Seward is working to take on a utility service area along Highway 15 that may lead to annexation.
The city of Seward is working with Norris Public Power District to purchase the service area for property on the east side of Highway 15 near the city burn pile and Nebraska Department of Roads facility, south and west of the railroad tracks.
City Administrator Greg Butcher told city council members on Aug. 18 that Norris approached the city with the option to take on the six customers and equipment in this service area after Norris purchased the Seward County Rural Electric Association.
“This is a new one for me,” Butcher told the council as they approved the plan to amend Service Area Agreement 193, purchase the service area and compensate the power district for loss of income.
He said the service area now owned by Norris is either contracted for service by the city of Seward or owned by it in the case of the burn pile.
The city has offered to pay Norris $35,118 for the facilities and $33,162 for loss of revenue for a total price of $68,280 for the service area. The sale has to be approved by the Nebraska Power Review Board.
“This gives us the opportunity to put them on the list for annexation or allows them to ask for annexation,” Butcher said. “We really think this is a win-win for Seward and Norris.”
Also at the Aug. 18 meeting, the council approved a $366,900 amendment to the city’s $3.6 million contract with Short Elliott Hendrickson for design engineering services for the wastewater facility plant.
The expanded scope of work brings the contract to $3.9 million.
Butcher said SEH performs a variety of design work for the wastewater facility plant and the recent additions have included planning water sampling and billing mechanisms, working on the temporary treatment plant to be set up off South Second Street and planning how a crane will be added to the design to move heavy equipment.
The firm is also monitoring how construction prices and other expenses will impact the city’s plan to pay for the wastewater treatment plant when it is operational, which Butcher said is important.
“Costs move so quickly,” Butcher said. “We have to keep that continually in mind as we look to the future.”
In other action on Aug. 18 the council:
• Approved two final actions on the Bluff Country Estates housing development following public hearings at which no one spoke, first approving the final plat with one change in road name to facilitate global positioning information and then rezoning the land from agricultural, which requires 20 acres per house, to rural residential which requires only five acres per house.
• Appointed Keaton Soucek to the Seward Volunteer Fire Department roster.
• Reappointed Lacey Koch to the Seward Planning Commission for a three-year term.
• Forwarded to its insurance company a claim for a property on Augusta Drive where city electrical lines fell during the March 2025 snowstorm.
• Approved an amendment for the agreement with the Norris Public Power District
• Authorized signing of the annual certification of program compliance form for the Nebraska Department of Public Roads and Standards.
• Met in executive session for 30 minutes without action being taken.
