Kuhlman takes on duties of interim city administrator

LAUREL – The Laurel City Office is going through a time of transition.

At its regular meeting earlier this month, the Laurel City Council named Economic Development Coordinator Dan Kuhlman as the interim city administrator.

Mark McCoy retired from that position earlier in 2024 after nearly 40 years of working for the city.

“I will be continuing as economic development coordinator as well as (have) the added duties associated with the interim city admin role,” Kuhlman said in a follow-up interview. “We have hired on two employees so far for outside utility positions. Ryan Fettig is the utility superintendent, and Justin Larson is a general utility worker.

“With getting the personnel on staff to operate the day-to-day utility work, it has allowed me the ability to spend time in both the admin and economic development roles,” he said. “The mayor and City Council will be making the decision on when to start the search for a full-time city admin.”

In a follow-up interview, Laurel Mayor Keith Knudsen said the city has not yet started a formal search for a full-time city administrator.

“I would like to commend Laurel residents and City of Laurel staff and council members for their tremendous support during this period of transition at the City of Laurel,” Knudsen said. “We also appreciate the cooperation and support of the City of Wayne and Cedar-Knox Public Power District for their approval of agreements and utility assistance at this time.”

In other business, council members discussed and approved a proposal for asbestos removal at the old Laurel City Auditorium, 101 W. Second St.

The plan is for the city-owned building to eventually be knocked down.

“Once it is demolished, it will be turned into green space,” Kuhlman said. “The lot will be marketed and available for business expansion in the downtown district.”

Bockmann Inc., Lincoln, and Environmental Services Inc., Norfolk, were contacted to give bids on asbestos abatement.

“The City Council approved a proposal from Bockmann Inc., Lincoln, at a cost of $3,800 to remove asbestos that was identified in an asbestos inspection completed Dec. 27, 2019, by CDS Inspections & Beyond, Plainview,” Knudsen said. “The asbestos removal is required prior to the demolition of the old Laurel City Auditorium.”

Kuhlman noted Bockmann Inc. has been notified it has been awarded the asbestos abatement bid, but no start date has been scheduled yet.

“Their price includes all services in asbestos abatement, permits and final inspection costs,” Kuhlman said. “The asbestos abatement has to be completed and a final inspection of the building done before any demolition can take place. Bids have not been sent out for demolition at this time.”

When the plans were being made for the new city offices at the downtown Laurel Community Center, Kuhlman said engineers were contacted about the structural integrity of the old city auditorium.

“After the mayor and council received those reports, the decision was made to raze that building,” Kuhlman said. “With the (Laurel-Concord- Coleridge School) no longer needing the use of the auditorium for classrooms, the demolition process is beginning to take shape.”

In other business, the city contracted with S2 Roll-offs, Refuse and Recycling, Fremont, to pick up commercial waste in Laurel once a week after council members heard a presentation from Mitch Sawyer, the owner of the company.

“S2 has expanded their service territory out to many communities along the eastern side of Nebraska,” Kuhlman said. “They currently operate a front-load truck to pick up metal commercial containers. This is a much safer method of picking up the containers, and allows for one-person operation.

“They will be swapping out all the current containers with their updated models,” he said. “The city will continue to bill out the waste service on the monthly utility bills. Gill Hauling is still under contract for residential waste pickup, so the contract with S2 is only for the commercial business customers.”

Knudsen said the city has been providing commercial garbage pickup for the community, but that is scheduled to change soon.

“S2 will begin commercial garbage pickup in Laurel by the end of April,” Knudsen said.