New playground equipment for the city park was discussed briefly by the Elgin City Council when they met last week.
Having received one bid for new equipment, coming in at approximately $189,000, the council has yet to receive a second bid.
While waiting on the bid, the council instructed City Clerk Kristin Childers to move forward with applying for a 50 percent match grant through the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission.
She said the deadline for applications is in September with grants to be awarded in December of January.
“If we were awarded a grant, we wouldn’t get a contract til July or August,” the clerk said. “We can’t start til we have a signed contract.”
Without grants, the only other option would be for the city to cover all the costs, something which the council won’t likely consider.
With one fundraising campaign underway in Elgin (rescue squad) and another county campaign (new fair building), it’s unclear where donations could come from, hence the pursuit of a grant.
On the subject of money, emergency sirens are showing signs of needing to be updated. The city has five emergency sirens at locations around the community.
Councilman Jim Kittelson said the siren at Pope John is down and the siren at the fire hall keeps blowing fuses. He estimated the sirens could be 30 to 40 years old.
Childers said the State of Nebraska and the USDA have “emergency funds” which can be applied for, but it can take years to receive. She said Battle Creek applied for these funds back in 2018 and only recently received them.
Childers was instructed to check into the application process and report back at the next meeting.
For information on other action taken by the City Council at this meeting, see this week’s Elgin Review.
