City department staffing issues, as well as potential new commercial and residential developments, were discussed during an 87-minute Milford City Council meeting on Nov. 4.
The only presentation of the evening came from Jake Vasa of SEH, Inc., who presented master planning materials for a development site northwest of Milford. Vasa said an accompanying map, which showed the plot along Highway 15, was meant to show layout plans. The current landowner has expressed a willingness to sell to an investor, rather than conduct the deal himself, Vasa said.
Attached to the map was a utility plan. Vasa said power and fiber internet stretch that far from the city's center, but gas, wastewater and water could prove a different story. A water well nearby could be tapped for project use. Gas lines would require more effort to access and Vasa said the project would require a two-mile sewer project for wastewater.
Vasa said the intent of the presentation was to showcase the plan.
Seward County Chamber and Development Partnership President Jonathan Jank said that Norris Public Power District would invest in the project for commercial or industrial use, as is planned. Jank said he had received interest from entities in the Nebraska dairy industry about the plot. For example, he said, that could mean a cheese factory. An agriculture processing project would open the possibility for tax increment financing.
Council members also passed motions on two resolutions regarding the 2019 Citywide Housing Rehabilitation Program. Jank said the project came in just under budget. Of the $500,000 available in state funds for the project, Milford applied for $250,000. So council members moved that project along although they are not allowed to know location(s) of the project at this time.
A large portion of the meeting involved discussing adjusting city employees' salaries and holiday pay for the Chief of Police position, which was originally brought to the council six months ago.
Ultimately, the council decided to put in writing that the police chief should be given the opportunity to choose between a cash payout and allowing vacation time to accumulate. Current Milford Police Chief Forrest Siebken was present to provide insight and feedback. He said that, because of current staffing conditions with the Milford Police Department, he's been unable to take vacation time. Siebken said that choice would make sense for himself, or future chiefs, to consider once staffing improves.
Council members voted to make $21.50 the new starting pay for certified Milford Police Department officers. Non-certified officers would start at $19.50 then be awarded a 50-cent raise after completing training and another after a one-year probationary period.
Council members made that decision to entice future applicants to the department with hopes of retaining officers for longer. Siebken said two Milford officers have recently left the department for better pay, including one with the Seward County Sheriff's Office.
Siebken said one potential new hire, who was a certified officer in Kansas, has relocated to the area but would need to be re-certified in order to join the police department.
The council also decided to conduct a comparison study to determine if that assigned salary range needs to be adjusted further.
A motion to raise pay for Milford maintenance department workers was not discussed, although it was alluded to by council members. Maintenance supervisor Gary TeSelle said he needed help from nearby maintenance crews to remove snow during the brief late-October snow spell. The council did approve a motion to offer employment, conditional to drug screening, to a current Milford resident. That position starts at $16 per hour with a 50-cent raise after six months and another 25-cent raise following certification.
Council members also adopted a speed limit amendment on first reading. That ordinance would change the speed limit on Eighth Street between B and D Streets to 15 miles per hour between June 1 and Nov. 1. That requires passage on two more readings before becoming law.
