More nuisances identified; closed sessions yield no action on health insurance appeal

    West Central Nebraska Development District employees have been busy in Imperial.
    After no reviews in 2020 by Imperial’s nuisance officer due to COVID, staff from WCNDD  were given the go-ahead this spring to first review trees in the city, and most recently, three designated areas in the north/northeast parts of town.
    Another round of nuisance declarations at Monday’s council meeting identified 26 properties with violations.
    Property owners will be getting letters about that this week.
    WCNDD’s Amy Sauer met with the council on Zoom for a review of those properties.
    She also recommended two properties be abated and four others be removed from their earlier nuisance declarations.
    All 26 properties declared nuisances Monday will receive another letter from WCNDD informing them of that action.
    They will have more time to clear the nuisance, Sauer said.
    The issues on each property were reviewed with photos of each shown by Sauer on the screen.
    Issues include unlicensed vehicles, discarded tires, auto parts in yards, discarded furniture, unused pallets, scrap wood, trash and unused appliances on the property, among others.
    Two properties at 121 East 18th St. and 231 East 18th St. were approved for abatement. Those owners will have another 30 days to clear the property of the nuisance, Sauer said, after which it could be cleared independently with costs charged to the owner.
    Four other properties gained council approval to be removed as nuisances since properties were cleared at 340 West 14th, 1121 Highway 61, 205 East South St. and 73893-332 Avenue.
    Sauer said since the reviews began earlier this year and, not including Monday’s declarations, 127 courtesy letters have been mailed out, and 78 properties have been cleared of the nuisances.
    Extensions have been given to three property owners, and 10 others are finishing cleanup.
    Sauer said they are still reviewing properties in the three sections of town to the north/northeast, and staff continues to monitor those properties whose owners received courtesy letters and are not yet cleared.
Closed sessions
    A pair of closed sessions, last Thursday and at the end of Monday’s meeting, dealt with potential litigation on an appeal from a city employee and health plan participant.
    Last Thursday’s special meeting was called just for this issue. City Attorney Josh Wendell and David Dudley, an attorney engaged by the city who specializes in insurance matters, joined the council and mayor in that hour and 40-minute closed session.
    Dudley attended via Zoom.
    The council, mayor and Wendell met again Monday in closed session at the end of the regular meeting.
    No action was taken following either closed session.
    See next week’s issue for more on the Aug. 16 council meeting.