March 3, 2025 at 7:00 PM - Beatrice Regular City Council Meeting

Discussion:  tt - safety action plan, 2022 applied for grant.  have to have safety action plan before SS4A funding available.  Open houses, committee met, all together 

Mark & Lonnie, JEO, mark - fun fact, Beatrice 1st community to complete safety action plan using SS4A.  Omaha did Vision 0 with different funds

thanked advisory committee.  list committee members. Kristen Noka & Ashley?? plan purpose - too many deaths.  most concerning people most vulnerable pedestrians & bicyclist; basis for vision - safe system approach - help reduce # of fatal & severe.  6 principal reasons.  5 objectives:  identify safe roads, vehicles, people, etc., Safety & Equity analysis - fatal & injury - 2231 total crashes, 503 fatal, 41 VRU vulnerable road user.  equality & equity - disadvantaged national census tracts - on slide: 64% were in a disadvantaged area.  high injury network - roadway characteristics,   Community engagement - online & social media efforts, public meetings 2 open houses, 3 focus group meetings - spanish speaking - website, online surveys.  takeaway - need for ped & bike safety, infrastructure

lonnie - needs assessment of heat maps to look at severity & type, to determine where greatest need in community is.  prioritization - individual spots & corridor loations.    priority recommendations - looked at several dozen recommendations - additional crosswalks, lane alignment, more sidewalk infrastructure, ADA ramps.  clustering focused around project grouping - 3 overall large recommendations. 1 - implement more holistic along Hwy 77, Dorsey to ______, south. 3 lane reconstruction, sidewalks, improve intersections, would address 9 of top 20 list.  2 - Court Street - CAST initiative with relocation of truck routes, should see improvements 5-6 more top 20 locations.  3 - Lincoln Street Corridor - school traffic & would address remaining intersections, prior study work done prior.  sidewalks, trail, alignment issues.  all data available
policies, programs, partnerships - continue to do things like utilize ____ access policy, trails & sidewalk policy, keep eye on safety.  
recommendations - trails Network - came up with recommendations for trails.  enhance trail crossings, signage, flashing beacons, etc. 
additional safety considerations - tool box of other things to be cognitive of, pavement rehab, etc.  federal highway & best practices
implementation - committement to safety, DOT wants to see, 1st community to create plan - continue to report on progress as addressing locations - good rhythm annually to track  - take action - funding sources, regarding safety to help fix safety problems.  

Dana - explain deeper on how it was scored.  LOnnie - formula process, if VRU, total crashes, disadvantaged areas
Dana - is that what the categories pg 52 & 53
Mike - thank for work done.  hours spent, great analysis, challenge council to use this info & make good improvements
Ted - is this broken down to time of day or just - Mark - some demographic info in there, if want to know more, JEO can provide if needed.
Terry - no surprise 6th/court; Lincoln, 4 way stop signs are safer than 2 way stop signs & stop lights.  Mark - inherently traffic lights do enhance, pretty big believers in roundabouts, almost impossible to be in severe.  4 way typically safer, however, could depend on location.  2 way, all way, signal, roundabout.  Lonnie - add been experience that all way stop intersections tend to be safest for pedestrians. roundabouts also pretty low.  reduce 90% fatality, 75% serious injury & 50% of all injuries, 
Terry - 3-4 Mondays way higher than any time, Mark - understanding the why not part of their study.  not crystal clear   Mayor - in theory could see signficant.  Terry - thanked committee members.
Lonnie - do alot of work, really dedicated & present at meetings. super helpful.  great group here in beatrice.
Dana - #1 - painful narrowed street to 3 lanes 6th STreet, didn't last long.  need to think of how we do that moving forward. how do you make it go smoothly.  Mark - planning & coordinating, effort in Lnk P Street to 2 way - think through all the things may not go as you want them to.  will be times when traffic doesn't flow as you would like to, all comes down to .  holistic recommendation - will not be easy but woudnt have made recommendation if didnt' belie it would help.

Mark - keep in mind when lot of left turning, pretty much operates as 3 lane anyway.  Lonnie - respect comments, pros & cons, but congested locations add back exclusive right turn lanes, etc., fundamentally make 3 lane operate better
Mayor - thank you.  very fortunate taking on this project will help as we work with MM to apply for a number of grants. specifically pointed out first study for Beatrice, 77, LIncoln, having some models, paved the way for a grant

Discussion:  TT - west side, sumenr & court street - 10 years ago  zoned commercial, has been house since 1920s, today rules read house that no one lives in, once abandoned for 1 year, has to go back to commercial proeprty.  new owner purchased & would like to rental house.  rezone to r4 - looking at this lot doens't have much GC value, probably not great commercial property, zoning back to r4 makes most sense.  Admin recommends rezone & P&Z also recommended.

Terry - complaints?  TR - no complains, couple inquiries.  Terry -what will be done with?  TR - rental

Discussion:  plan mark & lonnie disucssed, formally adopting as policy for city 

Discussion:  received grant 1 2022 for forestry.  some planting, removal, one was to do forestry inventory.  3 responses.  JEO not low bid, $26,500 but offered to do this & ___________ for less than the amount in budget for just the tree inventory.  look at on city properties, not along river.  will tell tree type, size, species, and gaps location.  aging of trees & when need to be replaced.
Ted- 2nd part they agreed, will it speed process up? TT - yes, should have completed by JUne 2025, not bidding out prior until 2026

Terry - trees in parks, streets, how much more?  TT - not sure if all street trees, more parks & city properties, no private properties
 

Discussion:  Airport hangar project.  $3.3 million project  3 grants _________________, local share $99,300 or 3% of total project.  docs needing to be signed.  authorizing all grant funding for this project
Mayor - appreciate senator fisher - $_____ ear mark thank for committment.

Discussion:  stoddard school stage equipemnt while doing rehab.  ball courts - lease 2 lots to use as staging project.  1 year, option to renew if not done with construction

Discussion:  COB owns trail to cortland, north end Tred Central tire shop, lease ith them to use part of ground.  tried central working with NGage, add concrete for forklift to oeprate.  amendment allows to do that, $ & term stays the same.  remove concrete when done using property, cant cause runoff to trail.

 

Discussion:  rezoning issue discussed during public hearing.

Discussion:  no one appeared