The Gering City Council on Monday approved an economic development assistance agreement for Twin Cities Development and agreed to provide $200,000 from the Gering LB 840 fund for the Western Nebraska Rural Workforce Housing Fund.
The request from Twin Cities Development coincides with the process of applying for its next round of funding in 2023. The previous grant had a 1:1 match requirement, whereas the round now being applied for is 2:1, meaning a total of $500,000 in match funds is needed to secure the full $1 million available through the grant.
Housing is one of the largest barriers to economic development nationwide, but the problem is especially prevalent in western Nebraska, TCD Executive Director Jordan Diedrich said, citing a housing study conducted by Hanna Keelan Associates in 2022.
“The housing study showed that we need 589 houses in Scotts Bluff County over the next five years, and that is 151 houses in the next five years in the city of Gering alone,” he said. “So, anything that we can do to help get houses going is huge.”
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With the $1,833,745 secured through the previous round of funding in 2020, TCD has funded 12 building projects. Nine of those projects were restorations, and three were new construction. Gering saw a return on the $150,000 it contributed to the previous round of funding with $301,380 spent on building projects in Gering through the Rural Workforce Housing program.
TCD has already secured funds from the Kimball City Council and intends to make a request to the City of Scottsbluff at its regular meeting March 20 to round out the $500,000 total needed to secure the maximum amount of match funding.
Along with the $200,000 financial contribution, the council also authorized Mayor Kent Ewing to sign a letter of support for TCD’s grant application.
In other business, the council approved three bids. Two of those bids were for the purchase of new vehicles for the Gering Police Department, both of which came in below their budget estimates. The third bid was in regard to a budgeted study for Five Rocks Amphitheater.
City Engineer Annie Folck explained that the purpose of the study was the development of a Facility Master Plan for the amphitheater, which is in need of ADA improvements. The study also opens the opportunity for additional improvements and opportunities at the site.
“We also want to look at future plans for not just the amphitheater, but also the RV park and grasslands,” said Folck. “We’ve had a lot of interest from different groups in doing larger scale events there, but we need to evaluate the current facility and see what kind of improvements need to be made to do some of those things and figure out the best way to move forward with that.”
The council received only one proposal for the Five Rocks project, from Ayres Associates, which Folck partly attributed to the somewhat remote location. The City of Gering previously worked with Ayres Associates on the development of its comprehensive plan in 2019.
The bid was approved for $45,940, which came in below the budgeted $50,000. The proposal includes three visits to the amphitheater grounds, with the first taking place March 30-31, at which time feedback will be obtained from the public.
The next meeting of the Gering City Council will be March 27 at 6 p.m. in Gering’s council chambers.
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