A meeting of the Mayor and Council of the City of Plainview, Nebraska, was held at the Council Chambers in said City on the 3^rd day of March at 6:00 o’clock P.M. 

 

Roll call was held and present were: Mayor Schlote; Council Members: Alder, Smith and Sanne. Absent: Yosten

 

The Pledge of Allegiance was then recited.

 

Mayor Schlote 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 Posting in three places for designated method for giving notice.  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.

 

Jeremy Tarr was present as City Administrator

Courtney Retzlaff was present as City Clerk.

Bruce Curtiss was present as City Attorney.

 

The City of Plainview has received an Administrative Order for nitrate levels in the City water system. The City must retain a registered professional engineer no later than April 14, 2021. A Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) must be submitted by the engineers no later than July 14, 2022 and the final plan for correction must submitted by July 14, 2023.

 

Presentations were heard from 2 engineering firms on their services to assist the City of Plainview in correcting the Administrative Order.

 

Gary Steele and Chris Miller of Miller & Associates Consulting Engineers, P.C. in Kearney were present to discuss the current water issues within the City of Plainview and possible solutions.. Chris Miller explained the process of working through an Administrative Order, data that has been collected over the years showing the trends in nitrate levels and the differences between wells and treatment facilities. Miller suggested drilling test wells initially to locate new sources for water and said that treatment facilities should be a last resort for a Municipality. Miller also gave a brief overview of what information a PER would include.

 

Economic Development Director Susan Norris gave an overview of “food deserts” and their impact on small communities. Dollar type stores that offer groceries, over-the-counter prescriptions and other non-perishables, but do not carry fresh produce or meats, can create “food deserts” as access to healthy food options is eliminated. Concerns on lack of community involvement by corporations, loss of businesses in the downtown district and overall effect on the physical health of the community were addressed. Several business owners were present to speak on the impacts any additional dollar type stores would have on their profit margin. Ashley Dendinger, owner of Plainview Family Pharmacy, Jan Wragge, owner of Mitch’s Food Center Jody Stone, co-owner of Mary’s Restaurant, and Brook Curtiss, owner of the Plainview News, all spoke on the importance of keeping our small-town local businesses. They urged the council to consider putting in place an Ordinance to prevent additional dollar type stores in the City of Plainview.

 

 

Motion was made by Sanne and seconded by Smith to approve Ordinance No. 964 on its first reading.  Upon roll call vote, the following members voted AYE:  Alder, Smith and Sanne. The following voted NAY: none.  Motion carried 3-0.  Whereupon the Mayor declared said Ordinance No. 964 approved on its first reading.

 

It was moved by Sanne and seconded by Alder to waive the second and third readings and approve Ordinance No. 964. Upon roll call vote, the following members voted AYE: Alder, Smith and Sanne The following voted NAY: none.  Motion carried 3-0.  Whereupon the Mayor declared Ordinance No. 964 approved on its second and third readings.

 

ORDINANCE #964

 

 

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PLAINVIEW, NEBRASKA, to create a new code section in Chapter 11, Municipal Planning, Article 4.5, Section 11-4.5.1, Business Retention, Small Box/Variety Stores.  Competition and Regulation

 

WHEREAS, the Mayor and City Council of the City of Plainview recognize that maintaining a full-service grocery store and a full-service pharmacy in a community the size of Plainview is of significant importance to the health and welfare of the citizens of Plainview and the surrounding area; and

 

WHEREAS, many similar small communities have lost their grocery stores and/ or pharmacies due to lack of volume of sales, and other over competition from other types of businesses that operate of a higher volume or low margin format, but frequently also offer less of the high quality fresh and healthy food products and full service pharmacy products; and

 

WHEREAS, it is the policy of the City of Plainview to attempt to structure and regulate the community business environment to support and maintain the best support for the health and welfare of its citizens;

 

 

NOW THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PLAINVIEW, NEBRASKA  that 11-4.5.1 be created as follows:

 

 

Section 1. Administration;

 

Intent and Purpose.  The purpose of this ordinance is to maintain and support the health and welfare of the citizens of Plainview, by:

1.      Promoting a community-based approach to the support and preservation of existing businesses that:

a)      Provide a business environment that devotes in excess of 60% of square footage to food products, including access to a full range of foods, fresh produce, fresh meats and dairy products; and/or

b)      Provide full service licensed pharmacy services, as well as over the counter drug products, support for drug programs at local medical and care facilities, and all related products normally stocked in a full-service pharmacy;

2.      Providing a community business structure that allows the business mentioned above to survive and thrive; and

3.      Avoiding over concentration of small box discount or variety stores, as defined below, that would threaten the financial viability and/ or existence of such food and pharmacy providers and businesses within the City of Plainview;

 

 

Section 2. Definitions.

 

The following terms shall have the meaning provided herein.  Terms not defined herein shall have the meaning provided in the City of Plainview Zoning Ordinance and/or City Subdivision Regulations.

 

1. Grocery Store:  Retail store that provides assorted goods for sale, including but not limited to, food, beverages and personal health items.  A minimum of 25% of sales floor area or more than 3,000 square feet of sales floor are dedicated to the sale of fresh or pre-packaged meats, fruits, vegetables ,and dairy, whichever is greater. 

 

2. Small Box Discount Store:  Retail store that provides assorted, inexpensive items that are continuously offered at a discounted price that is usually under $10 per item.  Products sold typically include processed food and drink items, personal hygiene products, household products, clothing items, office supplies and decorations.  Gross floor area is typically less than 12,000 square feet.  Does not include convenience retail stores.

 

3. Convenience Retail Store:   Retail store that provides fuel and assorted or specialty goods for sale, including food and beverages for off-premise consumption and personal health items.  Small box discount stores are not included.

 

Section 3. Regulations of Small Box Discount Stores

 

To avoid over-concentration, a new small box discount store within the City of Plainview Zoning Jurisdiction shall not be closer than 1 mile (5,280 feet) from another existing small box discount store.  If located at least 5,280 feet from another such store, this use is permitted by Special Use Permit (“SUP”) only.  In addition to the criteria for a SUP set forth in the Zoning Code, when reviewing a request for SUP for a discount store use, the Planning Commission and City Council shall consider:

1.      Whether the proposed discount store may have a detrimental impact on the development of grocery stores and other businesses that sell fresh and healthy food items in the area to be served by the proposed use.

2.      The availability of healthy food options in the area of the proposed use including the proximity of full-service grocery stores within one mile of the proposed use and effect of the use on the retail food environment index as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

3.      Whether the proposed use is within, an area that may become, a food desert , as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture at the time of application.

 

4.      Whether the proposed use may have a detrimental impact on the development or survival of full-service pharmacies.

 

The second presentation for engineering services for water department projects was from JEO Consulting Group, Inc. Viv Novotny, Roger Protzman and Steve Parr were present to speak to the council about the current issues related to the Administrative Order and what services JEO offers to assist with correcting the A.O. Protzman talked about nitrate levels, the ongoing Source Water study with the NRD to identify where new wells could be possibly be located, and financing options through the Nebraska Water & Wastewater Advisory Committee. Protzman also spoke of other options that surrounding towns had utilized that could be explored to correct the nitrate levels within the City of Plainview.

 

Councilmember Sanne moved to table selection of an engineering firm until the regular meeting on March 9, 2021. Smith seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0.

 

Sanne moved to adjourn the meeting. Smith seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0.

 

 

 

TIME: 8:36 P.M.

 

 

 

 

_______________________________

Brian Schlote, 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 3/03/2021; 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)