Hornaday Manufacturing, (Carol Bryant, Central Nebraska Today)
GRAND ISLAND – Hall County Commissioners unanimously approved applying for a Community Development Block Grant add 29 FTE employees for Hornady Manufacturing.
The grant amount is $1 million, and Hornady Manufacturing would provide $1 million in matching funds, said Lori Ferguson, community consultant with the South Central Economic Development District in Holdrege. That organization would prepare the grant application.
Mary Berlie, president of the Grand Island Area Economic Development Corp., appeared with Ferguson at the May 6 meeting. She described the grant as a “working capital” grant.
The funds can only be awarded to municipal government entities, and Hall County is the local government entity needed to apply for the grant. If the grant is awarded, the county, Grand Island Area Economic Development Corp., Hornady, and the Nebraska Department of Economic Development would enter an agreement outline duties, responsibilities, and requirements of the funding.
Grand Island City Council members voted 8-0 in October 2024 to submit a redevelopment plan for a grant that would allow for extending a sanitary sewer line toward Hornady Manufacturing’s second location, which is six miles west of its primary location on Old Potash Highway.
Berlie said that grant for Hornady Manufacturing was recently awarded for $1.78 million. The grant is called the Municipality Infrastructure Aid Fund.
The grant is to extend the sewer line from 13th and Engleman Road to 60th Road. The grant is for production expansion at the Hornady Manufacturing sites located at 3625 Old Potash Highway and 8350 W. Old Potash Highway, located just northwest of Alda.
The second Hornady site uses sewage lagoons because it does not have a sanitary sewer line extended to the location.
In another matter, the Commissioners heard a presentation from Marc Kohmetscher, Chief Probation Officer for the District 9 probation office. Commissioners voted 7-0 to approve Kohmetscher’s proposal concerning relocation of offices.
In an email to Hall County Commissioners Chairman Ron Peterson, Kohmetscher wrote that the Central Nebraska Drug Court has been notified to vacate its location at the Law Enforcement Center within six months.
“This presents a significant challenge, especially as we are already at or exceeding capacity in the current probation building at 207 N. Pine St. Adding four additional staff members would be extremely difficult in the existing space,” Kohmetscher wrote in the email.
He suggested relocating the juvenile officers and another staff member from the Federal Building to 117 E. First St., consolidating all juvenile staff into one location. Once the juvenile staff have moved out, the Drug Court staff could be relocated to the now-vacated space at the Federal Building in the southeast corner.
In the next phase, approval would be sought from Commissioners to remodel and update the remainder of the first floor and entire second floor at the Federal building.
“This would facilitate the relocation of all staff from 207 N. Pine to that building, with the goal of having probation in two strategic locations near the courthouse by the time the courthouse addition is completed,” he wrote.
Benefits of the project would be the opportunity for expansion for the future, strategic location near the courthouse, reduced overhead, having probation staff in the same location, and freeing up the location at 207 N. Pine St. for the county.
Challenges with the project would be the cost of cubicles and parking near the courthouse.
Lori Ferguson (left) and Mary Berlie talk to Hall County Commissioners about applying for a grant for Hornady Manufacturing, (Carol Bryant, Central Nebraska Today)
