Monday’s City Council meeting started with an exciting proposal for the Main Street Nevada business district – a Farmers Market this May through August – and ended with another encouraging piece of news from the Main Street Director about an out-of-town businessperson complimenting Nevada’s business district.
Main Street Executive Director Emily Schaack said she took a call from an out-of-town businessperson Monday who had attended Iowa State and remembered a not-so-exciting town of Nevada from her days in college. But that person had visited during Pizza Pie Looza in 2022, and told Schaack that, “Nevada is killing it,” and she wants to be part of the excitement in Nevada’s Main Street District. Bottom line, Nevada may become home to another new business in the near future because of the great impression it made during the inaugural Pizza Pie Looza!
The presentation on a Farmers Market for the downtown area was presented at the start of the meeting by Bre Taege, who was part of the most recent Leadership Nevada class. Taege was a member of one of the Leadership Nevada groups that took on a project of researching and bringing to reality a Farmers Market in the Main Street District. Taege said she already has around 22 vendors who would like to be part of the market, which would be located between J and K Avenues on Sixth Street on Thursday evenings.
Taege has emailed surveys to many business owners, but said she still has a few to talk with in person about the proposal.
The City Council was favorable to the idea, and the next steps for Taege will include creating a Facebook page, creating a logo and branding, putting in place a farmers market committee, creating a vendor contract, working on the process for closing the street, and then coming up with a weather contingency plan.
New Fire Truck
Nevada Fire Chief Ray Reynolds made a detailed presentation on the Nevada Fire Department’s need for a new fire apparatus (truck), which will cost $ $668,645.76. The Department members have fully thought out the plan for a 2025 Toyne fire engine, which Reynolds said would be for both City and rural use.
Reynolds said “safety for firefighters” is top of mind as he makes the request, knowing Engine 310 needs to be replaced because of its age and condition. “We’re doing a disservice to our folks to put them in an older apparatus,” he cautioned.
Engine 310 is 26 years old, and significant safety improvements have been developed since it was built, Reynolds noted. He also shared that most cities rotate apparatus every 15-20 years, but commended the maintenance work of the late Brad Tendall and now Kevin Bell in making sure the department’s trucks continue to run for as long as possible.
“If approved, this will probably be the last large vehicle any of us will have to purchase for quite some time,” Reynolds said. Council did approve for the fire department to move forward with their plans, encouraging them to seek out grant funds, which Reynolds made clear they have and will continue to do.
Reynolds said the fire department does not take it lightly when they ask for purchases of this magnitude. “If we could have predicted that fire apparatus would [increase in cost by] $50,000 every six months, we’d have tried to bring this to you sooner,” he said. He also noted that the time it takes to build a new truck is now two years.
While waiting on the truck, the department plans to work to raise additional funds and not spend capital on other things. “This (truck) is our department’s priority,” he said.
Appointment
Mark Pleis of Nevada was appointed to the City’s Board of Adjustment.
Library Summer Program
Erin Coughlin, Nevada Library Director, shared that her staff sent a letter to businesses asking for donations for the summer programming. “We’re trying to go bigger this summer,” she said, because they have a lot of kids taking part in library activities and the staff wants to make the summer exciting for them. “We know [the library] is a good, safe place for them, and there are so many other things they could be doing that aren’t as productive,” she said. The library hopes to raise $3,000 to support its goals for a bigger, better, and more exciting summer program this year.
Other Noteworthy Mentions
City Administrator Jordan Cook mentioned that a group of City leaders are involved in a Volunteer Initiative state program, which will help them to create a database of volunteers in the community.
Mayor Brett Barker said the Jefferson Highway Association has reported that there will be a convoy coming through Nevada on June 6, over the lunch hour, as it travels the historic Jefferson Highway. He hopes to have some kind of program during their stop.
–Written by Marlys Barker, City of Nevada
