Imperial staff oversees numerous departments, community ventures

The Imperial Chamber of Commerce has selected the City of Imperial to recognize as December’s Business of the Month.
The city office has been in its current location for about 27 years, said Jo Leyland, city administrator.
“Before that, it was located in a tiny little office in the police building/old fire station at 637 Broadway since probably the 40s,” Leyland said.
The City of Imperial oversees 13 different offices and 22 full-time employees plus a number of seasonal and summer part-time staff, she said.
Some of those department responsibilities include the police department, Imperial Volunteer Fire Department, Imperial Theatre, the Imperial Manor and Parkview-Heights, solid waste and recycling station and the swimming pool, just to name a few.
“At the conferences we attend, people are just amazed at Imperial and how our city—at our size—is so much more involved than other towns of comparable size,” Leyland said.
She said Imperial has many programs and conveniences others do not.
“We have our own electric distribution, a theatre, a significantly improved recycling system, a healthy retail and business community and a thriving downtown with a positive community attitude toward progress,” she added.
By instituting a committed position and program like the  Community Development Program, the city helps foster new businesses and supports their growth.
Tyler Pribbeno is currently the director of the Community Development Program—following in the footsteps of others dating back to the inception of the department in the late 90s, said Leyland.
Many small towns Imperial’s size do not have programs like this, she said.
“One of the programs we offer that many other towns don’t have is LB 840 which is a loan program for businesses,” Pribbeno said.
Other affiliated projects the city is involved in include the renovation of the City Square and Schroeder Park, the completion of a paving project in the Cornerstone area, the digitizing of cemetery records for Mount Hope Cemetery and promoting the availability of residential, industrial and commercial lots for sale in the Cornerstone addition, he added.
“One of our most recent city-involved projects was the housing development in Cornerstone. We have built 20 houses so far,” said Leyland.
Another plus worth mentioning, she said, is a new K-9 police unit and handler in the community.
“Not very many towns have a K-9 unit,” she added.
“Good community leadership is important, and we have a strong governing body here like the city council and our mayor—not to mention all the associated city boards and many volunteers,” Leyland said.
Leyland has been working for the city 41 years with 23 of that  as city administrator.
That amount of experience and knowledge can be invaluable to a community, said Pribbeno.
“There’s a whole lot of people who contribute their time and effort to make things happen, so we have a lot to be thankful for,” Leyland said.
“There’s plenty of opportunity for people to get involved to help make our community even better,” said Pribbeno. “That makes this a place people want to move to.”
“On behalf of the city staff, we want to thank the Chamber of Commerce and say how much we appreciate them for recognizing our efforts and dedication to this community,” Leyland said.