March Board Meeting Summary

March 4 2024

(HOLDREGE, Neb.)  - The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District’s board of directors held their monthly meeting on Monday handling routine business while listening to reports and updates from management and staff. 

 

Also at Monday’s board meeting:

  • The directors approved a purchase requisition for $344,872 for seven 2024 Chevrolet 4x4 pickup trucks for the Gothenburg office, including two ¾ ton double cabs, two ½ ton double cabs, two ¾ ton crew cab long box and one ½ ton crew cab standard box trucks from Pony Express Chevrolet in Gothenburg. 

 

  • The board approved a bid of $49,002 from Action Battery Systems of Excelsior Springs, Mo., for battery banks to be used for communications at the offices in Holdrege and Bertrand as well as J-1, J-2, Jeffrey and Kingsley communication buildings.  The batteries provide backup to the SCADA system for control at the hydroplants and servers at the Holdrege administration office.

 

  • Directors gave approval of a bid for $82,340 from Sunbelt Solomon of Temple, Texas for bushing replacements for the main step up transformers at the J-1 and J-2 hydroplants.

 

  • The directors approved purchase of an automated water screen from International Water Screens for $144,000.  The new water screen will be installed on the E-67 canal to help remove debris entering the canal from Johnson Lake. 

 

  • Irrigation and Water Services Manager Scott Dicke announced that the irrigation department is hosting a customer appreciation lunch on March 5 in both Axtell and Bertrand.  This event gives the Irrigation Service Specialists an opportunity to visit with their customers prior to the start of the growing season and say thanks for their patronage.

 

  • Natural Resources and Compliance Manager Mike Drain explained the new permitting procedure amendments that were given approval by the board.  Those changes include modifying the maximum dimension from 8 feet wide to 16 feet wide for water based docks, change the size of constructed beach and retaining walls located within the Land-Based SWAF zone be no wider than 30 feet in total length and remove HVAC units from list of structures that must be located within the lot’s buildable area.

 

  • The board awarded a grazing lease bid for 1,071 acres near Lake McConaughy.  The winning bidder is responsible for paying the taxes and cost of operating the livestock wells throughout the duration of the lease.

 

  • Civil Engineer Tyler Thulin reported that Lake McConaughy’s elevation was at 3240.7 feet on Monday (63.3% capacity), which is up 1.9 feet since Feb. 14.  Inflows are around 1,100 cubic feet per second (cfs) and outflows are about 125 cfs.  Snowpack in the upper North Platte basin has improved to 100% of median average after setting record lows twice this year, the lower North Platte is at 71% and 95% in the South Platte basin.