KEARNEY — A pinning ceremony was held for the newly elected officers of the Kearney Volunteer Fire Department during the Kearney city council meeting on Tuesday, July 23.
The Kearney Volunteer Fire Department is a unique organization in the fact that it is comprised of three different separate entities that operate together for the benefit of the citizens in our fire district.
The three groups include the City of Kearney that employs 12 full time and 12 part time positions, the Suburban Fire Protection that provides fire protection for Buffalo and Kearney County, which doesn’t include the City of Kearney and the KVFD, which is its own private organization consisting of the membership and the Reserve Company.
Fire Chief Aaron Jameson appeared during the city council meeting and introduced the newly elected officers, who would have their badges pinned by family members.
The current fire officers of the KVFD are as follows:
Battalion Chiefs
Tyler Vlasin
Seth Lunbery
Fire Captains
Bryan Chase
Chris Hellerich
Clint Smith
Rescue Captain
Nate Toof
Fire Lieutenants
Braxtin Clement
Liam Killion
Mike Treadway
Rescue Lieutenant
Robin Reeder
Dive Lieutenant
Adam Graizer
Following the ceremony, Kearney city council vice-president Randy Buschkoetter thanked the firefighters and their families for all they do to protect the city and the sacrifices family members make.
His sentiment was echoed by the other council members.
During the regular agenda, there was a presentation of the Nebraska Public Power District’s energy report for Kearney, which was given by Grant Flamig.
Flamig said he is stepping into the role that Kearney Mayor Stan Clouse has held at NPPD as Clouse transitions to part time work.
For himself, Flamig said he has 17 years with NPPD and four years ago, took the step to do more of the line design for areas throughout central and southwest Nebraska.
He said another part of his new role will be to serve as a liaison between the area communities and NPPD.
Moving to the energy report, which covered 2023, Flamig said that around $10 million has been remitted to the City of Kearney from NPPD.
Flamig said NPPD is proud to have some of the lowest rates in the United States, but did note that there will be a retail rate increase of two percent in 2025, reflecting the increasing demand for electricity as more businesses locate in Nebraska due to the cheaper energy costs, among other factors.
During the public hearings, the council conducted a public hearing on an application submitted by SMJ International, doing business as American Tower and T-Mobile for American Tower for a conditional use permit to co-locate telecommunications equipment on an existing tower located at 6204 2nd Ave.
The permit had been withdrawn from the last city council meeting due to an incomplete application but returned to the council Tuesday night.
It was noted that T-Mobile is looking to expand their reach and wishes to co-locate their equipment on an existing tower, rather than build a new one. The council approved the conditional use permit.
During the report period, City Manager Brenda Jensen said that the pool at Harmon Park reopened on Monday, July 22 after its equipment had been damaged by vandalism.
Buschkoetter said outside of a few outliers, another successful and safe Cruise Nite was hosted in Kearney and he thanked the Central Nebraska Auto Club for organizing the event again.
