MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2025

 

A meeting of the Mayor and Council of the City of Plainview, Nebraska, was held at the Council Chambers in said City on the 9^th day of December at 6:30 o’clock P.M. 

 

Roll call was held and present were: Mayor Smith; Council Members: Born, Janovec, Sanne and Doty Absent: None

 

The Pledge of Allegiance was then recited.

 

Mayor Smith opened the meeting and announced to individuals in attendance that a full copy of the new Nebraska Open Meetings Act was posted on the east wall of the Council Chambers.

 

Notice of the meeting was given in advance thereof by Publication, a designated method for giving notice, as shown by the Affidavit of Publication attached to these minutes.  Notice of this meeting was given to the Mayor and all Members of the Council and a copy of their acknowledgment of receipt of notice and the agenda is attached to the minutes.  Availability of the agenda was communicated in the advance notice and in the notice to the Mayor and Council of this meeting.  All proceedings hereafter shown were taken while the convened meeting was open to the attendance of the public.

 

Courtney Retzlaff was present as City Clerk.

Jeremy Tarr was present as City Administrator

Kyle Petersen was present as City Attorney

 

Janovec moved to approve the council meeting minutes from November 11^th. Doty seconded the motion. Motion carried 4-0.

 

Sanne moved to approve claims and payroll. Born seconded the motion. Motion carried 4-0.

 

Juleen Johnson presented the Manor report which included staffing needs and updates to the Manor board bylaws would go into effect January 1^st once approved by Council. Representatives from Clark & Enersen will be at the facility on December 30^th to go over updates to the expansion and renovation project. Johnson also stated that there is an online auction at the now closed care facility in Laurel and there are several items that she is looking at purchasing.

 

Police Chief Hallock stated that the department will taking LiDar training this week and a letter deeming the cabins at 508 E Park Avenue in Plainview as unsafe structures will be sent to the owner, Larry Babel. An application for licensing ATV,UTV and Golf Cars was created, license plates and stickers have been purchased and citizens will be required to register beginning in January.

 

City Administrator Tarr stated that city crews are finishing the asbestos removal in the PCSI building.

 

Mayor Smith recommended Jason Smith and Larry Petersen to 2 year terms on the Tree Board. Sanne moved to approve the appointments. Born seconded the motion. Motion carried 4-0.

 

No appointments were made to the Advisory Board for Parks and Pool and the Housing Board. Interested citizens should contact Mayor Smith if they would like to serve on either board.

 

Council member Janovec introduced the following resolution, amending as follows, Section 1 remove subsection (b); subsection (c) remove “outside the 50-mile Local Travel Area; Section 3, subsection (a) remove sections (II) and (III), Section 3, remove subsections (b) and (c)  and moved for its adoption:

 

RESOLUTION #739

 

A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PLAINVIEW, NEBRASKA, ESTABLISHING A PER DIEM POLICY FOR MEAL EXPENSES INCURRED BY CITY EMPLOYEES DURING OFFICIAL, PRE-AUTHORIZED, OUT-OF-TOWN BUSINESS TRAVEL 

 

WHEREAS, the City of Plainview (“City”) has employees who are required to travel outside the City to conduct official business, attend training, and represent the City at various functions; and

WHEREAS, the City Council desires to establish a policy for the reimbursement of meal expenses incurred by employees during such travel; and

WHEREAS, a per diem reimbursement method, which provides a fixed daily allowance, simplifies expense reporting, reduces administrative burden, and ensures predictable budgeting; and

WHEREAS, the United States General Services Administration ("GSA") publishes an official per diem schedule used by federal agencies, which serves as a recognized national benchmark for reasonable travel expenses; and

WHEREAS, the GSA standard “Meals and Incidental Expenses” (M&IE) rate for Nebraska is $68.00, which is composed of a $63.00 “Meals” component and a $5.00 “Incidentals” component, and the City Council has determined that adopting the $63.00 “Meals” component is a fair rate for reimbursement; and

WHEREAS, the City Council has determined a need to establish clear parameters defining "out-of-town" travel to ensure the fair and consistent application of this policy.

 

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PLAINVIEW, NEBRASKA, AS FOLLOWS:

            Section 1. For the purposes of this Resolution, the following terms are defined:

• Official Duty Station: Shall be defined for all City employees as Plainview City Hall, 209 West Locust Avenue, Plainview, NE 68769.
• Out-of-Town Travel: Shall be defined as official, pre-authorized City business travel to a destination.
• Overnight Stay: Shall mean being in an approved travel status that includes a rest period, requiring the employee to secure lodging for the night.

 

            Section 2. City employees shall be entitled to the following meal per diem rates:

• Full Day Rate: Employees who are eligible for a meal per diem shall be reimbursed at a fixed rate of $63.00 per day. This per diem is for meal expenses only and is not a reimbursement for incidental expenses.
• Partial Day Rate (First and Last Days): In accordance with federal and state standards, the per diem rate for the first and last calendar days of Out-of-Town Travel shall be prorated to 75% of the full-day rate, which is $47.25.

 

Section 3.  The following provisions affect eligibility for per diem rates:

• To be eligible for the meal per diem rate established in Section 2, a City employee's travel must be for official, pre-authorized City business.

Section 4.  The meal per diem shall be reduced for any meals provided to the employee at no cost, such as those included in a conference registration fee paid by the City. The City Clerk/Treasurer is authorized to make deductions from the per diem reimbursement based on the following schedule:

• Breakfast Provided: Deduct $16.00
• Lunch Provided: Deduct $19.00
• Dinner Provided: Deduct $28.00

 

Section 5.  Employees seeking reimbursement must submit a completed travel reimbursement form as prescribed by the City Clerk/Treasurer, which shall include the dates of travel, destination, business purpose, and documentation of any required pre-authorization. Itemized receipts for meals are not required, as reimbursement will be made on this per diem basis.

 

Section 6.  That all resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict be and are hereby repealed.

 

Council member Doty seconded the foregoing motion and on roll call on the passage and adoption of said resolution, the following voted Aye; Born, Janovec, Sanne and Doty Nay: None. Whereupon the Mayor declared said motion carried and Resolution #739 is passed and adopted.

 

At 7:00 PM Born moved to open the Public Hearing for the One and Six Street Improvement Plan. Sanne seconded the motion. Motion carried 4-0.

 

City Administrator Tarr stated that a request was made to add Fifth Street from Euclid to Ellsworth to the 6 year plan.

 

Born moved to close the public hearing at 7:02 PM. Sanne seconded the motion. Motion carried 4-0.

 

Resolution #740 will be tabled until January so the additional project can be added.

 

Sanne moved to appoint Miller & Associates as the City Engineer. Janovec seconded the motion. Motion carried 4-0.

 

Sanne moved to appoint Chris Miller, Lic. S-1091 Class A E-8775 as the City Street Superintendent. Janovec seconded the motion. Motion carried 4-0.

 

Sanne moved to approve the LARM insurance renewal effective 10/1/2025 in the amount of $114,314. Born seconded the motion. Motion carried 4-0.

 

Discussion on Ordinance #1016 was held and the council would like to add specifications for the construction of a building on the property at 105 S Maple Street. A new Resolution will need to be passed and the property will be available again for any interested individuals. City Clerk Retzlaff will issue payment back to Christopher VanHouten in the amount of $4,999.00.

 

Born moved to approve the Plainview Manor bylaws as presented. Doty seconded the motion. Motion carried 4-0.

 

Janovec moved to amend the City Administrator contract and approve as follows: Section 13, annual review to be held in July; Section 19, City Administrator home address changed from 604 S 4^th Street to 406 S 4^th Street; Section 20, effective date of contract October 1, 2025. Sanne seconded the motion. Motion carried 4-0.

 

City Clerk Retzlaff stated that the electronic sign located next to the Carnegie Library has had some issues with the software working correctly and due to the age of the sign, the City may need to look at options in the future for removing or replacing the sign.

 

Council requested that snow removal is done in a timely manner and to work together across all departments.

 

City Clerk Retzlaff stated that the HandiVan transit software is now in use and the City received notification that the application submitted for a new transit vehicle was approved. Retzlaff will continue to work with the State on the acquisition of a new vehicle.

 

Born moved to adjourn the meeting. Janovec seconded. Motion carried 4-0

 

 

TIME:  7:45 P.M.

 

 

 

 

_______________________________

 

Robert Smith, Mayor                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

 

 

(SEAL)

ATTEST:

 

 

________________________________

Courtney Retzlaff, City Clerk/Treasurer

 

 

I, the undersigned, City Clerk for the City of Plainview, Nebraska, hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of proceedings had and done by the Mayor and Council on 12/9/2025; that all of the subjects included in the foregoing proceedings were contained in the agenda for the meeting, kept continually current and readily available for public inspection at the office of the City Clerk; that such subjects were contained in said agenda for at least twenty-four hours prior to said meeting; that at least one copy of all reproducible material discussed at the meeting was available at the meeting for examination and copying by members of the public; that the said minutes from which the foregoing proceedings have been extracted were in written form and available for public inspection within ten working days and prior to the next convened meeting of said body; that all news media requesting notification concerning meetings of said body were provided advance notification of the time and place of said meeting and the subjects

to be discussed at said meeting.

 

 

 

 

______________________________

Courtney Retzlaff, City Clerk/Treasurer                                                              (SEAL)

 

GENERAL ACCOUNT

 

16102	Street Improvement	Paving Assessment Pmts	197,039.15
16103	Mitch's Food Center	Su	471.80
16104	Schaefer Grain Co.	Svc	342.00
16105	Norfolk Daily News	Ads	40.00
16106	USA Bluebook	Su	335.18
16107	Allo Business	Svc	111.20
16108	Kumm Construction LLC	Svc	4,540.78
16109	Western Oil Inc	Fuel	595.80
16110	Bazile Aggregate Co LLC	Su	195.29
16111	Gayle Sellin	Svc	400.00
16112	Cintas	Su	511.44
16113	Allstar Parts LLC	Su	557.57
16114	ULine	Su	724.57
16115	Schaefer Grain Co.	Su	26.65
16116	Reardon Lawn & Garden	Su	55.58
16117	Gutter Crew Inc	Svc	497.50
16118	Steinkraus Service	Fuel/Repair/Su	2,748.20
16119	Verizon Wireless	Cellphones	439.82
16120	City of Plv Osm/Plv Housing	Housing Loan Pmt	50.60
16121	Visa	Su	281.14
16122	Arbor Day Foundation	Flags	127.90
16123	Postmaster	Postage	33.80
16124	MASA	Emp Ins	140.00
16125	Nebraska DWEE	SRF Semi Annual Pmt	29,774.91
16126	Street Improvement	Paving Assessment Pmts	5,910.57
16127	City of Plv Housing Authority	Housing Loan Pmt	111.00
16128	City of Plainview	IRP Loan Pmt	632.65
16129	City of Plainview	Pool Sales Tax	11,073.27
16130	City of Plainview	Library Sales Tax	7,382.19
16131	City of Plainview	Manor Sales Tax	7,382.19
16132	City of Plainview	Eco Dev Sales Tax	7,382.19
16133	Postmaster	Postage	35.95
16134	Midwest Bank	Emp HSA	881.00
26489
26490
26491	City Employees	Payroll 11-14-2025	22,325.37
26492
26493
26494	City Employees	Payroll 11-26-2025	21,321.41
26495	A&R Construction Co	Su	1,903.71
26496	Addison Hodson	Reim- Lifeguard Certification	250.00
26497	Aflac	Emp Ins	294.58
26498	Akrs Equipment Solutions Inc	Su	15.56
26499	Alegent Creighton Health	Svc	646.00
26500	Altwine Hardware & Home LLC	Su	660.49
26501	American Legal Publishing Corp	Svc	650.00
26502	Ashlynn Ickler	Meter Deposit Refund	61.00
26503	Auto Value- Norfolk	Su	17.98
26504	Bazile Aggregate Co LLC	Su	382.14
26505	Blackburn Mfg. Co.	Su	284.16
26506	Bob Smith	Reim- Mileage	264.60
26507	Bomgaars	Su	480.94
26508	Bud's Sanitary Service, LLC	Svc	5,517.00
26509	Bullseye Fire Sprinkler Inc	Svc	425.00
26510	Casey's Business MasterCard	Fuel	119.68
26511	CHI Health	Svc	100.00
26512	Classic Rentals	Su	161.14
26513	Consolidated Electrical Distributor	Su	677.08
26514	Dinkel Implement Co	Equip	2,700.00
26515	Donna Christiansen	Reim- Mileage	224.70
26516	Eakes Office Solutions	Su	181.72
26517	Elgin Fernau	Meter Deposit Refund	263.25
26518	Farmers Pride	Su	3,025.19
26519	Gayle Sellin	Svc	100.00
26520	Hometown Leasing	Copier Leases	347.32
26521	Ingram Library Services	Books/Audiobooks	440.83
26522	Jarecki Sharp & Petersen PC LLO	Legal Fees	800.00
26523	LP Gill Inc	Svc	6,469.75
26524	LARM	WC Audit	514.15
26525	LED Outfitters	Su	221.94
26526	Love Signs Inc	Su	832.50
26527	Matheson Tri-Gas Inc	Svc	161.19
26528	Menards	Su	120.88
26529	Midwest Bank	Safe Deposit Box	12.00
26530	Miller & Associates Consulting Engineers	Svc	455.00
26531	Mitch's Food Center	Su	19.71
26532	National Sign Company LLC	Su	2,290.11
26533	NE. Electronics Recycling & Disposal	Svc	370.00
26534	NE Public Health Env Lab	Svc	165.00
26535	Pierce Broadband Networks	Svc	56.84
26536	Plainview News	Ads/Su/Legals	702.21
26537	Plainview Telephone Co Inc	Svc	1,171.68
26538	PowerManager	Svc	9,519.60
26539	Schaefer Grain Co.	Svc	303.00
26540	Steinkraus Service	Fuel/Repair/Su	2,005.25
26541	TeamLab	Su	1,037.50
26542	Truck Center Companies	Su	598.23
26543	USA Bluebook	Su	197.71
26544	West Hodson Lumber	Su	1,762.38
ACH	Allied Benefit Services	Emp Health Ins	14622.45
ACH	Black Hills Energy	Svc	385.39
ACH	Colonial Life Processing Center	Emp Ins	412.58
ACH	Crashplan Pro	Svc	9.99
ACH	EFTPS	Fed W/H Tax	6,795.77
ACH	EFTPS	Fed W/H Tax	6,715.38
ACH	Empower Retirement	Pension	2,455.93
ACH	Empower Retirement	Pension	2,466.51
ACH	Dearborn Life Ins Co	Emp Ins	60.00
ACH	FP Finance Program	Postage Machine Lease	98.95
ACH	Healthplan Services Inc	Emp Ins	75.90
ACH	Midwest Bank	NSF Return	108.34
ACH	Midwest Bank	Merchant Capture Svc	50.00
ACH	NE Dept of Revenue	State W/H Tax	1,987.01
ACH	NE Dept of Revenue	Sales & Use Tax	1,533.38
ACH	NPAIT	Gen Acct Int	2,435.29
ACH	Office Max	Su	139.99
ACH	Synchrony Bank/Amazon	Su	95.52
ACH	Synchrony Bank/Amazon	Su	250.56
ACH	USPS	Postage	353.80
ACH	Zoom Video Comm Inc	Svc	16.99

 

NO OUTSIDE ACCOUNT CLAIMS