Council meets Feb. 16; approves electric rate increase, trail project amendment

By Alan Carman
The Imperial Republican
    The Imperial City Council held it’s regular meeting Feb. 16, in the Chamber Office. Members present were Julie Gockley, Jan Elliott and Nick Colton. John Miller was absent.
    Minutes of the Jan. 19, Feb. 2 and the Imperial Theatre meeting were approved. Minutes for the special meeting on Jan. 29, were excluded until further review.
    The 2024-25 City audit was reviewed and accepted.
    The council heard from Miller Construction on change order #2 for drainage to be added for the playground area at City Square. The drain would include 2- 40’ x 36” drain pipes under the grass to the north of the playground area. Total cost of the drain project, plus 24 anchor bolts that were not included in the Gazebo equipment is $9,453.00.
    Tyler Pribbeno will check to see if the city can be reimbursed for the anchor bolts that were not included with the other equipment that was sent for the gazebo. Gockley made a motion to approve the change order #2 and Colton seconded. All three voted yes and motion carried.
    Discussion on electrical rate increases was held. A motion to approve resolution R26-02-01, a 3% increase on electrical rates beginning May 1, 2026 and a 3% increase on May 1, 2027 was made and approved by a 3-0 vote.
    Resolution R26-02-02 to transfer ownership of Imperial Police Department K-9 unit Jago to Officer Chris Bustillos was approved by a vote of 3-0.
    Amendments were presented for the 25 year maintenance plan for the Prairie Sage Trail project. Motion was made and approved 3-0 to accept the amended agreement.
    The service agreement presented at the Feb. 2 council meeting for West Central Nebraska Development for 2026 Nuisance Abatement was approved.
    Police Chief Chad Ostmeyer came before the council to discuss overtime pay for the Imperial Police Officers in December. When the department has a full four man crew, most of the time there is no need for overtime, but in December, the department was down one officer due to recovery from an injury. This meant that the other three officers had to cover extra shifts, resulting in extra overtime pay.
    The Council approved the pay on a 3-0 vote, due to the circumstances in December.         
    Recommendation was made that if future circumstances arise, the Police Chief would come to the council before the situation arises.