Legislature raises municipal bidding thresholds
By Lash Chaffin Utilities Section Director
Effective July 18, 2026, the municipal bidding thresholds in Neb. Rev. Stat. 17-568.01 and 16-321 will be raised as a result of LB 797 adopted by the 2026 Legislature.
There are 61 separate statutes dealing with municipal bidding, but the primary bidding statutes for Cities of the First Class, Cities of the Second Class, and Villages are embodied at Neb. Rev. Stat. 17-568.01 and 16-321. Omaha Sen. Terrell McKinney, on behalf of the Urban Affairs Committee, introduced LB 797 which would raise the thresholds in those statutes.
The bid threshold will be raised from $30,000 to $90,000 on any contract entered into (a) for enlargement or general improvements, such as water extensions, sewers, public heating systems, bridges, work on streets, or any other work or improvement when the cost of such enlargement or improvement is assessed to the property, or (b) for the purchase of equipment used in the construction of such enlargement or general improvements.
With respect to a municipal electric utility, the bidding threshold for the enlargement or improvement of the electric system or for the purchase of equipment used for such enlargement or improvement will be raised in the following amounts:
• Municipal electric utilities
1335 L Street
Lincoln, NE 68508
(402) 476-2829
info@lonm.org
with gross retail revenues of $1,000,000 or less – $30,000 raised to $90,000;
• Municipal electric utilities with gross retail revenues between $1,000,001 and $5,000,000 –$60,000 raised to $180,000;
• Municipal electric utilities with gross retail revenues between $5,000,001 and $10,000,000 – $90,000 raised to $250,000;
• Municipal electric utilities with gross retail revenues between $10,000,001 and $20,000,000 – $100,000 raised to $300,000;
• Municipal electric utilities with gross retail revenues between $20,000,001 and $30,000,000 – $100,000 raised to $500,000;
• Municipal electric utilities with gross retail revenues between $30,000,001 and $75,000,000 – $100,000 raised to $750,000; and
• Municipal electric utilities with gross retail revenues in excess of $75,000,000 – $100,000 raised to $1,000,000.
The advertisement for bids needs to be published one time at least seven days prior to the bid closing in a legal newspaper in or of general circulation in the city or village. Advertising for bids may be waived in the emergency ordinance authorized by section 17-613 when
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
adopted by a three-fourths vote of the city council or village board of trustees and entered of record.
The Legislature also adopted LB 1108 which raises the bidding threshold for interlocal entities that generate electricity. There is a current procurement statute that ONLY applies to joint entities formed under the Interlocal Cooperation Act that generate electricity. The ONLY entity formed in that manner appears to be a joint entity formed under the Interlocal Cooperation Act comprised of the City of Hastings, the City of Grand Island, the City of Nebraska City, the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska, and a rural electric cooperative in South Dakota. This joint public entity owns the Whelan II electric generation facility in Hastings.
The current bid threshold for this type of entity is $100,000. Effective July 18, 2026, the bid threshold will be raised to mirror the bidding thresholds in Neb. Rev. Stat. 70637 for public power districts of $750,000 or $1,000,000 depending on the size of the district.
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SAFETY/HEALTH CORNER: The overpass myth
By Jackson Sash, Utilities Field Rep./ Training Coordinator
There’s a persistent myth that taking shelter under an overpass or bridge is a safe option during severe weather. While in reality, it’s one of the most dangerous choices you can make.
This misconception largely stems from a 1991 video of a news crew sheltering under an overpass on the Kansas Turnpike during an F2 tornado. The crew survived, but the tornado never directly struck the overpass. That outcome created a false sense of security that hasn’t
held up in other examples. On May 3, 1999, two people were killed and more than a dozen injured while sheltering under overpasses near Moore, Oklahoma. The idea has even persisted in popular media, including the 2024 film Twisters, where at the beginning of the movie characters make the same fatal mistake.
There are two main reasons overpasses are not safe shelters: They create traffic hazards and they offer little real protection.
First, stopping your vehicle under overpasses for tornados, hail, or other severe weather slows or completely blocks traffic which
can lead to further injury and harm. This prevents others from escaping the hazards and emergency vehicles may not be able to avoid the traffic which increases response times during critical moments.
Overpasses rarely have the characteristics necessary to provide protection from severe weather. One of the main concerns with tornados is the debris that gets blown around. An overpass may protect you from debris that is falling from the sky, but debris within a tornado can be traveling horizontally at high velocities. The suction caused by the low pressure of a tornado can also
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Utilities Section Newsletter
Legislature raises municipal bidding thresholds
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LB 1108 will also amend the procurement law for the joint public entity to lower the number of times joint public entities that generate electricity must publish bid notices in a legal newspaper. Currently, this type of entity must publish bid notices three times. LB 1108 will lower this requirement to one publication in a legal newspaper. Nebraska municipal bidding law typically requires only one such publication.
LB 1108 will also amend Neb. Rev. Stat. 70-637 which is the procurement statute for public power districts to lower the number of times public power districts must publish bid notices in a legal newspaper. Current law requires that public power districts publish bid notices in a legal newspaper three times. LB 1108 would similarly lower this requirement to only one such publication.
The overpass myth
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easily pull you out of your shelter. If you are caught in severe weather while on the road, do not stop and seek shelter under an overpass. Instead, exit the roadway and seek a designated shelter as soon as possible. If this is impossible during a tornado, abandon your vehicle and seek a low-lying area like a ditch or ravine. However, during high winds and large hail, remaining in your vehicle is safer than exiting.
Temporary fixes that don’t go away
By Jackson Sash, Utilities Field Rep./ Training Coordinator
In utilities, there’s a certain kind of fix that everyone recognizes, even if no one officially tracks it. It’s the jumper wire that was only supposed to be there for a week. The bypass piping installed to get through a repair. The handwritten note taped inside a panel explaining how to “make it work” if something trips. These solutions are rarely elegant, never permanent by design, and almost always were put in place under some level of pressure. Despite this, they stick around. Not because anyone forgot about them entirely, but because the conditions that created them never fully go away. The emergency passes, the system stabilizes, and attention shifts to the next issue. What was meant to be temporary becomes acceptable. Then normal. Eventually, it becomes part of the system in a way that feels almost intentional.
Temporary fixes tend to exist outside of standard documentation. They’re not always reflected in maps, standard operating procedures, or asset inventories. Instead, they live in the memory of the people who installed them, or in informal knowledge passed along over time. “Oh yeah, that valve doesn’t actually isolate that section anymore,” or “You have to reset that one a little differently.” It works, but the person who knows those details won’t be there forever. This loss of context is often the real point of failure rather than the equipment itself.
For example, a new operator opens a panel and sees something that doesn’t match the diagram. Or a contractor assumes a system behaves one way and finds out it doesn’t. Perhaps someone responds to a call at 2
a.m. and loses time figuring out why a “simple” fix isn’t working. None of these are catastrophic on their own, but they can add friction at exactly the moments when time and clarity matter most.
There’s also a subtle shift in how these fixes are perceived over time. Early on, they feel like risks and something to keep an eye on. But as days turn into months or even years without incident, that sense of urgency fades. The workaround proves itself, in a way. It becomes harder to justify taking it offline to correct it, especially when doing so might disrupt service or require time and resources that are already stretched thin.
Temporary fixes are rarely designed with changing conditions in mind. They’re built to solve the problem in front of you, not the one that might show up six months later. A bypass that handles normal flow might struggle during peak demand. A control workaround might not account for new equipment added down the line. Even something as simple as a patched electrical connection can degrade over time in ways that aren’t obvious until it fails. When those failures inevitably happen, they tend to come with a layer of confusion. The system doesn’t behave the way the drawings say it should. The response that “always worked” suddenly doesn’t. What should be a straightforward repair turns into a troubleshooting exercise, because the starting point isn’t what anyone expected.
Another part of this that often gets overlooked is how temporary fixes affect decision-making. Once a workaround is in place and functioning, it can quietly remove pressure to pursue a permanent solution. The issue drops down the priority list, not because it’s resolved, but because it’s no longer urgent. Over time, that can shape how resources are allocated. Funds go
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Temporary fixes that don’t go away
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to more visible needs and time to more immediate problems. The temporary fix, in effect, becomes the plan. In systems with less resources where there isn’t much margin for downtime or experimentation, taking something offline to “fix it the right way” can feel like introducing risk rather than reducing it. So, the system continues to operate in its modified state, and the window for an easy correction gradually closes. There’s also a cumulative effect that’s easy to miss. One temporary fix might not create much risk on its own. But systems rarely have just one. Over time, they accumulate creating small changes, workarounds, and adjustments layered on top of each other. Each one makes sense in isolation. Together, they can create a system that is far more complex than it appears. That complexity doesn’t always show up day-to-day. It shows up during transitions like staff changes, major repairs, new installations, or unusual operating conditions. That’s when all the unofficial modifications become visible at once, and the system reveals how much it depends on
knowledge that isn’t written down. None of this is unique to one type of utility. You’ll find it in electrical systems with modified controls, in water systems with rerouted flows, in wastewater systems with adjusted operations to accommodate aging infrastructure, and even in solid waste operations where equipment is kept running through creative means. It’s part of working in environments where keeping things operational takes priority over making them perfect. Temporary fixes are not inherently a problem. They are often necessary. In many cases, they are the reason service continues uninterrupted. The issue isn’t that they exist, it’s that they quietly change roles over time without anyone formally acknowledging it.
Recognizing the accumulation of temporary fixes doesn’t require a major program or a new layer of bureaucracy. It usually starts with awareness. Taking the time when things are relatively calm to look at the system as it actually operates rather than how it’s supposed to operate. Asking simple questions: What are we relying on that wasn’t part of the original design? What
only works because we know how to make it work? What would someone new struggle to understand?
From there, it becomes less about fixing everything immediately and more about making those conditions visible. Writing things down. Updating diagrams where it makes sense. Flagging areas that carry more risk than they appear to. In some cases, the fix might be simple. In others, it might take time and planning. But even acknowledging the gap is a step toward reducing the chance of being caught off guard.
In the end, temporary fixes reflect the realities utilities face every day. Limited resources, constant demands, and the need to keep systems operating no matter what. They’re not a sign of failure. If anything, they’re a sign that people are finding ways to keep things going under less ideal conditions. They are also a signal. Over time, they can tell you where a system is carrying more risk than it appears on the surface, where knowledge is doing more work than documentation, and where “good enough for now” has quietly become “this is how we do it.”
Utilities Section Newsletter
City Administrator. The City of Burwell is accepting applications for the position of City Administrator. The City of Burwell is the county seat of Garfield County and has approximately 1,200 residents. Burwell is located seven miles from the Calamus Reservoir in Central Nebraska. The municipality owns, operates, and provides electric, water, and wastewater services to its residents. Law enforcement is under the direction of the County Sheriff’s Department. This position requires comprehensive knowledge of municipal finance, expertise in city, state, and federal laws, regulations and guidelines, strategic planning, and supervisory skills. Individuals should possess a degree in a related field and/or possess a level of education that together with experience and training gives the required knowledge and experience to perform the duties as City Administrator. This person serves the community at the direction of the Mayor and City Council. Salary is negotiable based on experience and qualifications and includes competitive benefits. Interested candidates should contact the City Office at 404 Grand Avenue (PO Box 604), Burwell, NE 68823 or phone 308-346-4509. Completed application along with a cover letter and resume should be mailed or delivered to the city office address above or emailed to cityofburwell@nctc.net and will be accepted until the position is filled. The City of Burwell is an equal opportunity employer.
Water/Wastewater Operator. The City of Tekamah is accepting applications for a full-time Water/Wastewater Operator. Qualifications include State of NE Grade IV
Water Operator, Grade VI Backflow, and State of NE Class L Wastewater Operator Certifications, or the ability to obtain all three certifications. Pre-employment drug test required. Applicants must be at least 18 years old, have a high school diploma and hold a valid Nebraska driver's license. Application and job description may be requested at: City Office, 1126 S 13th Street, Tekamah, NE 68061 or tekwater2@tekamah.net. Applications will be accepted until position is filled. Equal opportunity employer.
Maintenance/Water and Wastewater Operator: The Village of Clearwater is seeking a full-time maintenance/water and wastewater operator. Applicant must hold or be willing to obtain a Grade IV Water Operators Certificate and a Class I Wastewater License with the State of Nebraska; hold or be willing to obtain, at minimum, a Class B State of Nebraska CDL driver’s license; have the ability to operate large equipment and vehicles; read and interpret gauges, understand electrical and mechanical equipment used in the regular operations of water and wastewater systems; make minor repairs to water and wastewater systems; ability to maintain and make minor repairs to vehicles and equipment; ability to supervise others, withstand extreme weather conditions, distinguish colors, lift up to 75 pounds, crawl, climb, bend, stoop, reach and work in confined spaces and at extended heights. Applicant should reside or be willing to relocate within five miles of Clearwater village limits. Duties will include, but are not limited to: street maintenance, including patching and snow removal; maintenance, upkeep, testing and recordkeeping of water, wastewater, and backflow systems; mowing and weed eating for all village properties; maintain park and playground, including trash removal; maintain tree dump and
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Utilities Section Newsletter
Classifieds
Continued from page 6 ensure only authorized items are being dumped; animal control; and other responsibilities as required or requested by supervisors. For more information, contact Angie Hupp at 402-485-2365 or clerk@ clearwaterne.com. The Village of Clearwater is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Two Super T Series Self-Priming Centrifugal Pumps. The Village of Sterling has two Gorman-Rupp Pumps for sale: Model #T4A71SB/F; Imp. Diameter STD; Unit
Utilities Section members only
weight 675 lbs. One is new in the crate, and the other was used for a short time. Both have been in storage for some time. The Village of Sterling upgraded and these are just taking up space. Click here for pump specs and pictures. Contact the Village of Sterling at 402-866-4545 for questions or to schedule a time to come look at them.
Do you have a position to fill or equipment to sell? Place your ad in the Utilities Section Newsletter for free. This service is a membership benefit. Please email your advertisement to brendah@lonm.org.
Utilities Section Newsletter
2026 Training Calendar
May
May 19 Water Operator Training Workshop Water Shop, North Platte
May 20 ......... Water Operator Training Workshop .................... Engineering Building, Grand Island
May 21 Backflow Workshop League Office, Lincoln
June
June 17-19 Municipal Accounting & Finance Conference Cornhusker Marriott Hotel, Lincoln
July
July 29-30 NECC Power & Equipment Show NECC Chuck Pohlman Ag Complex, Norfolk
August
Aug. 11 Water Operator Training Workshop O’Neill
Aug. 12 ......... Backflow Workshop ............................................ Wayne
Aug. 13 ......... Water Operator Training Workshop .................... Fremont
September
Sept. 15 ........ Water Operator Training Workshop .................... Gering
Sept. 16 ........ Backflow Workshop ............................................ Ogallala
Sept. 17 Water Operator Training Workshop Lexington
Sept. 23-25 ... League Annual Conference ................................. Cornhusker Marriott Hotel, Lincoln
October
Oct. 20 .......... Water Operator Training Workshop .................... Ainsworth
Oct. 21 .......... Water Operator Training Workshop .................... St. Paul
Oct. 22 Backflow Workshop Beatrice
December
Dec. 8 Water Operator Training Workshop Lincoln
Dec. 10 ......... Water Operator Training Workshop .................... Auburn Visit our website for a
2026-27 Utilities Section Executive Board
2nd Vice President
Matt Owens Water & Sewer Supervisor Imperial
1st Vice President Sarah Sawin Director of Utilities Kearney
Past President Pat Heath City Administrator Gering
Board Member
Jeramie Van Leer Utility Supt. Ord
Board Member
Ryan Schmitz Utilities Director Grand Island
Board Member Joel Hansen Street & Planning Director Wayne
Ex Officio Member
Kyle Svec City Admin./Utilities Supervisor Geneva