Lancaster County Board members recognize the county lacks rules for campgrounds, but commissioners Tuesday punted an opportunity to establish rules after a developer pulled back plans for a campground north of Lincoln.
Members unanimously agreed to postpone a vote on proposed rules scheduled for Feb. 25.
"I think some more time to work on it is actually a good thing," County Board Chair Sean Flowerday said after the meeting.
After a six-hour public hearing last week, the owners of Camp A Way, a campground near the junction of interstates 80 and 180, scrapped plans to relocate their campground to a site near U.S. 77 and Davey Road. A seeming consensus among county commissioners on some general campground rules appeared to be too much of a financial burden for developers.
When Camp A Way submitted its application for a site permit, planning staff — with significant input from the campground owners — crafted zoning rules to govern campgrounds in the county.Â
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But opponents objected to those rules and wanted a task force to look at the issue, as happened with confined animal feeding operations after large-scale chicken farms were proposed in the county.
Several commissioners say a task force isn't needed in this case.Â
"I think there were a lot more unknowns with (poultry farms)," Flowerday said. A public hearing on recommendations from the task force on confined animal feeding operations is scheduled for Feb. 4.
Planning staff and attorneys for the county can better consider and propose rules using the information presented during the Camp A Way discussion when they're not under the crunch of having a pending application, Flowerday said.
Acreage dwellers and farmers who live near Davey opposed the campground and cited concerns about how it might lower the water table, make the intersection of U.S. 77 and Davey Road more hazardous and about having long-term guests at campsites.
Opponent Karen Kurbis told the County Board on Tuesday she hopes the rules will be determined before the next campground permit request.Â
"It's only fair for everybody involved that we continue on and not just put this off into the future to come up again," Kurbis said.Â
Attorney Kent Seacrest, who represents Camp A Way, said the owners are looking for another suitable location, preferably a site in Lancaster County.Â
The Queen family that operates Camp A Way owns land in western Lancaster County, Seacrest said, but it's not easily accessed from the interstate.Â
Camp A Way's lease with the city of Lincoln is up in 2025, but owners hope to have a new campground operational in 2024, Seacrest said.Â
"We're a pretty big county," Flowerday said. "I think we can find a place for it."Â
Meals for homebound seniors
Homebound seniors who live in rural Lancaster County can now receive home-delivered meals through a new Aging Partners program.Â
Participants who place their orders by Tuesday will receive a two-week supply of refrigerated meals via FedEx or UPS before the beginning of the next week, Aging Partners Director Randy Jones said.Â
The program aims to improve the sometimes sporadic meal service provided at community centers in the county, Jones said, and it's unknown how many seniors may be served. The program is paid for from federal and county funds.
Meals are available to people 60 years and older who either are unable to make it to a senior center with a meal program, are incapacitated or disabled and unable to prepare their own meals or recovering from illness or a medical issue and unable to prepare meals.Â
Interested people should call 402-441-6150 to determine eligibility.
For Meals on Wheels service in Lincoln, residents should call Tabitha at 402-486-8589.
Underemployment issue
City officials hope to use a new $10,000 grant to help immigrants and refugees in the city get into jobs matching their educational background and out of entry-level positions.Â
The U.S. Conference of Mayors awarded Lincoln the grant to support the city's CareerLadder project, which aims to aid foreign-trained professionals in reentering their careers and to connect those without previous experience to in-demand careers.Â
"My city believes in inclusion and has a long history of welcoming immigrants and refugees," Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said at a news conference in Washington last week where she accepted the grant. "We work hard to remove barriers to their successful integration into American life — barriers such as the fact that recent data indicates many of our new American residents have post-secondary education but are not employed in their fields."
A recent city survey of 500 people in Lincoln's immigrant community found 30% are in that underemployment predicament, according to a city news release.Â
Mindy Rush Chipman, director of the Lincoln Commission on Human Rights, said the grant will help the immigrants and refugees return to highly skilled careers in fields such as law, health care, engineering, accounting and teaching.
The grant will also help establish a network of Lincoln professionals to mentor participants as they increase their proficiency in English, according to the release.Â
Fast takes
* $40,000 — The amount of money Raymond Central Public Schools authorized this month to spend on lawyers to intervene in the Sunset Poultry v. Lancaster County lawsuit. The school district had opposed Sunset Poultry's application for a permit to build Costco-affiliated chicken barns a mile north of Raymond Central Junior-Senior High School. The County Board rejected the permit request, and Sunset Poultry has appealed that decision in Lancaster County District Court.
* $30,000 — The settlement Cas-Neb-neda LLC reached with the city of Lincoln over damages for a sewer backup that delayed the opening of The Kindler Hotel. The hotel initially sought $130,000 in damages over the June 2019 incident.
* Tuscon Drive to Tucson Drive — The proposed name change to correct a misspelling of the south Lincoln street that was intended to be named for the Arizona city. A resident spotted the misspelling of Tucson and alerted the city. The short drive ties 38th and 39th streets together in the Pine Lake Heights neighborhood. No addresses would be affected by the change, though the short street adjoins four residences. Correcting the error will not cost the city, since there were plans to update street signs in the area soon anyway, according to a staff report. Lesson here: Everyone needs an editor.
* 5 minutes — The amount of time you can get at a table with Gaylor Baird next week during her first Mayor's Night Out event. Held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Eiseley Branch Library, 1530 Superior St., the mayor, members of the City Council and city department staff from Parks and Recreation, Lincoln Transportation and Utilities and Urban Development will be there to talk with residents about their issues. Gaylor Baird called it a "pop-up event for problem-solving."