Jeffrey Ledbetter. My address is 632 Shadron Avenue. Good evening, members of the council. I support giving police effective tools to solve serious crimes. My concern in this case is whether the surveillance of its system provides enough benefit to justify its costs and risks. First, these automatic license plate readers don't just capture criminals, they record movements of everyone. Over time, that can reveal sensitive information about ordinary residents might be going to worship outside of town, receive medical care, again, outside of town, or exercise their constitutional rights to assembly anonymously. Second, the system entrusts a large amount of sensitive location data to a private company, Flock. As noted among agencies, only a handful of people and agencies have access, but Flock still has access to all of this information. No company has been from data breaches, misuse, or changing business practices. And then residents have little control over how their data is secured, who may ultimately gain access, and how it could be used in the future. Third, these systems are not error-free, as previously noted. I appreciate the effort to avoid mistaken vehicle identifications and wrongful police stops, but mistakes will still happen, even with humans in the loop, creating unnecessary confrontations for innocent people. Even if the technology were highly accurate, which evidence has shown that they are not, a small error rate can still affect real families and carry serious consequences when officers act on incorrect information. I would ask the council to oppose the expansion of the flock license plate readers. It is precisely because I am not doing anything wrong, which is why I should not be constantly surveilled. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Well, we're getting close to the 20 minutes, but we've had, we'll allow one, two more speakers to allow for the wasted time in between.

Thank you.

My name is Paris Fisher. My wife and I have a car rental company just down the street. We have not had any adverse comments and stuff about our system here in Chadron. But almost every day when I go to the mailbox, there are letters in there to us because one of our rental cars went too fast at the Denver airport, the Chicago airport, various little towns across the country. I want us to be very careful because your job and every one of our jobs in here has a big impact on it of people coming into our community. And if we're allowing these things to come out and people are pissed, and I guarantee you every week I have to send a letter or two letters or phone calls and say, hey, you got a speeding ticket in Iowa. What do you mean? Well, you were going too fast and they picked you up on a radar thing. Well, I didn't get picked up. Yeah, that doesn't make them any less happy. And their big deal is, well, I'll never go back there again. What also happens is they don't come back to Chadron anymore either because even though it was only our car and they were completely out of our area, they still got a ticket and it hurt. I just think we have fantastic police people, state and local. I have no problem with them and what they do. But I want us to be very careful because we spend all of our time, most of us in this room, in trying to find ways to bring people to our community. Thousands and thousands of dollars are spent here. If you piss off even one person, you cost everybody in this community a lot of money. Thank you.

Thank you, Paris. Okay. Extended to one more person.

Hello. Adriana Calle, 742 Bordeaux Street here in Chadron. Is there a policy dictating what would happen with an officer if they were to use the flock system inappropriately?

It would be subject to discipline within the city of Shannon by an FOP contract. Okay. Which would be up to termination.

Okay. So one of the things on the fact sheet that was provided by Flock Safety is that the cloud database, cloud environment hasn't been hacked. It's not true. It is not true. The actual hacking of data, though, is incredibly easy at the sight of the camera. So you can drive within range of the camera and that you can access them via Bluetooth from any computer and a little bit, little modicum of knowledge. And there wouldn't really be anything stopping somebody who wanted to stalk or harass someone from anywhere. getting and using that data for whomever it is that they are trying to find. And I didn't hear anybody else mention that. And I thought that is definitely worth mentioning because again, it's relatively simple to do as long as you have a computer that can access Bluetooth.

Thank you. Okay, that concludes this item on the agenda. Move on to item C on the agenda. Someone care to introduce that? If no one wants to, I'd like to introduce resolution number 2026-63 and move for its adoption. I'll second that. Motion by me, seconded by Shane. Resolution 2026-63 is to approve an agreement between the State of Nebraska Department of Transportation, the City of Chadron, and the Chadron Police Department for the installation and operation automated license plate readers on state highways. Chief, would you come up and explain the agreement to us?

Yes, sir. Mayor, Council, Rick Hickstein, 125 Main Street, Police Chief. This is brought to light by NDOT themselves. As they were doing highway work, they noticed that we had cameras. When we put our cameras in, we only had, at that point in time, we only had to get permission from NPPD on the poles. After the fact, the state implemented permitting for the cameras, and they've asked us to complete that. It's a formality more than anything else. Now, full transparency, if you wanted them gone, this would be the time to do it and not approving the permits. So full transparency to the public. But that's what this is. It's a formality. Obviously, I'm in front of you, and I've asked the council to take a look at this. I'm asking for the permit so I can come in compliance with NDOT. But I'll leave that to you.

Well, I did read the whole agreement. I assume that our city attorney read it, and he's...

It's pretty standard.

Standard agreement, so...

Anyone have any questions? I think, you know, brought up very well by many people, the problem we're seeing is the threat of abuse once you start allowing more agencies, because it'll probably be inevitable that you start issuing authorization to other agencies over the years?

Could be. Don't have a crystal ball in front of me. If I did, I'd be a millionaire not working in this job. But it is realistic. It's possible. It may not be possible. All I can do is be as transparent to you folks and the public as I can be. I'd welcome anybody to come into the police department and talk to me about what I'm doing with FLOC and what the agency's doing with FLOC. or any other system that we run, because it might be interesting to find out what exactly the information is that I have access to as a law enforcement officer. It might shock you. Flock is the least of the concerns I would be worried about. And I say that not so that people dig, but understand we have NCIC. We can run warrants. We can run criminal histories. We have a lot of information we have access to, and we have to entrust our public servants with that information. They're sworn law enforcement personnel and go through background checks and vetting for a reason.

have a question to the rest of the council members do you feel comfortable signing this tonight do you need more time to to review it um that we could table it i'm good what these guys are i i will vote against it so i i don't particularly think this

I think I'd like to learn a little bit more about FLOC, how it's been used and some of the concerns that the public has brought up, but I don't think that this particular attachment or resolution or agreement with the state, I think that's just something with the state saying that they can be there. I don't think that has to do with... Whether the information is being used incorrectly or not, I would like to look more into that aspect of it. So I'm okay with this agreement with the state, but I would like to look into more of how flock is being utilized. That's fair.

So if we vote against this, then we would have to take down the flock cameras for now?

I would not take any of them. I do not own those cameras. I would contact flock, let them know what transpired here today, and just to comply with the state, would move them, basically. Take them out of the state right away, and I'd put them somewhere in the city of Shannon, if I'm being quite frank. Because the city of Shannon, the state doesn't regulate. So I could put them at 10th and Main. I could put them at 2nd and Main. Would I do that without your permission? Absolutely not. But I'm just telling you, I still have a contract with them. I'm still paying with taxpayer money for these things. I would hate to pay for something we're not utilizing.

And that contract's not up until next year? Next year.

And I do have to give 30 days prior notice that we're going to terminate. But I would move them out of the state right away is what I would do. I'd have them move it.

Okay. No motion on table to, or to table it. So we'll call for, roll call please.

Shepard?

Yes.

Graves? Yes. Alexi?

No.

Anderson?

No.

Klein?

Yes. Okay, move on to item D. okay ordinance number four okay i'll let him do thank you all for coming learn his resolution or no yeah maybe ordinance george ordinance number 1449 is before the council for its first reading please read ordinance number 1449 by title

ordinance to adopt the 2025-2026 budget statement to be termed the annual appropriations bill to appropriate sums for necessary expenses and liabilities directing the publication of this ordinance and prescribing the time when this ordinance shall be in full force in effect okay discussion I'm sure we'll have some this is always

I feel good about the draft of the budget presented this evening. And I look forward to the second draft, you mentioned a few corrections that are going into that. So I think it's all moving in the right direction. You know, yeah.

Yeah, I think ever since we've been on the council, I never felt that any department had anything that they were asking for that was out of line. I think everyone just puts in what they think is necessary to keep on going.

I like it, too. It looks like a very responsible budget.

All right. Ordinance number 1449 has been read by title on its first reading. Second reading of ordinance number 1449 will be on August 17, 2026. Next on the agenda, item E, ordinance number 1450 is before the council for its first reading. Please read ordinance number 1450 by title.

In ordinance to establish the amount of certain fees and taxes charged by the city of Chatham for various services including but not limited to building and use, zoning, library, occupation licensing and pet licensing, water, sewer and drainage systems and facilities of the city for residential users and commercial users including industrial users, of the city of shatton for the 2026-2027 fiscal year to provide for the repeal of conflicting ordinances to provide for an effective date okay any discussion and we gotta have this

Mayor, if I could, anything that's in red is what's actually being changed. The rest of it has all been what we've had in the past for convenience for the council themselves on that. Oh, my screen just blew up. And so the first one is... Carousel hangar goes from

$150 per month to $175. I had a question about the ambulance when I was reading this. It had a mileage of that $15 per mile round trip or one way. I mean, they're probably only transporting the person one way but do they get charged 15 per mile for the whole round trip maybe we should explain that george i i can't even tell you i don't know for a fact on that one i'll have to ask the we probably maybe we should say if it's round trip or one way or

I don't have an answer for you, Chief, or Mayor. Sorry.

What page is that on? That's on page one. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

I just put it what I was told years ago. I'm guessing it's one way, but I don't know.

We probably ought to put that in and explain it. I don't know what it says.

Did what I was told. First time in my life.

Then I had on the last item on page one is animal control for board, $20 per day. Does that cover the vet charges? So we're losing money on every one?

Probably, yes. Does not do any vet fees.

Well, when I say vet fee, I meant what Dr. Rankin charges for the board. Is her board less than that that we get billed or more? Because we're not changing it, but I know it's our cost.

Because this was done when Doc was doing it. So maybe we better talk to Rick about that.

That's what I was thinking. That it's probably the... that we should probably look at that to see if we're covering what we're... I'm losing money.

I don't know.

Can't answer it. And then... Kennel fee, is that each person that has a dog and some...

If they have more than the three allowed dogs.

Oh, okay.

And they apply for a kennel license. If you have a kennel, it's a kennel fee.

Okay. And that would be somewhere, explained somewhere else.

I don't think it's explained anywhere else. Is there, Janet, on this ordinance?

The kennel licensing? No.

any other questions until we get to the next and then um i'm quite sure um on page two aquatic center little swimmers dollar and i assume that's per day that's a swim diaper but you're not going to wear it you're not going to wear it again i don't think okay

It all depends.

Yes, it all depends. You're right.

Oh, all those comedians. How to work when you're trying to be funny.

And I'm just noticing our copiers really did a crummy job with these, didn't they? Bad, bad, bad.

Um... Notice that we don't care if you're buried in the morning or afternoon anymore.

Anymore. We've talked about just doesn't matter what time of day, it's $500 on Saturday.

How late does an afternoon go? If someone wanted to do it, we're going to get we're going to get.

We're not going to differentiate and differentiate anymore. If you're on Saturday, it's $500. If you if you still approve, sorry, shouldn't be so. You guys all agree.

And on page 6, we've explained that running for city council, you have to application fee, so to speak, is 1% of the annual salary.

Should I put application fee?

No, it just says running for city council.

Yeah, let me put application fee in. Oh, okay.

What was it before, James? Was it just a flat fee?

No, it's always been 100%.

We just never had it in there.

It was just never in the fee ordinance.

Just when you came in to sign up, they told you it was.

State statute?

Katie says it should be in here, so we put it in here.

Well, I can find it.

I think I paid $25. Was that just a guess? That was just you. I didn't get charged anything. You didn't get charged anything? There was a miscommunication because I went to the courthouse instead of the city.

Courthouse charged you more.

Yeah. I didn't think of where that came from before, but yeah.

Okay, and then farther down the electricity boost to franchise free. It goes from 13.5% to 14%. You know that hurts me a lot because I have that all electric house out there. But I guess I'll grin and bear it.

And I think all that's left is our sewer stuff.

That was the big one.

Well, Adam and I still have to discuss the sewer district tap fee determined by ordinance, but we plugged in the $10,000.

What exactly does that mean?

Well, remember we did the two sewer districts that went out by the pizza place. And we never did put the tap fee on that. And then we just got done doing the one on Cedar Buttes. So now we have to establish how much it's going to cost to actually do a tap since the city paid for both of those districts in full. So now if you want to tap into those sewers, this is by ordinance for those two districts. We're going to establish that tap fee. And Adam and I were to have that discussion as to how that's established.

Should this list specific projects?

We'll probably list what districts they were. I think one was sanitary sewer district number 70 and the other one was 72, I think. But yes, we'll have to keep track of them by district number.

Is there a certain percentage that we're trying to recoup based off of?

That's what Adam and I have been discussing is a certain percentage of the project. Well, and Tom, too.

So could the tap fees be different between the two different districts?

They could be. We're going to try to keep it the same so it's not so confusing.

It would be better if it was uniform.

And obviously this is going to be subject to an ordinance being passed to implement this.

Well, or this ordinance. i think we're going to want to tire you want to you want to have a separate ordinance that sets this up before we have this okay so we so we get we have to have that conversation really quick so they would pay the

$500 sewer connection tap fee?

No, that's for everybody but these two districts. That's a regular sewer tap fee is $500.

Which I think is still cheaper.

Oh, it's astronomically way. Building in other places, it's thousands of dollars. But these two districts where the city paid

Just these two where we put that new sewer connection services and over by Domino's.

Correct. Where the city paid for those two districts in its entirety. And the property owners did not kick in anything. That's what this means by ordinance. So Adam and I will be having that discussion this week.

So we would probably at least want to specify the district, right?

Which two districts we're talking about. Correct. And then, and then if you remember at our budget workshop, we were talking about, we'd wanted to increase the sewer fees this year. We were going to do water, but then when our auditor said, we're still behind on our sanitary sewer stuff, That's why we went back to sanitary sewer again this year instead of water. We'll do water increase next year and do sewer again this year. And this is a 5% increase. So you're looking at all of the red in the base fee and the multiplied multiple unit fee and then the consumption fee. And the commercial waste hauler fee, those are all going up the 5%. And then next year when we do the water, if it's agreed upon, then we were going to also increase the utility deposit. Because when Lori and I figured everything out, the deposits are still going to be able to handle this increase. But next year with water increase, it won't.

And you probably just said this and I missed it, but these increases were suggested by our auditor.

The auditor keeps telling us, yes, that we're still behind financially with the sanitary sewer. And that's where we need to keep making our increases.

Yes. And that's why we're doing it the second year in a row as opposed to doing water this year.

The water revenues are probably going to be pretty good this year.

We will be in by the end of August.

Yeah, that's it. Every gets their second water bill. They'll really don't really decrease.

Yes. Where's the water? The cost of the water don't deal on first that on here. Let's see it.

The water dock.

So is that can we is that

The water dock is number 12 underneath there. It's approximately 50 cents for every 200 gallons.

Does that cover our water, though?

No. Well, it depends. If you're talking strictly production, but if it's talking regular water usage, it probably would.

It's on par. That came up when... I think Julie Goodman was no longer working for the city, and I questioned when we did that, because it was a lot cheaper. I had somebody do some calculations, and I thought, we're charging less than the people who have a connection.

But if you take into consideration all the overtime for all the quarter jams on that machine, we're nowhere close. Because even though we have three signs that say, put your quarters in slowly. Or use American quarters.

Ha, ha, ha. Or yeah, use American money. We've gotten tokens and Canadian's and everything else. Susan B. Anthony's.

So if we do this new water dock, is it going to be card as well?

We're hoping to do card only. It will not be taking any change.

We're hoping to do card only, which would hopefully alleviate all the overtime that we have with that stupid machine.

Yes.

Card or debit or credit. It is an overtime hog.

It's equivalent to like the swimming pool. It's a lost dog. Yes, yes. It's a convenience to our citizens. Okay.

Any other questions, anything else you want us to look into before the next go round? Well, that wasn't hard. All right.

No other discussion. Ordinance number 1450 has been read by title on its first reading. The second reading of ordinance number 1450 will be on August 17, 2026. I think we're good. Okay.

It's in there.

Item F. Three orders. My thing is out of order. Okay, I did, yes I did. Discussion regarding the salary scale.

that is a copy of that is in your information you want to mayor i can speak to this a little bit if you'd like yes what we've done is we've done the comparability study and that's based off of state statute 48-818 and what we've done is we showed you both what we've had last year and then what we're proposing for this next year. I do want to remind the council that this is a salary scale for new hires. This is not the salary adjustment based off of the items that we have. It is taken into consideration, but the salary scale is being used for hiring purposes itself, which gives us an idea. So for an example, if we're bringing in somebody that's got five years' worth of experience, we'd more likely start them closer to that midpoint than we would at the starting point. And it is a guideline for us to do for this thing. And what we did is approximately 2%, but there was about a dozen different numbers in there, too, that we had to adjust because of the comparability study to make it acceptable per the state statutes. Kevin, I feel a question coming my way.

The listed maximum would be the most offered to a new hire that doesn't cap a person in that role?

Not at the moment. We have not capped anybody in their particular positions. The only positions that would be capped is anything that's going to be with the union as far as the FOP. Right, yeah. And that's per the union agreements.

Okay.

And since we are still working on the negotiations, that number has not been given up.

So it looks like some of these actually went down.

Yes, they did. And that's why I'm really wanting to stress to the council, this is for hiring purposes. It's a guideline for our staff and people down here to be able to talk to the individuals as they're being hired on.

So Adam, I know with the existing employees, there's a state statute that we have to be within a certain percentage of?

98% to 102% of your array.

Does the hiring process or does this follow a similar array? No. No, OK.

Any other questions that I can answer for you? And if you have something later on, don't hesitate to email, call.

So is this going to come back to us now or do we need, this is the first draft?

This was strictly a discussion only. It's just to allow the council to have that so that you have full disclosure, transparency. Gives you guys an opportunity to look it over. and understand where we're standing at on these. If you would like us to do more of the less discussions and more action items, we'd be more than happy to do that, too. But I think it's best to have some of these things out so people see what we're trying to accomplish.

Okay. If there aren't any other questions, probably just move on.

Item G. I'll introduce Resolution 2026-64 and move for its approval. I'll second.

Go ahead. Motion by Mark, second by Kevin, for resolution number 2026-64, which is to renew the city's insurance policies with the League of Risk Management, otherwise known as LARM, for a three-year period effective October 1, 2026. And I'd like to explain the three-year rolling concept.

Right. I'll do that. First, I'll explain a little bit about what we did as far as looking at our insurance. LARM is a pool coverage insurance carrier for the city of Chatham. Basically, it's a way for all the communities to get together. There's only a few communities that are not part of LARM. And that's the pool that they're using on. A couple of things on here that I wanted to point out is we did take numerous people from our staff, including our supervisors, to look at to make sure that all the vehicles that we have are being insured and if we don't have the vehicle for some reason, We eliminated those kind of things. We also looked at some of our properties as far as what we can take on without having some additional things. Examples were some outbuildings that were below the $10,000 deductibles. and there's no reason to be carrying insurance on those kind of items. So we eliminated some of those things. We did look at the vehicles, very tough on all those things too as well. Workman's comp was one of the things that there's just not a lot that we can do unfortunately. Our modifier is at a .95 on that particular item right at the moment. Basically what we're doing on those kind of things for the workman's comp to keep those in control is trying to implement more of our safety factors to make sure that our guys are doing what they're supposed to be doing. You know, wearing PPE, doing the smart decisions, not trying to take shortcuts, asking for the assistance on heavy lifts, whatever they need to do to make sure that we're having those things. The workman's comp was the one that went up the highest for us right now, but the other ones we were able to actually lower our things. And as to George's explanation of the three year period effective, basically what they do is they give us a, if we only want to give them a 90 day notice on this, The rate is $321,419. That's for the entire year for workman's comp property and liabilities. If we agree to a 180-day notice with a three-year commitment for it, they give us a 5% discount on it. Does that mean that we can't get out of it next year? No, we can, but we just have to get six months notice on it to do that when we're ready to renew those things. And one of the things that we do with our staff is that we are looking at this on a daily, not daily monthly basis.

There's anything else that we've missed.

Insurance is a very expensive item for us on our, our general liabilities, our general funds. And so we take it very serious and we're trying to see what else we can save for some. But our recommendation is from the staff is to allow us to still take that 5% with 180 day notice, three year commitment. I'll answer any questions if I can.

I think that's always our cheapest option, too, by a long shot.

Yeah. The nice thing is I have an opportunity to actually work with another pooling agency through the schools, and I bounce a lot of things off of them to find out what they're doing and seeing how everybody compares, which helps me to make the right decisions on what we're recommending for what the city is using right at the moment.

Well, that 5% discount offsets the 5% increase over the workman's comp.

Basically, yeah. But it's still very expensive. What isn't? Yes. But it's good coverage, and they do a good job helping us out, responsive. And one of the things that I will point out in our budget that we do have underneath of our stuff, we did put in a new line item that Michelle and I talked about, which is the risk management of $80,000. It allows us to be able to take that out instead of putting it into individual funds, meaning parks pd or whatever they wreck a vehicle we still have the deductible that we have to match for everything but we put that all into one line so it's easily tracked for what we're trying to do and then that way when the revenue comes back to the general fund it doesn't hurt that individual department trying to make up for that big difference any other questions i could maybe answer for you

And we have periodically we get feelers for outside alarm to see if we're still getting a best deal.

We're trying to get those kind of people to come and talk to us. And it's pretty tough to beat what alarm's got for us right now. Yeah. Yep.

Okay, no other questions. Could we have a roll call, please?

Shepard?

Yes.

Graves? Yes. Alexi?

Yes.

Anderson? Yes. Klein?

Yes.

Okay. Item H on the agenda. I'll introduce Resolution 2026-65 and move for its approval.

second that motion by clay second by shane resolution 2026-65 to allow for temporary use of u.s highway 20 at the intersection of us 20 and main street for the shatton state college homecoming parade on october 31st of this year any discussion Yeah, I've done it for a good number of years. I've done it every year since we've been in town since fall of 81, so no discussion. Could I have a roll call, please?

Shepherd? Yes. Graves? Yes. Alexi? Yes. Anderson?

Yes.

Klein?

Yes. I'll introduce Resolution 2026-66 and move forward to approval. I'll second.

Motion by Shane, second by Clay for Resolution 2026-66 to recommend award a bid for the Shadron East Tank Interior Recoding Project. The utilities superintendent will tell us all about it.

Tori Zuver, utility superintendent for Chatham, 1590 South Maple. Basically, we went back out to bid for the recoding. And low bid was Cunningham Sandblasting and Painting Company. They came in at $227,000. If they are unable to fulfill that obligation, we will go with McGuire Iron. They were the second low bid at $248,000 even. And we do have a recommendation letter from Jack Baker and JEO Consulting Group to award that bid to that company.

Have both these entities been vetted?

They did do some checks on them, and yes, they have been.

It's nice to see a project with so many bids on it.

There was a lot, yes.

So where's this company out of?

Joplin, Missouri.

Did, was JEO the company that recommended the last people that did it? Yes.

Yes, but we asked for a little more intense vetting process.

And I will say JEO brought in some retired gentlemen to help us out with this too. I feel very, very comfortable.

And this work will be done when?

Weather permitting.

weather permitting this fall or it's not a winter time work, right?

No, it's not a weather. It has to be weather permitting type process. So I can't give you a definite time that it's going to be done by October 30th or whatever.

How long is, is the whole pro is from start to finish like a month?

Don't know. I think part of it's, they're going to find out once they get inside there. So they're going to probably give themselves, I believe they're looking at a spring project, correct?

We don't know that yet.

I thought that was the last thing I heard.

Jack said if they can get on it right away, they will. But he wasn't firm either way yet.

Okay.

We'll know probably in two weeks whether it's going to be this fall or not. But Tom's probably right.

I don't see it starting this up. Not with the way weather is.

Hopefully it'll turn out better than the last one.

It has to. Okay.

Thanks, Tori. Yep. No other questions? Could I have a roll call, please?

Shepard?

Yes.

Graves? Yes. Oleksii?

Yes.

Anderson?

Yes.

Klein?

Yes. Item J on the agenda? No.

I'll introduce resolution 2026-67 and move forward to approval.

I'll second that.

Motion by Shane, seconded by Mark for resolution 2026-67, which is to recommend award a bid for audit services for the city of Chadron.

in your information there is a um mayor council um you have the the recommendation letter probably right before you i believe it's in your packet it is we went out to bid and we actually did get two responders for the bid for the audit services amgl which is our audit auditor for the last few years and then casey peterson which is just down the road um Casey Peterson came up with the lowest bid. And so my recommendation is to go ahead and retain Casey Peterson to audit the city starting with the September 30, 2026 fiscal year end. And do you have any questions? nice they're close easy to local local yep yeah it was by a lot a little bit yeah um just so you know because of the fire truck grant that we got we will be doing a single audit for 25 26 fiscal year um the rest is is based on you know it's based on I believe it's $750,000 in federal grants, then you have to do a single audit.

Okay, any other questions? If not, can I have a roll call, please?

Shepard?

Yes.

Graves? Yes. Oleksii?

Yes.

Anderson?

Yes. Klein? Yes. Item K on the agenda.

I'll introduce Resolution 2026-68 and move for its approval.

I'll second.

Motion by Clay, seconded by Kevin for Resolution 2026-68. It's a report on proposals received for the 9-11 dispatch furniture replacement for the communications department. Regarding award of bid, somewhat of a non-resolution in my opinion.

Evening, Council, Mayor. Rick Hickstein, 125 Main Street, Shannon Police Department. Yeah, this is a formality. My recommendation, I think Gail submitted a letter as well, is to not accept any of the bids. And the reason why is only one bid actually met specifications, but it came in over budget, I think right around $64,000. There was another bid for $80,000. It's just too high. I don't think it's reasonable for us to spend prudent, to spend taxpayer money and approve a quote that meets specs that's over our budgeted amount. That's not right. And I think we have an opportunity that we can go back to the companies, especially with our new procurement process, and get those down lower below the budget or at budget or below and get what we still need that will be functional and quality for our center. So I'd like the opportunity to do that process and would ask that you just deny all RFP quotes as they were received.

Now, there was one quote that was under budget, but they didn't meet specifications? It did not.

No, and that was from Watson, I believe. Is that correct? Yeah. Yeah, that did not meet specifications by dimensions. It was too long.

And they can't scale it down?

They could but then they wouldn't be meeting the specs that we put out. And we want to make sure we comply with this procedures. Hence the reason we use the new procurement process, obviously provide all three vendors with equal opportunity to come down, see what we can get that way. And still meet within the budget because I just again, I don't feel it's fair for the taxpayers to pay over what we we budgeted last year for this project. I think that's a big ask.

That's not fair to the people that bid either. They all need to have the shot to scale it back.

We'll give all three companies that bid a fair opportunity on it when they quote us.

Any other questions for Chief?

Not have roll call please on this roll call. We just know we're saying yes to the resolution. Oh, reject. Gotcha. Yeah.

Just want to make sure it's a negative resolution.

Shepherd.

Yes.

Graves.

Yes. To the no. Yes.

Alexi. Yes. Anderson.

Yes.

Fine.

Yes. Okay. Item number L on the agenda.

I'll introduce resolution 2026-69 and move for its approval.

I'll second that. Motion by Mark, seconded by Shane, for resolution 2026-69, which is to approve contractor's application for payment number three, final, to Paul Reed Construction and Supply for the Stockade Road Improvement Project.

Okay, Janet Johnson, 234 Main Street. As George just said, this is number three and final for the Stockade Street Project, Stockade Road Street Project, in the amount of $36,407.50. So the only thing that is left is our portion of the installation of the streetlights themselves, and then that project will be complete. And if you'll remember that this is total reimbursement from the state, we did just get reimbursement on pay estimate number two. So as soon as we can get things turned around, I will send this into the state and we'll get this one reimbursed.

That should probably all happen by September 30th or fiscal year end. Was that erosion control?

mesh well i haven't been out there well we haven't gotten any rain to speak of to make sure that it's there's some vegetation coming but it's very small right and they're supposed to be watering you know somewhat yeah but we haven't gotten any rain to speak of to make sure that it's working as the way it was intended so Hopefully. But Tom asked NPPD to hold off for 30 days before they installed the lights. And that's probably, we have at least two more weeks, maybe three.

Two more weeks.

So.

And we can hold off longer if we need to.

Yeah.

It'll be a nice improvement.

It'll be a nice improvement. But yes, we will have our money before the end of September. I will submit yet this week to Doug Hoveit. Thank you.

Any other questions? Could we have a roll call, please? Shepard? Yes.

Graves? Yes. Alexi?

Yes.

Anderson?

Yes.

Klein?

Yes. I'd like to make a motion to approve the claims that are submitted in our information. I'll second that. Motion by me, second by Shane. Discussion on them. I always gotta pick out something. Sorry, Chief, but I noticed on the one vehicle repair, they had to replace rotors, and when I get my oil changed, they tell me how bad the pads are, and I thought, Didn't any, when we had the oil change, didn't anybody say, you need new pads?

No, we get the spec sheets as well on every oil change. This was right after fur trade and car five just locked up on us. Basically, it was rattling as it was going down the road. Knew what it was, had to wait for the appointment, and they told us. Yeah. Waste works a little different than basic driving, though. We turn a lot, we go fast, you know, speed up the car's brake. It's a lot, so... We do watch our maintenance sheets though.

Yeah. I think that was the only thing I really noticed. I was actually wondering if the amount for Crow, I couldn't figure out the projects if we maybe had something in there twice, and we probably don't.

The corral should just be for the church, shouldn't it?

It's $7,820, and it seemed like a lot, and it seemed like more than one sheet of paper in there for each truck, but...

I thought we also had part of the other...

It included the intersection here concrete.

That second Bordeaux.

And it included the...

They didn't have it. There wasn't any concrete on that.

Sixth and... Over here?

Nope. For Danielson's? Nope.

He paid for that.

Sixth and Arrow was in there.

Sixth and Arrow could have been.

Yeah.

But not Bordeaux. You sure? Yep.

Look at those invoices to make sure that they're right. I haven't had enough time to really try to figure it out.

We'll pull them and look at them, but no, Bordeaux wasn't on there. Because I pulled that and talked to Austin. We'll look at it, George.

Okay. Well, that's, I think, all I have.

Is that the only one?

Yeah. Note that we got, I think, is this the first person, Travis Plooster, who asked for the reimbursement for his sidewalk?

Yes. Okay, that's what I thought. The other one's not done yet.

Okay. No one has any other questions. Roll call, please. Shepard? Yes.

Graves? Yes. Alexi?

Yes.

Anderson?

Yes. Klein? Yes. Okay. Public comment. Anyone wishing to address the council on a matter not on this agenda may now do so. Individuals are allowed a total of three minutes to speak. I don't have any takers. Move on to city manager report.

George, I have nothing for tonight. Thank you.

Golly. Okay, council closing comments. Start with Shane.

I'd like to thank everyone that came tonight for that, about the flash cameras. When we hear from the public, it gives the council more intuition about what the this people from the city want I know mark went out and I went out and talked to many people in the community just to get a understanding on what everyone kind of wanted I have to and some research about it and everything and um i guess i'd rather have a tool for public safety than some of the drawbacks that come with some of the new technology nowadays and i can assure you a lot of these not all of them but a lot of these um notes and everything. Tracy's the only one that stayed, so I appreciate that. But a lot of the stuff that has been said hasn't been said with Nebraska law and state statute. And I can assure you that Nebraska state statutes are some of the strictest out there to ensure your privacy. That's all I have. Actually, I'd like to add to that. Rick, I know you didn't question yourself, but I do think you're doing a good job for the public and the safety for the Chatham residents.

Thank you, sir.

I do also appreciate everyone coming in with a controversial subject such as this to voice their concerns and let us better understand what the concerns of the public are. There were a lot of things brought up that I hadn't considered myself. So I think it's very beneficial to understand what the citizenry has concerns about and what they want and what they don't want to help us better make decisions for the community i i would just note that uh the some of the loudest um

loudest thing I heard tonight was that there was nobody from the public speaking in favor of it. If you are out there, if you are in favor of it, you know, the council would like to hear from you. Or I've told several people who have spoken to me about this, you know, we have a very approachable police chief, Chief Hickstein. He'll tell you to call him Rick. And like Shane said, I think you are doing a great job for public safety, you know, using the tools available to you. And I've appreciated how open you've been with me and a few citizens I have heard who've spoken to you about it. Just open to that dialogue. That's, I think, the most important thing. Whatever we choose going forward with this is to have that dialogue and keep it going. So that's all I got.

All right. similar feelings you know i have full faith in our police department but my skepticism towards the flock cameras falls towards those outside agencies that rick doesn't have uh control over That's really my biggest concern right now. And even with Nebraska's stricter statutes towards it right now, I think it's only a matter of time before these issues become bigger than we're willing to handle. But I do appreciate everyone coming out and voicing their opinions, whether it's here or through social media, letting us know. It's good to have those discussions.

Thank you. Well, thanks to everyone on their presentation. On some positive stuff, Emily and I attended the Dodge County Fair Special Awards last Sunday. Congratulations to everyone who was honored. It was a really nice ceremony to recognize Chadron area residents for outstanding service. Among those were the Chadron Volunteer Firemen and the Crawford Volunteer Firemen for the extra miler awards. Another award was for Steve Cleveland, and if you got some time, you need to get up to the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center. Steve has done a lot of work on history of ranches, and they have an exhibit there, and there's another exhibit in and I think at the end of August they're going to flip them. The only thing I didn't like, when I went up to the Maury Sandoz Center, they hung the posters that they put together too high. They'd be perfect for a guy like Rick. But for a short guy like me, it's got a pain in my neck. Not from viewing him, but just looking up. And I mentioned the firemen. Tomorrow there's a first responders recognition. They call it National Night Out from 5.30 to 7.30 at Morphers Decorating Center. There's an appreciation for our first responders. So that'd be nice if you take time to see that. School starts before our next meeting, so I encourage everyone to watch out for exciting children walking or on bikes or on their way to and from school. The schedule is a little shorter days for those first few weeks. I want to thank everyone who entered exhibits in the fair. Emily and I didn't get out there until Thursday night. We didn't get an opportunity to go to anything in the grandstand, but I think they were well attended. I'm sure the tough truck contest was. and want to take notice for those who plant and care for the large parts of flowers in the downtown area. They're doing a good job and I'm still working on pulling weeds out of lots of places. I left in my note that I Gave somebody, I gave him two copies that I couldn't ever get an answer at the door. I left them in the door and nothing happened. So yesterday I went out with my shovel and took care of them. I didn't pick up the weeds. I figured they'd blow away and I wanted the residents to see that the weeds were there.

Move to adjourn.

Second. Motion by Shane, seconded by Clay to adjourn. Roll call, please.

Shepherd?

Yes.

Graves? Yes. Alexi? Yes. Anderson?

Yes. Klein? Yes.