City Council - Regular Meeting

Council meeting for June 1st 2026 will now come to order in Compliance with the open meeting act a copy of this act is posted in this meeting room madam clerk. Would you please call roll?

Bulkley here our cone here bar Hemer here Jablonski here Lopez here Polinsky here Roth Schilling here mayor Bulkley the role has been thank you.

Mr. Council president Our father

Thank you for the opportunity to serve our fellow citizens. Please give us your wisdom and guidance to make the proper decisions entrusted to this governmental body. May our conduct show respect, honor, and courtesy to each other as well as to all our citizens. Amen.

Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Good morning. Oh, good afternoon. I welcome everyone to tonight's council meeting. If at any time during our meeting Anyone in our audience would like to come forward and address any items on our agenda. We would welcome you to come forward to the podium. We'd ask you to give your name, your address, and keep any comments to five minutes or less. With that, we'll start with our consent agenda.

Item four, consent agenda. The following items are considered to be routine by city council and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion on these items unless a city council member or citizen so request in which event the item will be removed from consent status and considered in its normal sequence on the agenda. 4A, minutes of the May 18th, 2026 city council meeting. 4B, minutes of the May 18th community development agency meeting. 4C, minutes of the May 26, 2026 Civil Service Commission meeting, certifying firefighter candidates Anthony Cush and Andy Keyes. 4D, resolution R26-79, authorizing payments and various improvement projects. 4E, finance department report. And 4F, payroll and bills on file. Mr. Mayor and Council, is there anything you would like removed from the consent agenda?

Mr. Mayor, move the items on the consent agenda be approved as presented. Second.

We have a motion and a second to approve. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes. Brings us up to public hearings.

Okay, item 7A, public hearing application for Caribbean Bar and Grill, LLC, doing business as Caribbean Bar and Grill for retail Class C liquor license located at 1267 26th Avenue and Emilio Pardon as manager.

Is there anyone here to speak against this public hearing? Is there anyone here to speak for this public hearing? Welcome to if you want if you don't want to you don't need to there's your No, you do not need to but I just wanted you were you were here. I wanted you to know you're welcome to come forward Mr.. Mayor move the public hearing be closed We have a motion in a second to close the public hearing Any discussion seeing none all those in favor signify by aye those opposed nay aye Motion passes. Okay.

We need a second. Mr. Mayor, move a recommendation be made to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission to approve the application from Caribbean Bar and Grill LLC for a retail Class C liquor license and Emilio Pardon as manager.

Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passes good luck All right, we move on to Reports of city offices No, that was concluded that was included in the consent agenda new business Okay 13 a Appointment of Beth Augustine Schulte to the Planning Commission for a three-year term

Council members, with your permission, the mayor wishes to submit the following name to your appointment at the June 1st, 2026 city council meeting per city council rules. Beth Augustine Schulte is a lifelong resident of Columbus. She graduated from Columbus High School and received a degree in performing arts from the Central Community College. After starting her family, she continued her education at Concordia University. And after commuting to Seward, For two and a half years, graduated at the top of her class with a bachelor of science degree in education. Beth's teaching career was devoted to St. Bonaventure Elementary School, where she taught fifth grade for eight years and music for 26 years. She also actively serves in her church, sharing her talents as an educator, musician, and community leader. Beth was appointed to the Columbus City Council by Mayor Mike Mosier, serving from 2009 until her resignation in 2023. During her tenure, she was a member of the public finance, judiciary, and personnel committee, served as council president, and led in the revision of the job performance evaluation process. Beth and her husband, David, have a blended family and seven children and 11 grandchildren. She enjoys reading, gardening, and spending time with her family. Council members, do we have a recommendation?

Mr. Mayor, I move that...

Disappointment of Beth Augustine Schulte to the Planning Commission be ratified We have a motion in the second to ratify any discussion Seeing none all those in favor signify by aye those opposed nay Motion passes 13 B quote from Knox company in the amount of twenty two thousand three hundred and thirty nine four seven narcotic storage units for the fire department reallocated CIP number 26-24 and 22-12.

Move for the reallocation of funds be approved and the quote from Knox Company for seven narcotic storage units be accepted.

Second.

We have a motion and a second to approve. Any discussion?

Should we have somebody explain what seven narcotic storage units?

Well, we sure can. We've got a chief of fire number one for that.

Recently, the Drug enforcement agency DEA which controls narcotics and drug usage throughout health care has come out with new regulations They're pretty heavy One of those regulations is to have multiple layers of storage or locked cabinets to store these narcotics in Currently do not meet that so this is really step one of a what's going to be a long and detailed process to get us where we need to be to be in full compliance with the regulations and Part of that after this we'll be looking at inventory software Tracking of narcotics all the above there's there's a lot that's going into this This is just step one of getting these storage units. They're gonna be mounted into both fire engines and the ambulances Thank you any other questions for chief All right.

We have a motion in a second all those in favor signify by aye those opposed nay Motion passes.

13C, plans, specifications, estimate of costs in the amount of $220,078.50 and authorization to advertise four bids for precision approach path indicators and beacon project for the Columbus Municipal Airport. Plans and specifications are on file in the engineering department. This is CIP number 26-15.

We have a motion and a second to approve any discussion are we getting any federal funding for this I

That I cannot answer, and Ross isn't here. Oh, Rick, I'm sorry. I got you on that one.

Yeah, so we received a state grant award for this project. I don't know off the top of my head what that percentage is, but it's a large percentage of it. And so, yes, most of the money will be paid through that. And what's happening here is the FAA is getting rid of the VASTI system, so we have to build on these PAPI systems. An upgrade? It's an upgrade. Okay.

Thank you. All right. Appreciate it. All right. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by aye. Those opposed nay. Motion passes. Brings us up to comments from the mayor and city council.

Comments of the mayor from city council in compliance with the open meeting act. No discussion may be held on this item.

Any council members with comments this evening? I have something I'd like to make sure the public's aware of. I'd like to read a public announcement that we put out a few hours ago. At approximately 2.55 p.m., the Columbus Fire Department was dispatched to a drowning incident at Pawnee Plunge. While responding, units were advised that the incident was not a drowning, but a chlorine exposure. Initial units arrived on scene to find multiple patients who had been exposed to chlorine gas. Multiple Columbus Fire Department ambulances were dispatched, as well as multiple mutual aid ambulances from Duncan Rural Fire. In total, 12 patients were seen by emergency response personnel, eight patients were transported to Columbus Community Hospital, and four refused transport by EMS. The cause of the exposure was attributed to the backflow procedures used to clear out filters throughout the day. This process is normal and occurs multiple times daily. It is believed that during this process, an air bubble containing chlorine was released, which is atypical according to Plunge staff. Columbus Fire Chief Ryan Gray praised the response of both the staff at Pawnee Plunge and emergency responders from Columbus Fire and Duncan Rural Fire. Everyone did exactly what they needed to do in this situation. We faced an unknown number of patients in an extremely condensed time period. One misstep could have led to increased confusion and reduced communications. The chief also wanted to point out emergency actions if you have a minor to mild exposure to chlorine gas. Immediately move to fresh air and loosen tight-fitting clothes. Clean off by removing clothing, jewelry, accessories, and shower as soon as possible. Seek immediate medical attention if experienced breathing difficulties, persistent coughing, or chest tightness. Chlorine is a liquid or gas with strong, irritating smell that is commonly used in aquatics as a primary sanitizer and oxidizer. Chlorine typically dissolves in water and forms a weak acid that kills harmful bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Pawnee Plunge was temporarily shut down during the incident, but plunge staff have since confirmed that the systems are operating normally and that the facility has reopened to the public. All right, we move on to, oh, one other thing. We have a new face in the audience. Mr. Bogus, why don't you tell us who's sitting next to you and what she does?

You do have a new face here. This is Katie Manzano. She's a UNL, going to UNL in her junior year. She's the engineering summer intern. So she's in civil engineering at UNL, and she's learning a lot while she's here, and she's helping us out a lot while she's here, too. So she came, oh, about three weeks ago, and we'll have her until, like, mid-August. So it's been great to have her. Well, glad to have you, Katie.

Welcome. All right. We'll now move on to resolutions.

14A, resolution number R26-80, awarding contract to BD Construction Incorporated for the bid amount of $136,379.50 for Columbus River Bridge Mitigation 2026, CIP number 25-25. Mr. Mayor, move that resolution number R26-80 be adopted. Second. Second.

We have a motion and a second to adopt resolution number R26-80. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by aye. Those opposed, nay. Motion passed, okay.

14b resolution number are two six dash eight one approving professional service agreement with JEO Consulting Group incorporated in the amount not to exceed fifty one thousand four hundred dollars for design phase services for South 14th Avenue Stormwater treatment facility. This is CIP number two four dash three seven.

Mr. Mayor. I move resolution number are two six dash eight one be adopted second

We have a motion and a second to adopt resolution number R26-81. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by aye, those opposed nay. Motion passed, that made up for the last one. All right, that brings us up to ordinances on their third reading.

17 a ordinance number 2 6-0 8 amending city code section 5 0.35 to add regulations regarding handling of solid waste Mr.. Mayor move for the adoption of ordinance number 2 6-0 8 We have a motion in a second to adopt ordinance number 2 6-0 8 any discussion I

Just asking for a friend, did Pratt and Roth get all of his questions answered? He was fearful that he was going to be picked up for not having his garbage can in his garage for two weeks.

I thought we were just going to tell him to keep the garage door closed.

Okay. Well, I hate to have him come back and find out we did this without him.

Well, I think, yeah, I think council's looked in or staff has looked into the options in the What they can do and what they can't do and this is where we are Is that correct? We didn't receive any other emails follow-up, okay Chief just don't show up at his door Well on the other hand maybe All right, we have a motion and a second all those in favor signify by aye those opposed nay aye motion passes and before I gavel the close of the meeting I'd like to remind council and all our audience that the new ambulance is downstairs and you're welcome to take a look at it before you go home appreciate it so all right meeting adjourned