Second Thunderstorm Strikes Region in Week; Clean-up Efforts Continue to Be Too Familiar

By Darrell Wellman

The City of Auburn and Nemaha County took its second pounding in a period of seven days as strong winds caused considerable damage to trees, power outages and even minor damage to some buildings and crops.
The thunderstorm which passed through Auburn late Sunday afternoon [Aug. 9] included winds gusting approximately 65 miles per hour as estimated by a trained spotter and a weather observer, according tot he National Weather Service. It uprooted trees and knocked down large limbs to cut electrical service to a number of Auburn Board of Public Works customers. 

BPW General Manager David Hunter, Jr. said several areas were without power for a period of time, but most customers had power by late Sunday and early Monday morning.
Nemaha County Emergency Management Director Bob Cole reported trees and transformers down in and around Auburn with several streets blocked. “N” Street remained blocked early Tuesday morning. Also the gust front preceded rainfall in Auburn which was unofficially measured at 2.65”. 

Other rainfall amounts through Monday morning included about two inches around Humboldt and Tecumseh, 1.65” near Johnson, about an inch near Brock and less than an inch at most other locations. 

The strong wind blew a trailer off of Highway 75 about four miles south of Auburn. It also broke a few windows in buildings downtown. 

Regarding damage to trees, the latest tree debris has since been piled up on that which resulted from a thunderstorm on Monday, Aug. 3. 

The City of Auburn has advised residents of the city to cut up and place their tree debris along the curbs if they are unable to haul the limbs and branches to the tree waste disposal site in south Auburn near the unwanted appliance/furniture site west of “O” Street. 

The strong winds made the downtown stoplight inoperable as it blew one of the arms out of its normal location. Auburn Police then directed traffic while the lights were made inoperable and the intersection at Central Avenue and “J” Street became a four-way stop. It remained that way until Monday afternoon. 
City Services Commissioner Harry Bridgmon reported during the Aug. 10 Auburn City Council meeting his crews were kept busy Monday with the brush site and they will continue to be occupied with clearing streets and curbsides for some time. 

Saturday Cemetery Clean-up

The Sheridan Cemetery Association Board of Directors is asking for primarily adult volunteers to help clean up the cemetery Saturday,  Aug. 15, beginning at 9 a.m. There were many large trees that blew down during the thunderstorm which passed through Auburn last Sunday evening.  Some of the large trees fell on tombstones and caused some damage.    
Cemetery officials especially seek help from people who have chain saws and pick-up trucks. All volunteers will be greatly appreciated. 

The downtown stoplight was inoperable for about a day following the strong winds and the busy intersection became a four-way stop. The lights resumed normal operation Monday afternoon.   

This home at 1413 “O” Street took a big hit in the storm as a large tree fell onto the front of it. Insurance adjusters were busy for the second time in a week responding to calls from clients about property damage.  

NBDC Will Open Auburn Office With Friday, Aug. 21 Ceremony

Robert Bernier, State Director of the Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC) recently spoke with local Rotarians about the new NBDC office and it’s mission. Dr. Bernier has been associated with the NBDC and the Small Business Administration since 1979.

Small businesses in southeast Nebraska can find help in getting government contracts through a new office of the Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC) in Auburn. The new office is being funded under a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, according to Robert E. Bernier, assistant dean of the University of Nebraska at Omaha College of Business Administration.

The program, Bernier said, is designed to improve competition among government suppliers by helping small businesses meet government procurement regulations. Although the program is partially funded by the Defense Department, NBDC is allowed to help businesses win government contracts at any government level and from any federal, state, county, city or town agency. The NBDC office is at 816 Central Avenue in Auburn. Julie Wilhelm, a former business owner in Humboldt, will operate the office. A grand opening ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, August 21.

NBDC provides management and technical assistance to Nebraskabusinesses through several programs, according to Bernier. These include the Small Business Development Centerprogram, partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration; the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, partially funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology through the Nebraska Department of Economic Development; and the Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange, funded by the Environmental Protection Agency. “The purpose of all of our programs,” Bernier said, “is to grow businesses and jobs in Nebraska.”

For many years NBDC funded a small business assistance center at Peru State College. Funding for that center was discontinued in 2003 because of a reduction in SBA funds, according to Bernier. “We do not have sufficient SBA funds to re-open that center,” Bernier said. “However, we hope that by having the procurement assistance program in Auburn we can again provide a point of access to all NBDC services for businesses in southeast Nebraska.”

Andy Alexander, who heads the government contracting assistance program for NBDC, says that “excellent opportunities for expanding government small business assistance contracts exist in southeast Nebraska.” NBDC, he said, will reach out to “manufacturing firms, service firms and even some retail firms” to expand government contracting in the region. Last year NBDC clients did about $136 million in government contracts, up from $98 million the year before.

“We expect to continue our success rate,” Alexander said.

To assist businesses in obtaining government contracts, according to Alexander, NBDC helps businesses get listed on the federal government’s central contract registry (CCR), learn how to properly price for government bidding, learn how to submit bids and manage awards electronically, and discover bid opportunities (this includes conducting business with states, counties, cities, and towns nationwide). NBDC uses standard industry codes to classify business offerings and alert its clients to bid opportunities.

NBDC has small business assistance and government contracting assistance at offices in Omaha, Lincoln, Kearney, and Wayne. It offers small business assistance at offices in North Platte, Scottsbluff and Chadron. Its manufacturing engineers provide assistance from offices in Omaha and Columbus.

End of Summer Pool Hours

The pool will be closing for the year on August 22nd, 2009. Please note the change in hours as we approach that date.