Syracuse Council Hears Concerns Over School Traffic, Prepares For Dog Park

SYRACUSE - Syracuse resident Kim Kreifels came before the mayor and city council Wednesday night with safety concerns for the children walking to and from elementary school.

She asked that the intersections at 9th and Poplar, 9th and Locust, 4th and Locust be looked at for stop signs.
Officer Reyes also stated that there are no sidewalks between 8th and 9th Street at Locust, so the children are having to walk in the street in that area.

 Councilwoman Laramie Werner added that there seems to be a lot of congestion on Plum Street between 7th and 8th Street on the west side of the elementary school, when buses are trying to navigate the turn to go to the high school and where parents are picking up or dropping off their children,  as well as general traffic.

Mayor Ortiz directed  the street superintendent Jeff Vogt to look into these concerns and report back
.
Sheriff Caudill  stated Safety 1st and his office will have a bigger presence in Syracuse.

Mayor Ortiz stated with the contract coming due between the Otoe County Sheriff’s Office and the City of Syracuse, the mayor  is looking for more transparency on hours spent in the Syracuse area.

Mayor Ortiz also thanked Sheriff  Caudill and his department for the quick response when the manhole on Highway 50 and 3rd Street was jeopardized, 2 deputies blocked off the area immediately keeping all motorists safe until the street department and the Nebraska Department of Roads were able to get on scene and “cone off” the area.

 Other improvements in the city that were approved are the property at 324 6th Street, due to the small footprint of the lot and setbacks with no interest from prospective buyers, the city decided to approve a Green Space giving Tyler Collins of the Parks Department the task of putting a plan together to present to mayor and council at September's meeting, how to beautify this downtown corner.

The final draft for the bathhouse planning study was approved. Carolyn Gigstad head of the bath house committee, along with the help of JEO, will start another round of grant requests to move this project forward.

Dog lovers in the community may be interested to know that a dog run is getting high priority from the mayor and city council.

Jill Crook head of the  Parks Department  was given permission to  purchase benches and equipment and begin looking into perspective areas for this dog run to be placed.