Promoted as being "at the center of it all" and by the local Chamber of Commerce as “a small community with a big heart,” Central City, Nebraska (pop. 3,000; Christopher Anderson, city administrator), is located in the Platte River valley of east central Nebraska, just 17 miles north of Interstate 80 and next to the Union Pacific Rail Line. The city is an hour-and-a-half drive west of the state capital of Lincoln.

In 2010, ICMA recognized the city with its Community Partnership Award in the less-than-10,000 population category. The award recognizes innovative programs or processes between or among a local government and other local government entities, private sector businesses, individuals or nonprofit agencies to improve the quality of life for residents or provide more efficient and effective services.

Central City earned ICMA recognition for its South Recreation Complex Project, which took root in the mid-2000s when the city identified a number of seemingly unrelated areas of potential improvement throughout the community and how they were interdependent.

The challenges facing the community included:

 Aging Housing.  New residential construction within Central City was at a virtual standstill, the result of a shortage of residential lots for higher-end construction units.  Without an active housing construction market, private developers had no appetite for creating new lots.  At the same time, Central City’s existing housing stock was aging rapidly, and city staff knew it was just a matter of time before the lack of new construction caught up with them.  

Neighborhood Blight.   One area on the south side of town was particularly blighted.  A severely degraded trailer park was down to about 1/3 occupancy, and the remaining units were in dilapidated condition.  An adjacent, elevated property was overgrown with vegetation and prone to water problems.  Lastly, an abandoned pit of stagnant water had become a dumping site for the trailer park and was creating a health hazard. 

 Dilapidated Swimming Pool.  The city’s 50-year old swimming pool had reached the end of its useful life;  Its concrete was deteriorating and its equipment was failing.  The city needed to replace the entire facility.

 Need for Soccer Complex and Open Space/Walking Areas.  With the introduction of city soccer leagues, Central City suddenly found itself facing an increased demand for fields to accommodate players. Initially the city met this demand by cordoning off a soccer field within its existing softball field complex, but the community expressed desire for a dedicated soccer facility. The city also identified the need for additional open space for recreation and walking areas.

To address these issues, residents and organizations throughout Central City came together to brainstorm solutions and strategies. It quickly became apparent that the city’s aging housing stock, neighborhood blight, dilapidated swimming pool, and need for a soccer complex and open spaces shared a commonality that enabled residents to address all five issues simultaneously. Thus, the South Recreation Complex project was born.

As part of the complex planning process, the city held a series of open public meetings and encouraged residents to present and revise draft plans.  School children of all ages provided input into the complex design, particularly the swimming pool.  Participant surveys documented the desired features of the site and pool amenities.

 

 

The resulting South Recreation Complex—which includes a new trailer park, lake, aquatic center, soccer facilities, residential subdivision and hiking/biking trail—was a group effort developed at a cost of $32 million.

The Planning Commission actively participated in the process and made recommendations to city council.  The local Community Redevelopment Authority purchased a portion of the land and developed the subdivision by issuing tax increment financing bonds to finance the project.   

The city contracted out construction of the lake but provided city labor to support construction of the subdivision (including utilities), clearing the blighted structures and vegetation, and constructing the soccer facility.  The city will assume all ongoing costs. A facility corporation constructed the aquatic center, issued the bonds, and entered into a lease-purchase arrangement with Central City through which the jurisdiction has set aside funds for the annual payments so that no tax dollars will be used for the construction or debt service.

The Central City Homebuilders Association actively solicited private contributions to build speculative houses in the new Lakeview subdivision, raising $160,000 for the construction of the first house in the first week.  As each home sells, the company immediately begins construction of the next house. 

The Central City Trails Committee actively participated in planning the master plan for the trail and related project elements and sought funding for this facility and subsequent trail extensions. The Central City School System provided access to classrooms for presentations, discussions, and survey distribution, and it also provided written endorsements on behalf of the project.

Finally, Merrick County, Nebraska, in which Central City resides, provided essential, heavy dirt-moving and construction equipment for unrestricted use by city staff. 

 Participants in Central City’s South Recreation Project learned a number of valuable lessons during the complex development process including

 ·         Resolving financial issues in advance makes it easier to manage a project and establish buy- in

·         Community involvement provides a broader range of ideas, and

·         Construction activities can take longer than anticipated.

You can read or download descriptions of other innovative or cost-saving programs such as the one developed by Central City by visiting the Local Government Knowledge Network, the new online local government community created by ICMA, the Alliance for Innovation, and Arizona State University. Since its launch at the end of May, users have created more than 7,500 new profiles on the Knowledge Network, and activity within the community continues to grow. To date more than 500 local government questions have been asked and answered.  

Staff are continuously enhancing the Knowledge Network user experience by increasing processing speed and deploying new system functionality and features. In addition to browsing through the more than 200 Knowledge Network topic areas or searching for specific resources, for example, you can now also upload a program description or sample document you’d like to share with your colleagues and other local government staff.

To access the Local Government Knowledge Network, navigate to icma.org/kn.  Create an account if you haven’t already done so. Anyone with an interest in local government can create a free account.  Then

·         To browse, click on “Topics” from the blue menu bar

·         Click on a relevant topic area

To upload a document:

·         Click on “Documents” under the topic menu heading and then

·         Click on “Submit a document on this subject” from the upper right-hand menu.

You can also comment on and rate documents on the Knowledge Network, providing valuable feedback and information to other Knowledge Network users, by scrolling to the bottom of each document cover page to the “Community Reviews” box.