LINCOLN, Nebraska – The Lower Platte South Natural Resources District (LPSNRD) Board of Directors approved a resolution officially establishing its Fiscal Year 2022 tax rate when it met on Wednesday. The $33.8 million budget, approved in August, requires a property tax levy that is 9.33% lower than last year and the property tax requirement is the same as last year. Approval of the resolution ends a process that has involved the LPSNRD Board, staff and the public since April, with many opportunities for public input. 

The Board also approved the district’s Long Range Implementation Plan through 2026. The plan serves as a guide for implementing expected projects and it lists anticipated costs. The plan and the budget are available at LPSNRD.org.

A construction contract for the replacement of 14 drainage pipes where they outfall into Antelope Creek, in Lincoln, was approved by the Board. The $593,367 contract continues the Board’s commitment to the replacement or repair of aging infrastructure throughout the district. The pipes have been in service for 50-60 years. They carry stormwater to Antelope Creek from neighborhoods and business districts and are located between 26th and 57th streets along the waterway. Work will begin in October and completion is expected in the spring. 

In other infrastructure actions, the Board awarded a $148,750 contract for replacement of a Salt Creek drainage structure “pipe” draining into Salt Creek, northwest of 27th & Cornhusker Highway and a professional services agreement was also approved for engineering the removal of a pipe along the Salt Creek Levee near Calvert Street and the Jamaica North Trail. The pipe removal is part of LPSNRD’s multi-year “SWIF” upgrading of the Salt Creek Levee, overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

In other business the Board:

• Approved funding assistance for acquiring the 157-acre Kreiner saline wetland property northwest of North 27th Street and Bluff Road ($200,000 LPSNRD funds)
• Approved support and additional funding for a Nebraska Environmental Trust grant by the City of Lincoln for saline wetland assistance and wetland restoration in Wilderness Park to remove cedar trees from wetland areas (140,000)
• Approved 17 cost-share applications from district landowners for installing water quality improvement projects ($200,000)
• Approved an agreement with the Lower Platte North and the Papio-Missouri River NRDs to contract for lobbying services by Water Strategies, LLC
• Expressed its support for local control, private property rights and long-term effective voluntary conservation, while considering a proposed resolution to be presented at the upcoming Annual Conference of the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts (NARD).  The LPSNRD Board voted to not support NARD Resolution #2021-1 on a vote of 17 yes, 2 no, 1 abstention and 1 not voting.
• Accepted the 2020 Annual Integrated Management Plan Report
• Approved three radio public awareness contracts ($28,000)
• Approved modifying an agreement for engineering services for the Antelope Creek 40th to Scott Avenue repair project ($79,000)

The next meeting of the LPSNRD Board of Directors will be Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021, starting at 7 PM at the NRD office, 3125 Portia Street, Lincoln.  The public is invited to attend.