Council approves purchase of former daycare building

There may be a new daycare provider in an old Superior location.

Monday evening, after a closed session called to discuss the issue, the five members of the Superior City Council present voted to purchase the former Lighthouse Daycare Center.

The Lighthouse Center was located in what had been the original location of Superior’s Nazarene church. The daycare was operated in association with the church which at that time was meeting in the former Baptist building. After the center closed, the Nazarenes returned to holding services there.

To help with the establishment of the Lighthouse Christian Daycare Center, the City of Superior made a loan from a city managed development fund. Approximately $91,000 remains to be repaid on that loan.

The city is offering to forgive the loan and contribute about $29,000 in exchange for title to the building and six lots on East Seventh Street.

In recent months, representatives of the Superior Public Schools, Brodstone Healthcare and the City of Superior have been meeting together and discussing ways to address an apparent shortage of licensed daycare facilities.

While there may be additional hurdles to overcome, it appears the location problem may soon be solved.

The council authorized the utility manager and city clerk to act as the city’s representatives and to sign the necessary documents with regard to the purchase of the property.

Not only does a daycare appear to be coming to Superior, a new water treatment plant is also in the works.

Monday evening the council agreed to accept the nearly $4.6 million bid from BRB Contractors of Topeka, Kansas for the construction of treatment plant northeast of Superior. It is anticipated construction will begin in the spring.

As part of an existing agreement with the State of Nebraska, 45 percent of $4.5 million will be a grant in the amount of $2,1194,799.70. A further $2,871,199.30 will be forgivable, low interest, long term loan.

The construction of the plant is the latest development of what has been an eight-year exploration of options.

Like 80 percent of Nebraskans, the drinking water for the residents of Superior is derived from underground formations.

Superior’s current well fields are located north and east of town above a Carlile shale formation with loose sand and two clay layers above. These layers gradually filter surface water before it makes contact with the water bearing formations the wells are drilled into, The city wells are 80 to 100 feet deep and the water is taken from the lowest 20 feet.

While still within state standards, the water quality has declined since the wells were put into service about 50 years ago.

In recent years, the city has looked at various options including developing new well fields and revisiting a longtime water right to take water off the Republican River Valley.

The plant approved Monday will employ a reverse osmosis system to filter the water before it enters the domestic water system. The filtering will remove undesirable things like led, copper volatile organic chemicals, synthetic chemicals, inorganic chemicals, disinfectants and radionuclides. The processed water is expected to taste better and have only 16 grains of hardness.

The council approved entering contract negotiations with Saathoff Construction for the removal of nine dilapidated houses, The Saathoff firm submitted the low bid of $110,000. However, at this time it is not known if all the properties will be cleared. In some instances the existing owners may have other options which they prefer.

A representative of the owner of two properties located on South Converse Street was present at the council meeting and reported on his plans for the properties.

He said the long-range plan for the area had been to build transitional housing there. Back property taxes were to be paid this week, and the house at First and Converse was scheduled to be razed independent of the city contract. He said he had a buyer for the blue modular home located nearby.

No action was taken on his request but he is to attend the next council meeting and report on the progress.

The council approved the tentative sale of a cleared lot located at 1336 N Commercial to Steve Bruneing for $1 provided he carry through with stated plans of building a new home at that location within 24 months.