This is a synopsis of the regular monthly meeting of the Mayor and Council of the City of Wilber. A complete copy of the proceedings, resolutions, agreements, and ordinances are on file at the City Office, 110 W Third Street, Wilber, NE and are available for public inspection during regular business hours. PROCEEDINGS OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WILBER, NEBRASKA Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 7:00 p.m. The Mayor called the regular meeting to order at the Cultural Center at 110 W Third Street in Wilber, Nebraska at 7:00 p.m. The meeting notice was published in the Wilber Republican on February 25, 2026. The following were present. Mayor Roger Chrans, Councilmember Kent Linhart, Tim Lempka, and Randy Sasek, City Attorney Tad Eickman, City Clerk Lori Rezny, City Treasurer Melissa Beeman, Water/WWTP Operator Jason Ripa, City Superintendent Tim Krivohlavek, Amy Hausman with the Wilber Republican, Craig Vyhnalek and Ken Uher. Arriving at 7:20 p.m. was Saline Co Deputy Kevin Vogel and Lori and Bill Anderson. Dana Peterson with Frontwater Engineering, LLC arrived at 7:45 p.m. Absent was Councilmember Allen Brozovsky. The Mayor stated that the open meetings act is posted in the meeting room and is available for public inspection. Roll call shows three Councilmembers are present. The Mayor called for recognition of visitors if anyone in attendance wishes to address the Council. The following motions were moved, seconded and approved by unanimous roll call vote. 1) Lempka moved and Linhart seconded the motion to approve the minutes of the February 10, 2026, meeting and claims as presented. 2) Ordinance #989 was read by title. Sasek moved and Linhart seconded to suspend the rules requiring the Ordinance be read three times. Linhart moved and Lempka seconded to adopt Ordinance #989 an Ordinance of the City of Wilber, Saline County, Nebraska, providing for the annual designation of the amount of compensation and salary which shall be received by appointive officials, employees, the Mayor and the members of the City Council of said City; providing for the repeal of all ordinances or parts thereof in conflict herewith; and providing when this Ordinance shall take force and effect publishing this Ordinance in pamphlet or electronic form. 3) Craig Vyhnalek with Vyhnalek Insurance reported that himself, the Mayor and Tim Krivohlavek went over the City’s insurance policy and are recommending the following changes to the policy. Removal of equipment the city no longer has and adding equipment not included, also increasing coverages to the Fire Hall, Library building and personal property, water tower and controls and ballfield lights, scoreboards and fencing. Total for the recommended changes is approximately $825.00 annually. Sasek moved and Lempka seconded to approve the changes to the policy as presented. 4) Craig explained to the Council that the Fire Dept. would like to proceed with purchasing four new sets of bunker gear. The Fire Department will purchase two sets and is requesting the City purchase two sets of bunker gear at a cost of approximately $4000 per set. Sasek moved and Linhart seconded to purchase two sets of bunker gear at a cost of approximately $4000 per set. 5) Tim Krivohlavek reported that he compared the Norris bills for the City since the 2.5% increase by Norris in January 2026. After some discussion, Linhart moved and Sasek seconded to approve a 2.5% increase in all electric rate classes. The Ordinance for this increase will be considered at the April 14, 2026, meeting. 6) The bathroom stalls at the ballpark need to be replaced. After some discussion Sasek moved and Lempka seconded to approve purchasing three bathroom stalls at a cost of approximately $3000.00. 7) Lempka moved and Sasek seconded to approve the SDL application for Long Dogs Distilling for the 2026 Czech Festival. 8) After discussion, Linhart moved and Lempka seconded to approve a 5% wage increase for the one full time and two part time employees at the Dvoracek Memorial Library effective January 1, 2026. 9) Sasek moved and Lempka seconded to open a public hearing at 7:32 p.m. for consideration of a conditional use permit for Lori and Bill Anderson for construction of a bed and breakfast home (short term rental) at 816 S School St. in Wilber. The Anderson’s were in attendance to answer any questions the Council has. They explained that they intend to use the home for themselves and family and friends when visiting Wilber but would also have it available for a short-term rental for others visiting Wilber. Tad Eickman explained to Council that a hearing was held before the City Planning Commission regarding this condition use application, and the Planning Commission made a recommendation to the City Council to approve the conditional use permit for Anderson’s for a bed and breakfast home (short-term rental). After further discussion, the Mayor asked if there were any other questions or comments by the Council or anyone in attendance at this meeting. No further comments were received. Sasek moved and Lempka seconded to close the hearing at 7:42 p.m. Sasek moved and Linhart seconded to approve the conditional use permit for Lori and Bill Anderson for construction of a house specifically to be used as a residence and/or a bed and breakfast home (short-term rental) even if the property changes ownership. If the conditional use permit is rescinded the property would revert to a residential property in a R-1 zoning district. 10) Dana Peterson, P.E. with Frontwater Engineering, LLC was in attendance to present the bids for the construction of Public Water Supply Wells #2026-1 & 2026-2 and discharge piping as advertised. Dana explained that the bids were opened at 3:00 p.m. on March 10, 2026. Dana had contacted three different national planning houses and three different contractors directly. Only one sealed bid was received from Charles Sargent Irrigation, Inc. The total for the bid for the work as advertised is $448,721.00. After further discussion, Linhart moved and Sasek seconded to award the bid to Sargent Irrigation and to authorize the Mayor to enter into contracts and execute documents necessary for this project. 11) Discussion was held regarding the counter proposal from Saline County for the Law Enforcement Agreement with the City. The City had approved an agreement for Law Enforcement Services at the October 2025 Council meeting and delivered it to the County. The County has made changes to that agreement and emailed it to the City for consideration. The changes to the agreement include removing verbiage regarding average on-duty coverage hours and an increase in annual cost of $50,000 to $250,000 annually with an increase of 4% per year beginning on March 1, 2027, and shall increase by an additional 4% each year thereafter until the agreement terminates. The City has been paying $200,000 annually under the old agreement dated February 2017. After some discussion, Sasek moved and Lempka seconded to approve the Interlocal Cooperation Agreement for Law Enforcement Services between Saline County, Nebraska and the City of Wilber, Nebraska. Other items of business and discussion were. Craig Vyhnalek also reported that Feld Fire will be doing some repairs on the 1993 Pumper Tanker to make it operational. Concrete work still needs to be done on the driveway of the Fire Hall and bids for the Fire Hall generator will be opened at the April 14, 2026, meeting for consideration. Tim Krivohlavek also reported that he is looking into getting thermal imaging of the City’s electrical lines. He should have a proposal for the April meeting. Jason Ripa reported that the City should continue lining of sewer lines, he will try to get a proposal from Johnson Service for the April meeting. Tad Eickman reported that he will be contacting various organizations to request proposals for reviewing and updating the City’s Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Regulations. Saline County Deputy Kevin Vogel arrived and presented the monthly Sheriff’s report. The City would like to remind Wilber residents that the City-Wide Cleanup is scheduled for April 18 & 19, 2026 and is a good time to get rid of unwanted items for free. If residents have questions about what is accepted, they can look for the flyer on Facebook or call the City Office. Also, the city sales tax will increase by .05% starting April 1, 2026 making the city sales tax 1.5%. Councilmember Lempka brought up the campers in the Legion Park with campers living there long term. Mayor Chrans will address this problem with the Legion. City reports were given. Jason Ripa informed the Council that the inside of the water tower will be repainted this year, which will require water restrictions while the tower is drained during the maintenance of the tower which is estimated to be three to five weeks. Tim Krivohlavek reported that Black Hills has sub-contractors in town doing work on gas lines and the City has Premier Power doing work on the City’s electrical lines. Claims were as follows. Description of claims for this legal, an-annuity; bond-bond expense, pymt, interest; const-construction; eq-equipment; ex-expense; ga-garnishment; gr-grant reimb; in-insurance; ml-mileage; mi-miscellaneous; pf-professional services; pr-payroll; ps-power supplier; rb-reimbursement; rp-repairs and maintenance; st-sales tax; se-service; sup-supplies; loan-srf/loan pymt; tr-transfer of funds; ut-utilities. State Dept. of Revenue, st, 8957.11; Ascensus, an, 3588.72; F & M Bank, hsa, 1780.00; IRS, pr tx, 11,482.79; Stat of Ne, w/h, 1553.30; City of Wilber, pr, 51,655.72; ut, 4271.69; AFLAC, in, 439.36; Elan Financial, ex, 1486.35; First Natl Bank, sup, rp, 4861.95; First State Ins., in, 2170.00; Beatrice Ready Mix, sup, 633.85; Ben Meyer, rb, 221.90; Black Hills, ut, 594.44; Blue Cross, in, 14,404.99; Blue Valley Public Safety, rp, 4677.20; Bound Tree, sup, 351.84; Constellation Newenergy, ut, 1387.76; Crete Ace, rp, 106.26; CAMC, se, 4200.00; Dakota Fluid, rp, 1277.56; Dutton-Lainson, sup, 4068.88; Eakes, sup, 45.96; Echo, rp, 3118.32: Eickman Law, pf, 2000.00; Farmers Elevator, sup, 742.88; Guardian, in, 302.36; Hometown Leasing, eq, 66.77; Kinetic Business, ut, 192.36; Lowes, sup, 462.47; Matheson Tri-Gas, sup, 405.74; Mutual of Omaha, ex, 108.32; Odeys, sup, 3520.55; Quadient Finance, ex, 699.00; Quadient Leasing, ex, 179.30; Sack Lumber, eq, sup, rp, 904.55; Saline Co Dispatch, se, 309.17; Saline County, ex, 1230.30; Schuerman Welding, rp, 46.71; Seward Co Indep., ex, 446.96; Uniti/Windstream, ut, 530.60; Verizon, se, 80.76; Walker, se, 34.98; Wilber Fire & Rescue, rb eq, 4048.93; 41 Auto Parts, sup, rp, 567.66; Crete Auto Supply, rp, 560.97; Core & Main, eq, rp, 1389.22; JC Slama, rb, 13.36; Midwest Labs, ex, 211.12; Ne Public Health, ex, 30.00; Norris, ps, 76,354.94; One Call, ex, 6.95; Rose Equip, rp, 2909.46; Sargent Drilling, const, 3166.81; Tyler Stohs, rb, 13.36; Waste Connection, se, 20,807.39, WAPA, ps, 15,436.11; 18,723.54. Lempka moved and Linhart seconded to adjourn the meeting at 8:13 p.m. WR — April 01, 2026 ZNEZ
