LINCOLN, Nebraska – The Lower Platte South Natural Resources District (LPSNRD) Board of Directors awarded construction contracts for three new projects when it met Oct. 21, 2020. A project to repair a weir on Oak Creek, near 14th Street and Saunders Avenue (Lincoln), is the largest of the three projects at $425,000. Weirs slow down the flow of streams, decreasing erosion. The two other projects are replacement of a drainage pipe through the Salt Creek Levee at the Charleston Street Bridge and a spillway replacement near Hallam.

In preparation for LPSNRD’s annual tree and shrub seedling sales, the Board decided to keep prices unchanged from last year. Orders for under 100 seedlings will cost $0.90 per seedling. Orders for 100 or more seedlings will cost $0.85 per seedling. Landowners can begin ordering Nov. 4, 2020, online at LPSNRD.org. They can also obtain or download an order form and purchase seedlings via U.S. Mail.  Ordering will continue until March 26, 2021, but some species sell out each year, so there is an advantage to ordering early. Orders will be available for pickup from LPSNRD in mid-April. Watch for more details at LPSNRD.org.

In other action the Board:

• Accepted the Fiscal Year 2020 Financial Statements and Independent Auditor’s Report
• Approved a right of entry agreement with UNL, which will conduct scientific studies at Marsh Wren and Whitehead saline wetlands
• Approved 26% cost-sharing on a stream stabilization and wetland protection project along a Haines Branch tributary in Pioneers Park ($67,500)
• Approved a request by the Pine Lake Homeowners Association, in Lincoln, for 50% cost-sharing through LPSNRD’s Community Assistance Program for rehabilitating a spillway pipe in the Pine Lake dam ($40,500)
• Approved a request from the City of Weeping Water through LPSNRD’s Community Assistance Program for 50% cost-sharing on bank stabilization along Gospel Run – Phase 2 ($77,600)
• Awarded a construction contract to GANA Trucking and Excavating for repair of an Oak Creek Weir, just downstream of 14th Street and Saunders Avenue, Lincoln ($425,000)
• Awarded a construction contract to Yost Excavating for replacement of a drainage pipe through the Salt Creek Levee, at the Charleston Street bridge, in Lincoln ($32,000)
• Awarded a construction contract to Pat Thomas Construction for a spillway replacement project at Upper Salt Watershed Dam 6-1, northeast of Hallam ($86,500)
• Formalized  reimbursement amounts for landrights and rehabilitation costs to LPSNRD in a memorandum of understanding with USDA/NRCS for the Upper Salt Watershed Dam 3-A rehabilitation (65% of the total project cost)
• Approved 11 cost-sharing applications for installing water quality improvement practices throughout the district ($107,000)

Monthly meetings of the Board are being held at the Lancaster Event Center and pandemic health recommendations are being followed. The next meeting of the Board will be Wednesday, Nov. 18, starting at 7 PM and the public is invited to attend. An agenda will be posted at LPSNRD.org one week prior to the meeting.