Omaha City Council Meeting

Festersen read a proclamation recognizing Earth Day and another recognizing Arbor Day.

The seat next to Festersen is empty today, as CM Vinny Palermo was indicted for federal felony charges. Later, the City Council will vote to remove Palermo as Council Vice President https://t.co/Mcj7tfL6Eh

But first on the agenda is liquor. License approved for Old Mill Lounge at 10944 W Dodge Road

License approved for Memoir at 930 Harney St. Moving on to planning items

Final plat for State and Highway 133 Addition approved. Planning Director Dave Fanslau said concerns about impact on native praire grasses have been addressed, and the developers are contributing money to preservation

Rezone for 405 and 412 Bancroft Street from commercial to single family residential approved

Rezone for 2219 S 13th St from an industrial district to a neighborhood business district approved

On a rezone for 3510 S 24th St from industrial to commercial, an opponent said the convenience store proposed may cause disturbances for the neighborhood

He said people have pulled into his driveway, thinking it was parking for the property

He said if it’s approved, he wants the city to require the owner to put up a privacy fence

Fanslau said the rezone will limit what can operate on the property. The current industrial zoning could allow auto sales and repair, manufacturing, warehousing, among other uses

Fanslau said the ACI overlay for the property applies the city’s strictest design standards

Victor Ortiz representing the convenience store said they won’t sell any liquor

Rezone approved 6-0

MCC overlay district to incorporate 13105 W Center Road approved

Ordinance to incorporate 15656 Fort St into an MCC overlay district approved

Multiple items to zone property at Military Avenue and Aurora Drive for Marian High School’s sports fields approved

On a special use permit for David Shaffer for auto sales at 1942 S 42nd St, CM Danny Begley said there were concerns about increased traffic

Fanslau said the property will be used as an office for online sales, and cars will not be on display at the site

Traffic engineer Jeff Riesselman said this car dealership is very small, so it wouldn’t generate much traffic. The property was built to carry more traffic than it does today

Approved

Ordinance consent agenda approved, including a $4.2 million TIF agreement for an industrial building at 5902 N 9th St

Resolution consent agenda approved

Next is the 2022 Tax Increment Financing Report, presented by Bridget Hadley from city planning

Hadley said TIF helps sustain communities and spur development. She said TIF is a leveraging tool to shape the city in accordance with the master plan

23 new TIF projects were approved in 2022, totaling $159 million in TIF loans

She said the city was able to leverage $16.8 million worth of public improvements

Over 1700 housing units, 119 were affordable, were proposed in TIF projects last year

Hadley said 11 projects were approved in the urban core https://t.co/jo3lt8Oe1r

18 projects were either paid off or expired in 2022. Values increased by over 1500%, Hadley said, generating an additional $5.6 million in tax revenue https://t.co/l09RGZtE8j

Hadley said that without TIF, they estimate that the values would’ve increased by only 36%

Hadley said TIF gives the city a bigger tax base, and it helps make the city a better place to live

The updated report will be on the city planning website this week

Donny Johnson said more TIF should go to North Omaha. According to the report, 6 projects were approved for North O in 2022

Another opponent said she wants to see more development in South Omaha

Larry Storer is an opponent, saying the city should clarify how TIF loans are paid off

Luis Jimenez is also an opponent. He appreciates that the city gets this annual report, but the City Council should be asking more questions

CM Aimee Melton said the TIF loans are private loans taken out by the developers, and all of the risk is on the developers

She said the money that goes toward public improvement would otherwise have to come from taxpayer funds without TIF

Report approved, moving onto public hearings

The next few items relate to the Crossroads Redevelopment.

Emily O’Connor from Lockwood Development said they are gearing up to start on improvements to Dodge Street, which they hope to rap up by the end of this year

They will also install a median in Cass Street, which will be done in a few months

She said everything this year will be “horizontal infrastructure work,” and nothing will go up until next year

Festersen said he appreciates the work that the developers are doing. He said the agreement says the work must be done by the end of 2030, so he asked what the timeline is

O’Connor said the project will take time, but they don’t anticipate it will take that long.

She said the total investment will be north of $600 million

Festersen said traffic in the area has been congested, so he asked city staff and the developers to keep restrictions to a minimum

The new library to go at 72nd and Dodge will bring more construction to the area, so Festersen asked the developers to work on a solution for future pedestrian issues

CM Danny Begley thanked the developers and Council President Festersen for moving the project forward. He said the investment so far gives him confidence

CM Brinker Harding said these projects take time, so he’s not worried about the timeline.

Harding quoted a former city councilmember, “Behind every one of those orange cones is a little progress”

Vote on the Crossroads redevelopment agreement is next week

Next is a public hearing on proposed changes to the zoning code to allow urban agriculture

Tim Fries from city planning said this would allow agriculture to take place in more residential areas in the city

He said this doesn’t regulate food grown at home for the homeowners’ consumption

Four new use types will be created: community garden, urban garden, urban farm and commercial farm

Community gardens are mainly for personal consumption. Urban gardens can be used for offsite sales and urban farms also allow onsite sales with permanent structures

Fries said they will create a registry for urban agriculture sites, and they will test the soil for potential lead contamination

John Porter, an urban agriculture educator, said he helped work on today’s ordinance on the technical side. He said this will allow more people to grow their own food, especially in food deserts

Proponent Luis Jimenez said urban farming could help stock food pantries

Eric Englund from city planning said current urban gardens wont need to apply for anything if the code change is approved, but he would ask them to register

Fries said there will be no fees associated with the registry

Last on our agenda is a resolution to temporarily remove Vinny Palermo as VP of the Council, and set next week as a hearing on his permanent position as VP

One proponent from South Omaha said Palermo broke the community’s trust, and shamed the district, city, and City Council

The City Council doesnt have the authority vote to remove Palermo from office altogether, but El Perico reported that a South Omaha resident has filed a recall petition https://el-perico.com/recall-petition-filed-for-omaha-city-councilmember-vinny-palermo-following-fbi-indictment/

“I’m so saddened that my community has to face this again and again,” a proponent said.

CM Brinker Harding said it brings him no joy to introduce this resolution, but Palermo has violated the public’s trust and should resign

Harding said the patterns of Palermo’s past activities and current indictments are very concerning

He said Palermo should not be making decisions on taxpayer dollars

“[District 4] deserves representation that will respect the law,” Harding said

CM Juanita Johnson said she was taken aback by the indictments. But she said Palermo is still innocent until proven guilty

CM Don Rowe said he’s in favor of the resolution

CM Melton said she agrees that Palermo is innocent until proven guilty, but this resolution protects the city from any future damage from fraud and corruption

CM Begley said simply Palermo is entitled to due process

Council President Festersen said he’s already removed Palermo from his committee assignments

City Attorney Bernard en den Bosche said the Council VP position will be vacant with approval today

On the issue of acting mayor, Festersen said he is acting mayor currently bc Mayor Stothert is out of town. He plans on being out of town later this week, and this resolution will prevent Palermo from taking over as mayor

Thanks to changes to the city charter, the most senior member of the city council will become acting mayor

Resolution to temporarily remove Palermo as Council VP approved 5-0. CM Johnson abstained.

Meeting adjourned at 4:29 pm