September 9, 2026 at 5:30 PM - Council Meeting Agenda

Discussion:  Mayor Lehmkuhl opened the Public Hearing to set the final tax request for fiscal year 2026-2067 budget at 5:30pm.

Discussion:  At 5:30pm Mayor Lehmkuhl also opened the Public Hearing for the fiscal year 2026-2027 budget.

Discussion:  Street Superintendent, Jim Litchfield, asked the Council to set the public hearing date for the 1- & 6-year street plan at the October 2026 meeting.  CA Mogus will meet with council members Gieser and Brenn as well as the mayor before meeting with Mr. Litchfield.  The Council set Wednesday, October 14, 2026 at 5:30pm for the Public Hearing for the 1- & 6- Year Street Plans. 

Discussion:  No subcommittee report this month. 

Discussion:  Preston Koehler, sitting in for City Attorney Luke Henderson, noted that the court date for Crystal Valenzuela was August 25; however, Valenzuela did not appear in court.  Therefore, she was arrested on August 28.  Valenzuela posted bond, and the attorneys are trying to find a way to use the bond to pay the judgment.  If this doesn't come to fruition, then court will be next week to decide the outcome of the defaulted LB840 loan.
 

Discussion:  No report from Dixon County Sheriff, Tom Decker, this month.

Discussion:  Utility Foreman Buck submitted a written report this month. 

Discussion:  City Administrator Mogus also presented a written report this month.  He noted that Zeisler will be in town on Monday, September 14 to begin main repair.  Council member Brenn asked about progress with the bus barn.  Mogus stated that he had met with interim superintendent Dr. Ted DeTurk and had a good conversation.

Discussion:  No comments from the public this month.

Discussion:  Clerk Vander Veen noted that each council member had a copy of the proposed budget from Tracy Cannon, AMGL. There were no questions or concerns.  

Discussion:  City Administrator Mogus had not received any proposals by council time for the modifications to the older, current Welcome signs at the City's entrances.  There was much back and forth discussion regarding whether to reskin the old signs or purchase new signs.  Mayor Lehmkuhl pointed out the monies have been budgeted for the signs this fiscal year; he suggested that council approved spending a certain dollar amount and let CA Mogus decide on the signage.  As a reminder, Love Signs proposed $60K for two signs; Mayer Signs' proposals were $62K and $66K.  Council members Brenn and Nelson would like to go with the new signs.  All council members liked Option #1 from Love Signs with the brick on the bottom and the removal of "Baseball Capital of Nebraska".  Option #1 from Mayer signs was liked; however, Option #2 did not come off as a candidate as the "Welcome To..." seemed out of place.   

Discussion:  Preston Koehler asked for Ordinance #6-2026 to be tabled until next month so that more preparation can be done on the electric rate increase.

Discussion:  Megan Weaver, speaking from the audience, informed the council that Wakefield Progressive is not pursuing Placer.AI, so no action needs to be taken. 

Discussion:  Patriot Buildings will be out September 22, 2026 to begin work on reskinning the shop building at 303 Oak Street.  Monies for this project have been budgeted for the current fiscal year; however, no monies were budgeted for the coming fiscal year, and we don't want to amend our budget.  Even though Council has already approved the project, CA Mogus is recommending paying the entire request now.  

Discussion:  Clerk Vander Veen informed the Council that there are two General Fund Certificates of Deposit that will mature September 24, 2026.  She is asking for guidance on whether to keep the CDs at Bank First or to switch them to Security Bank in Allen.  Jon McQuistan at BankFirst can offer 3.51%--just a bit lower than the current 3.57%--by rolling the CDs over for another six-months.  However, if Council would like to extend the term of the CDs to eleven-months, BankFirst is able to offer 4.01%.  On the other hand, Security Bank in Allen, is able to offer 3.8% for six-months, and 4.0% on a 12-month CD.  Council members agreed they want to see the City's dollars stay in Wakefield.  

Discussion:  The City's auditors have talked the past few years about closing the Civic Center checking account and absorbing those monies into the General Fund.  This would alleviate payroll and other payables issues.  The finance committee spoke about this suggestion over the summer and recommended closing the Civic Center account.  This will need to be done in September 2026 so that everything is in place for the new fiscal year which starts October 1st. 

Discussion:  According to CA Mogus, the existing mower keeps breaking down and causing a lot of time for repairs. It is over 15 years old and is used for lagoons and other areas around the City. The new mower will be paid for with the street and sewer funds. Council members would like to see the old mower either traded or sold--not just sitting around collecting dust. 

Discussion:  CA Mogus was informed late last week that JEO has not even started on the electric rate study they were asked to complete for the City.  Luckily, no funds have been paid to JEO, and they did apologize.  However, because the City has already employed JK Energy Consulting LLC to complete both a water and sewer study, Mogus asked if they would be interested in adding an electric study onto the contract.  JK Energy is willing to add the electric rate study for an additional $8,000 which is much cheaper than what JEO was going to charge the City. 

Discussion:  Gardner Public Library Director, Katelyn Pommer, has been working a lot of extra hours over the past several weeks due in part to new hire, Taja Owen, being unable to work as many hours as she initially thought. The library board would like to hire another person to work as a substitute of sorts to help out at those times when extra hands are needed (ie lunch breaks, vacation, etc).  This person, combined with Ms. Owen's hours, would be equal to what the City Council previously approved, and the new hire would not cause any increase to the library's budget.  If council is willing to allow the library to hire someone else, they are recommending Barb Farup at $15/hour.  

Discussion:  There are several upcoming vacancies on City boards, authorities, and committees as of December 2026.  If this council wants to fill those, they will need to get the names of possible candidates to Mayor Lehmkuhl ASAP. 

Discussion:  The City recently received several proposals for the Comprehensive and Housing Plan; however, the RFP did not ask for a Zoning and Sub-Division plan as well.  These are normally done at the same time.  City Staff is wondering if the Council would like them to send out an addendum to the RFP to have those companies who've already submitted proposals add Zoning and Sub-Division or not.  No matter if council decides to allow for an addendum, there will need to be an Ad-Hoc committee formed to look through the proposals and score them.  This committee is usually formed of council members, P&Z members, CRA members, citizens, etc.  The City has budgeted $70K for the comp plan; however, some proposals are well over while others are under the budgeted amount.  In summary, City staff are asking for two separate items:  One is an ad-hoc committee to review current bids and score them, and two, create an addendum to send out to those who sent a bid asking for zoning and subdivision as well.  Preston Koehler noted no resolution was needed for this action.  Council agreed to both the ad hoc committee and the addendum.  Council member Joe Nelson agreed to be on the committee when the time comes. 

Discussion:  There has been no new information regarding the potential property purchase.