05/27/2026
Recap of this evening's council meeting:
* We started by recognizing the new officers of the Kearney Volunteer Fire Department. Suth Lunbery is now the 29th fire chief in the 140 year history of the department. Lonnie Reeder is now a battalion chief. Connor Brown is now a captain. It always is humbling to be part of these ceremonies for our first responders. The hours of training, time away from family at the drop of a hat to respond to a call, and putting themselves in dangerous situations on behalf of our residents on a daily basis... THANK YOU KVFD!
* We voted 3-1 to approve a 75 unit apartment in the vacant lot to the east of the mall. It is already allowed in the zoning for that area but because of the number of units they had to bring their planned development to the council for a vote. As the property will be owned by the mall owners themselves, there was an agreement to utilize some of the parking in the less busy east parking lot of the mall. That agreement would transfer if the ownership ever changed. We build a lot of parking in America and it uses up a lot of valuable space, space that isn't always consistently used. I thought this was a creative way to satisify the requirements of the parking without having to plow over and pave any additional areas. I did state that the ex*****on was important with lighting and maintenance so that the parking on the east side of the mall is usable and not just in theory. For two of the buildings, the mall parking will be immediately adjacent for residents. There were several neighborhood residents in attendance who shared serious concerns with lack of parking on site and also concerns about Parklane Drive traffic. The council indicated a clear willingness to restrict parking on the street outside the apartment building if necessary.
* We purchased the land that was formerly the state roads maintenance yard north of Holiday Inn. The state moved its maintenance facility to east Kearney. This is something that has been talked about for years and is good for Kearney to move that out. In particular, I want to use that land to give us some options for widening/improving the entrance/exit from Talmadge onto 2nd Ave. We will determine how much right of way is needed for that and then have an RFP process to determine the highest value use of that land. We should recover most of our cost -- which was $1.1 million after a state appraisal.
* We approved an updated library manual which updates some things about using the library for making copies, room reservations (we have had some people reserve but not use the rooms, which are highly sought after) and patron behavior.
* We approved the purchase of a new FARO laser scanner which helps police officers quickly assess crime scenes. This moves along investigations faster and releases crime/accident scenes sooner. A donor is helping us cover the $60,556.62 cost to upgrade.
* Recently we approved a new downtown lighting project. It should be amazing and I'm excited about it. Unfortunately, there were some events in world/marketplace that bumped up bid prices higher than we wanted to pay at the time. We think this is a temporary issue, so we are rejecting the bids and will put it out for bid again soon.
* We approved the renewal of eight mobile home park licenses. We do this annually after they are reviewed.
* Lastly, a citizen spoke about the importance of creating city codes that will protect/address potential issues of large scale data centers. With our tech park in east Kearney, it is a possibility that projects like that could be interested in Kearney. His interest in the issue came up because he heard about the small project that is slated to go out there beside the current large data/bitcoin center. He originally thought it could be a large scale project that could impact quality of life. What is actually proposed is something that would use approximately 5mw of power, the amount of power that Eaton has given up with its contraction and is nowhere near the scale of anything that people are concerned with or the horror stories. I have written about it here before, as you know if you read this page a lot. They have a purchase agreement but haven't yet determined if they will move forward, so it isn't 100% yet. As a frame of reference, the bitcoin data center that is there now uses approx 110mw. We even put in restrictions around audible noise into their contract.
After his initial comments about it online, he and I chatted and I explained the situation with that small potential data center. He was very fair, while remaining focused on the overall issue. So he turned his focus to how to create good city code to address concerns around noise, water use and power for future projects that could look like the big facilities that have been in the news lately. His premise was well received by the council and we'll take his suggestions, some of the things we had already been discussing on this topic even before he presented. But while I've been reading and talking to others about it for the past 9 months in particular, his initiative has created a healthy urgency for us to move the talking along and come up with good policies. I know people have real concerns with the large facilities and I have no objection to addressing those concerns, and I like getting ahead of it--Setting the standard for what we expect development to look like and how it should/shouldn't impact us.
I would encourage folks if they ever hear about something that sounds particularly dreadful to please call me or any council member. Sometimes there is more to the story, and sometimes yeah it might be bad. We are living right here in town alongside you! Those quality of life issues matter to us too. If, after learning more, you still aren't satisfied please by all means share your thoughts and criticisms! We know what we signed up for and that pressure forces well intentioned people like us to be even more diligent. That's how accountability works! Sometimes myths outpaces reality, as it did in this case, so I just want to make sure we are having healthy debates in town around the facts of the situation. Which is why I created this FB page and always share my number! 308-224-4309.
* Lastly, the Chicago flight is going great by all reports, but we did receive notice that the flight departure time for six weeks in September and October will leave Kearney around 6 p.m. That is in response to some federal rules about flights in Chicago. We are hopeful this will be short lived but it won't impact peak travel time over the summer. You can still get to the east cost with the late flight but obviously with much later arrival times.
