Auburn Remembers: How the Community Responded After Sept. 11

When terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, the shock reached far beyond the coasts, arriving in southeast Nebraska within hours. Auburn Newspapers' coverage that fall captured a community that moved quickly to respond, then spent the following weeks processing what it meant.

Cooper Nuclear Station raised security to its highest level as a precaution, and local churches held prayer services as flags flew at half staff across Nemaha County. The most visible local response came from six Auburn firefighters, Dale Thomas, Gerrad Edwards, Russ Koerner, Brian McConaughey, Jim North and Jay VonBergen, who volunteered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help search the World Trade Center rubble. An estimated 150 residents turned out for their send-off before the men left Auburn by charter flight out of Kansas City. Area banks, including Auburn State Bank, Carson National Bank, First National Bank of Johnson and Union Bank & Trust, opened their doors to collect donations for the American Red Cross.

A Week of Mixed Emotions

By the Sept. 21 edition, the paper turned to how residents were processing the attack. Reactions ranged widely. Some, like Good Samaritan employee Darrold Nies, described moving from anger toward a more measured response shaped by prayer. Others were blunter about wanting swift retaliation. Cooper Nuclear employee Bob Gibson's wife, Marsha, focused instead on the grief of families who had lost loved ones and hoped rescuers would still find survivors. Auburn High School senior Kassi Koerner, whose father Russ Koerner was one of the six firefighters headed to Ground Zero, said she was proud of him for helping.

Dale Thomas said the men chose to do this because of the obvious need and a bond between firemen and rescue people whether they are in a nearby community, across the state or even across the country. 

"We're really excited about going. But at the same time we're scared about what we'll see and do. Pray for us and the other victims still in the building. Please watch over our families while we're gone," Firefighter Dale Thomas said at the send off.

The paper also reported on a noon prayer service at Auburn's American Legion Memorial Park, where Kaye Krueger was among the residents who gathered as pastors from several local churches read scripture and prayed for the nation.

Back from Ground Zero

The same edition carried firefighter Jim North's account of the trip, in a story by Darrell Wellman. The six Auburn men flew out of Kansas City, connected through Philadelphia, and rode a shuttle in to the area of Lower Manhattan that had become known as Ground Zero, passing through three separate security checkpoints before they were even sure they'd be allowed on site.

Their first 12-hour shift began Friday evening, working in long lines of firefighters and volunteers who passed buckets, tools and body bags hand to hand through the wreckage. After that shift ended Saturday morning, a New York City police officer directed them to volunteer-run lodging at the Navy Home Port on Staten Island, stocked with donated food, clothing and gear for the responders. A second, more difficult shift followed Saturday evening, by then security had tightened further, and the men noticed a shift in focus on site as heavier equipment moved in to help clear debris, with hope for survivors fading. North described New Yorkers thanking the crews constantly, handing out food and water, and City residents allowed briefly back into Lower Manhattan applauding the firefighters as they passed. North called the experience one the men would never forget, saying seeing the devastation in person, even after watching it on television, "was really tough." The six flew home out of LaGuardia Sunday morning and were back in Auburn by that evening.

Sources: Coverage from The Auburn Press-Tribune and Nemaha County Herald 9/14/01, 9/21/01. Articles by Darrell Wellman and Dennis Morgan as well as unattributed coverage.

“We want to help people dealing with all facets of orthopaedics,” said Baumert. These facets may include sports medicine, fractures, arthritis, spine pain, and injuries. We want to help anyone with orthopaedic issues by having them walk into our orthopaedic clinic and not worrying about scheduling an appointment.

Baumert is available to evaluate a person’s pain or injury and determine the next step in treatment, which may involve MRI imaging, physical therapy, a cast or brace, or a referral to an orthopaedic surgeon.

“With the new hospital addition, we will be able to do any of these orthopaedic treatments here at the Johnson County Hospital,” Baumert said. He added that phase one of the new addition will be completed this fall and will consist of nine exam rooms for the specialty clinic.

Baumert said technology has played a significant role in advancing orthopaedics through digital X-rays and MRI imaging, which have improved in quality and produce clearer images.

“We want to help people who may be in pain from a fracture or a sports injury, and we want to help them find comfort and healing,” said Baumert, explaining why he returned to college to earn his degree as a physician assistant.

According to Baumert, everyone is unique, and he wants to help them feel their best. “Our patients are in pain and hurting, and you must be sympathetic to their needs,” he added.

“Overall, we want to provide all-inclusive orthopaedic care here at the Johnson County Hospital. Anyone from Johnson County, as well as surrounding counties, is welcome to the Walk-in Ortho Now Clinic anytime on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Baumert is a native of Scribner. Before becoming a PA, Baumert worked as an athletic trainer for southeast Nebraska schools.

Baumert and his wife, Rachel, a native of Falls City, live on an acreage near Lincoln. They have three children. Their daughter, Ellie, is attending nursing school. Their son, Isaac, attends a college ministry program, and son, Eli, attends Lincoln Southwest. When he is not working with patients at Nebraska Orthopaedic Center in Lincoln or at Johnson County Hospital, Baumert enjoys landscaping projects around the family’s acreage and occasionally playing golf.

The character belongs to Leslie Clark, executive director of the Auburn Creative District, who carried the idea for roughly three years before she had anyone to draw it. It grew out of the community conversations that led to the district's creation and certification in October 2024.

'Auburn has struggled with identity,' Clark said, describing what she heard from residents. 'We're not trying to replace anything, but we're opening up the circle and saying, maybe you're not a Bulldog. Maybe you or your kids didn't go to school here. There's more to our community than this one niche area.'

At a creative district meeting, Weiss offered to write the book after some conversation.

'I kind of volunteered that I'd write a book,' she said. 'And I knew Reagan was able to illustrate, she's very talented. So I kind of volunteered her too.'

Clark had the bee. What the book needed was a reason.

'Why did she come here? Why did she stay?' Weiss said. 'That was the big question.'

Their answer was a whisper, a pull toward something Blossom could not name. Early drafts aimed older and leaned educational before the team shifted toward a book meant to be read aloud, and nobody wanted a queen bee.

'That doesn't really fit,' Weiss said. 'Queens feel like they're ruling. They're not as relational. And there's only one.'

Early candidate names included Marigold, Polly and Flora. Clark pushed for a bee that was warm but still recognizably a bee.

'We didn't just want a fat bee,' she said. 'But yet, she's cute, and not scary.'

The art is where the calendar stretched. Jordan was postpartum with her second child and worked in pieces.

'I just took it very slow, in my own time,' she said.

Weiss said the pace turned out to be a gift, letting them edit down instead of whipping something out.

Jordan, a serial creative, grew up in Auburn and has done volunteer and paid artwork for the town. She also has a professional career as an artist and tattooist.

“If you look around town you’ll see Blossom on the sidewalk stickers outside building in the creative district. She’s a familiar face,” Jordan said This connection also meant real places in Auburn were the plan from the start. Most spreads were built from photographs. The courthouse avenue scene was the hardest, and its scale is deliberately wrong.

'Artistic license,' she said. One page needed a workaround. The bee statue Blossom perches on is out for repair, so Jordan photographed a different statue for the proportions and dropped it into the composition afterward.

It is her first illustrated book, and she studied others on her own shelves for her children before starting.

'A lot of times digital illustrations can be very simplistic, and I didn't want it to come across like that,' she said. 'I wanted this to be art, not just a quick illustration.'

The geography took some back and forth. An early draft had Blossom born on the Nebraska prairie, until Clark noticed the illustration of her crossing the Brownville Bridge.

'She couldn't have been in Nebraska if she's coming across Brownville,' Clark said. The line became a Midwest prairie.

The book ends on an invitation, a page Clark asked for after an early draft simply stopped. Weiss and Jordan wrote it. For Weiss, who has lived in 10 states, it is the whole point.

'All my adult children said, we want to go back to Nebraska,' she said. 'Bring your gifts to your town. You don't have to go to a big city.'

Jordan said she hopes readers come away with town pride, and a second look at buildings people stop seeing.

'It's pretty easy to go by the same buildings and just kind of stop seeing them,' she said. 'Hopefully, when you see them in the book, it brings them to life.'

The paperback sells for $10 on Amazon and will also be available at the Cenacle, their bookstore and cafe in Auburn. A hardcover run has been approved and will be printed at a later date. Nothing is scheduled for the Honeybee Festival on Sept. 12, though the team has discussed a showcase night later on and Jordan will have a booth.

Clark has floated a series. Weiss and Jordan are open to it, and are also planning a book series of their own in watercolor.

'We've kind of given book with Blossom away,' Weiss said. 'She belongs to Auburn now. We’re not tied to the series.'

History of bees in Auburn The history under all of it is the part Clark keeps returning to. When the district chose the honeybee and her Nemaha County Leadership class chose the bee statues as their class project, no one on knew why Nebraska had it as its state insect. She learned it from a conversation at church.

A third-grade class at Calvert Elementary, taught by a teacher residents remember as Mrs. Louise Howe, wrote letters to state senators. Gov. J.J. Exon signed the honeybee into law as Nebraska's state insect on March 19, 1975. Clark has the file: the students' letters, senators' replies, floor debate transcripts and a newspaper photo of the class boarding a bus for the Capitol.

'Things that you did as a third-grader,' she said she told one of them recently. 'We might have forgotten it for a little bit, but it's come back in a way that it's having a major impact.'

The book's last page says much the same thing.

'Every picture, every idea, and every adventure begins with a spark of creativity, and that spark lives inside you.'

The photographer, conservationist and author shared his connections with the natural world to Southeast Nebraskans. Forsberg was sponsored by college officials and the PSC Foundation.

His first slide shown was a crane etched on a wall at Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah created 1,500 years ago. Forsberg indicated cranes are one of the oldest surviving bird species on Earth and have been on the plant since before humans.

“Their story is remarkable,” he continued.

The photographer presented a slide compilation of Nebraska scenes, calling the Cornhusker State a “pretty cool state we can call home.”

Forsberg recalled his initial encounters with nature began on family trips to Colorado where he starting falling in love with the natural world. As a geography major, he remembered going on a lot of trips with students and other individuals.

The author and photographer stated his first job was at NEBRASKAland with his initial assignment photographing cranes along the Platte River, showing where the birds go in the middle of the day.

“I tried to photograph cranes in grasslands. I had to wait for the birds to arrive. I was so close I could hear them do various functions. I had never been as close to birds in my life. It changed me. I wanted to know where they came from,” he said.

While working five years with biologists, Forsberg discovered the cranes fly as far north as the Arctic Circle and Siberia and as far south as Mexico. They have the fastest growth rate of birds, one inch a day. While there are 15 crane species on five continents, the naturalist noted sandhill cranes are the most populous.

“Five years with birds taught me a lot. Birds are great connectors. They are important to the people they live with. Birds are ambassadors for grasslands and wetland habitats they need to survive,” he continued.

Born, raised and a nearly lifelong resident of the Cornhusker State, Forsberg recalled he has had a lot of opportunities to travel to other parts of the world, but he wanted to stay close to home.

“I wanted to look at the Great Plains and the beauty out there,” he indicated. The region encompasses a million square miles from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada to Mexico and has a population of 23 million.

The photographer recalled following sandhill cranes across the continent. Forsberg related cranes learn everything from their parents.

The conservationist eventually turned his attention to whooping cranes. Among the tallest birds in North America, the rare species are five feet tall with a wingspan of more than eight feet, the height of an NBA player.

“Like all cranes, they dance for each other, mate for life and are together for decades,” he said.

Whooping cranes nearly became extinct because of factors including unregulated hunting, no conservation laws and habitat loss. Robert Allen, ornithologist, led the effort to save the birds, Forsberg noted.

The 1973 Endangered Species Act established protections for fish, wildlife and plants listed as threatened or facing extinction. The naturalist related the International Crane Foundation works on five continents to form conservation lands for the birds. There are 834 whooping cranes left in the world.

“The future of these birds is in our hands as with all wildlife. It’s up to us,” he added.

Forsberg discussed traveling 2,500 miles over 49 days during May and June from the southeast corner of Texas to Saskatchewan. It was inspired by the migration path of whooping cranes.

“It was quite a trip. The community stuck with us. I met the most delightful people who care about the earth and care about each other,” he stated.

In conclusion, Forsberg advised younger members of the audience to “keep your mind and heart open and go where your passion is.”

“We expect a busy fall as things are happening faster,” said Jim Sims, chief communications officer at NioCorp Developments.

Portal excavation and road work The company broke ground on the portal Feb. 26 during a site visit with U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., and local officials. Gana Trucking and Excavating, the contractor leading the dirt work, is digging a wedge-shaped opening roughly 600 feet wide and 150 feet deep to reach the limestone bedrock above the ore body. NioCorp has said the excavation will remove hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of dirt, with runoff basins built around the site to control silt.

Jesse Coatney, NioCorp’s vice president of engineering, said crews are drilling nails 20 to 40 feet long into the sides of the ramp to hold the soil in place. He is one of 30 to 35 employees and contractors currently working at the site.

The portal will ultimately hold twin spiral ramps, roughly the scale of an aircraft carrier, providing the mine’s main access to the underground ore body and replacing a twin-shaft design used in earlier project plans. The work, filed with the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration under a formal Notice of Commencement, carries an estimated cost of $44.6 million and was expected to take about nine months, putting substantial completion around late 2026. The full production site is estimated to be completed in 2029.

Road improvements tied to the project are also moving forward. K2 Construction of Tecumseh is widening roads and adding turn lanes on Nebraska Highway 50, Highway 62 and 721 Road to handle construction traffic and, eventually, ongoing mine operations.

Financing

NioCorp has said capital expenditures for constructing the mine are estimated at $1.85 billion. The company has raised roughly $500 million in 2025 and early 2026, and the U.S. government, through the Pentagon, has awarded $10 million to the project. The U.S. Export-Import Bank is advancing due diligence to provide debt financing for up to 65 percent of the overall project cost, Sims said.

NioCorp has said it plans to hold a formal groundbreaking ceremony, separate from the portal excavation now underway, once financing for the full project is complete. The company’s board of directors is expected to take a formal Final Investment Decision vote once financing is in place, after which Sims said construction is expected to move ahead aggressively.

Feasibility study and mineral output NioCorp released an updated feasibility study Aug. 10 that expanded the project’s planned output from four critical minerals to eight, including five rare earth products, and extended the projected mine life from 32 to 40 years.

The added rare earth elements, magnetic materials used across defense and civilian applications, include neodymium-praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium, samarium- europium-gadolinium carbonate and a heavy rare earth carbonate.

Sims said the study satisfies a due diligence requirement tied to the potential Export-Import Bank loan, though no financing commitment has been finalized. He added that 2025 onsite drilling funded by the Pentagon helped upgrade the mine’s probable reserves to proven reserves, supporting the updated study.

“We anticipate this mine will be a multi-generational resource for Nebraska and America,” Sims said.

Security and scandium supply Because the mine’s output will serve U.S. military uses and under Mine Safety and Health Administration regulations, NioCorp is installing a chainlink security fence topped with barbed wire around the mine site, along with additional security systems.

“Espionage by malign nations and other actors is necessarily a concern for defense critical facilities such as ours, so other security systems will be in place as well,” Sims said.

With scandium alloy in high demand and short supply, NioCorp last year purchased intellectual property and assets from a small Massachusetts company that let it combine scandium oxide powder into mixed metal alloy in one step. The company is currently sourcing scandium from the Philippines, Japan and other countries after China halted scandium exports.

“Being able to fill this scandium demand puts us ahead in terms of vertical integration and also will help us generate revenue prior to the mine getting up and running,” Sims said.

Workforce and outlook NioCorp expects construction to employ 1,000 to 1,200 contract workers at peak. After construction, a roughly sixmonth commissioning phase will slowly bring equipment online. Once the mine reaches production, the company expects to employ an average of 400 full-time workers on site.

Scott Honan, NioCorp’s chief operating officer, said earlier this year that the portal is the first physical step toward opening a mine that has been in development since researchers first identified the underground deposit in 1970.

“It’s taken a long time to get to this point, but we finally have traction,” Honan said.

“Our investors are getting more excited as they can see the construction happening at the site,” Sims said. As work continues, NioCorp representatives plan to offer site tours to investors who want to see the progress in person.

The Auburn varsity crew shot 215, followed by Johnson County Central at 223. Syracuse’s Grace Badgett led all golfers with a 48 over nine holes.

Auburn’s Madison Dammast paced the Bulldogs with a 51. Charlotte Dickerson followed with a 54, while Delaney Stahl and Aca Andrew each shot 55.

Syracuse also received a 52 from Kate French and Izzy Stubbendick and Alex Thompson both shot 54. Brooke Parsons added a 58.

In the junior varsity competition, Johnson County Central posted a team score of 208, followed by Syracuse at 214 and Auburn at 296. JCC’s Marley Jensen was the individual leader with a 41.

Auburn’s Celia Neal shot 46 to lead the Bulldogs’ JV squad, while Gracelyn Bohling added a 52.

Kasie Knippelmeyer led all players on Thursday night with 21 kills, followed closely by Daley Pelican, who recorded 18 kills to lead the Lady Eagles to a big home win. Johnson-Brock won the first set by a score of 25-16, but Elmwood-Murdock drew even with a 25-22 win in set two and went in front after winning the third set 25-21.

The Lady Eagles respond with another lopsided set in their favor, forcing a fifth set with a 25-14 win in set four. The match-clinching set would be much closer, but Johnson-Brock would take the match with a 18-16 win in set five.

Johnson-Brock continued their week winning two of their three games on Saturday over Sterling and Deshler in straight sets, but dropped their third game to Elmwood-Murdock in three. The Lady Eagles finished the week 4-1 and improved to 5-2 on the season.

Heidi Gerdes had a team-high 21 kills against the Jeffs, followed by Emery Taylor with 17. Gerdes was also a defensive force, tallying seven blocks, while Jazi Frey had six of her own.

Auburn led early in the fifth set, but Fairbury tied it at 14 apiece. Both teams had chances to win it, but it was Auburn that came through to take the fifth set by a score of 19-17, beating Fairbury in five sets.

On Saturday, September 5, the Bulldogs competed in the Weeping Water Tournament, winning three of four games. Auburn lost their first game to Wilber-Clatonia in two sets, but came back to defeat HTRS, Falls City Sacred Heart, and Lourdes Central Catholic to finish the tournament with a 3-1 record and improve to 5-2 on the season.

The organization has been working with Southeast Nebraskans 60 years.
Its trained professionals work one-on-one with economically challenged families. Programs and services assist families navigate through emergencies, improve skills, expand knowledge and reach a goal of self-sufficiency. SENCA serves residents of Johnson, Nemaha, Cass, Otoe, Pawnee, Richardson and Sarpy counties. Program areas are community economic development, family outreach and youth education. In 2025, there were 128 households utilizing SENCA housing programs, 136 households using nutrition programs and 136 preschool children and families accessing SENCA Head Start preschool.

Auburn Country Club golf league playoffs were completed on Wednesday, September 2nd. Champions for the 2026 afternoon league (above) were Team Flaherty: Jim Flaherty, Phil Shaw, Jerry Tuxhorn and Brian Murphy. Members not present were Drew Kimpston, and Rich Wilson. Team Gulizia were runner-up for the afternoon league.
Evening Champions for the 2026 league (below) are: Team Blex: John Billings, Russ Blex, Ron Shaw, Brian Bradley, Chad Walters, Jim Wehenkel. Members not present were Scott Teten, Scott Kudrna and Reese Grafton. Team Blessing were runner-up for the evening league.

Dorchester answered with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Landon Shaw to Payton Zoubek, although the extra-point attempt was unsuccessful.

Sterling added two more touchdowns in the second quarter. Bredthauer connected with Kade Horstman on a 20-yard touchdown pass before scoring on a 14-yard rushing touchdown. Roecker converted the extra point following the rushing score.

Bo McCoy-Speckmann added a 32-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, with Roecker again converting the extra point.

Dorchester scored the only points of the fourth quarter when Graydon Meredith-Walker ran for an 8-yard touchdown and kicked the extra point.

Sterling coach praised the team’s strong start: “We got off to a nice start offensively, which was nice to see for an opening game. Defensively, we came ready to play and did a nice job of shutting them down on the offensive side of the ball. This was a nice way to kick off our season, and we hope this catapults us onto a successful season.”

Sterling will travel to Parkview Christian this Friday, Sept. 4. Game time has not yet been announced.

SOFTBALL 

VOLLEYBALL
 

FOOTBALL
 

GIRLS GOLF
 

CROSS COUNTRY
 

LAST WEEK’S SCORES

Mount Michael scored first to take a 7–0 lead. Auburn responded with a touchdown, but a missed extra point left the Bulldogs trailing by one. Auburn later found the end zone again to take a 12–7 lead into halftime.

The Knights came out strong in the second half, scoring two consecutive touchdowns to move ahead 21–12. Auburn answered with a determined fourth-quarter comeback, scoring 13 unanswered points.

A late interception helped seal the victory for the Bulldogs. After losing their season opener to Mount Michael last year and waiting until Week 5 for their first win, Auburn began this season on a much different note by earning a 25–21 victory.

Hannah Webb, a Los Angeles artist who works under the name The Obanoth, spent two days this week spray painting a bald eagle on the wall behind the community garden on Main Street in Johnson.

Webb is in Nebraska as a guest instructor for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln muralist class taught by Sandra Williams, an associate professor of art. Williams brings a street artist or muralist to a Nebraska community each year. The Johnson project was funded through the Hixson-Lied Visiting Artist Fund and the Convocations Fund.

Johnson community leaders, Kathy Sohnholz and Brianna Haith had approached Williams about a class mural, and the eagle grew out of those conversations. They first considered a chicken to commemorate the communities’ long-standing tradition of holding a Chicken BBQ on Father’s Day weekend, before settling on the bird that serves as the local school mascot.

'You want something that the town is proud of,' Williams said.

The design came together while Webb was working at a mural festival in Alaska, where she was surrounded by bald eagles, Williams said.

Webb laid out the mural using a technique called a doodle grid, which involves spraying a grid onto the wall, photographing it and then overlaying a transparent version of the design on the photograph to locate the lines. The method works on surfaces that are too uneven, too tight or too large for a projector, Williams said, including the rough exterior of the Main Street wall. 

Webb works mostly out of her Los Angeles studio, but largescale work has become a focus over the past five years. She has exhibited in galleries internationally for the past decade, and said traveling to create site-specific work has opened a new creative window. Being a full-time artist means running an online store and producing videos and social media content along with painting, but painting remains the draw, she said, and working at scale is a break from studio production.

Webb describes her style as blocky, pixelated and bright, defined by application technique and dynamic color. Her work usually renders animals, human features or objects up close, broken into interpretations of light and color and balanced between mechanical and fluid, representational and abstracted.

She has developed that style across 15 years. Webb learned to paint entirely in oils and watercolor and said she picked up bad habits along the way, including overblending instead of mixing colors, muddy values and poor visual hierarchy. She took up acrylic in 2010 to force a more deliberate process. Her early work was blobby, she said, and grew more graphic and angular through years of experimentation.

UNL Students to design second mural

The eagle is the first of two murals planned for Johnson.

Students in the UNL mural masters class will each create a possible design for a second mural to be placed on the south wall of Johnson Grocery. Community members will help select the design.

Johnson provided the class with a list of subjects important to the community, and students developed mural concepts along with standalone icons. Ideas that emerged include the community's albino deer, a baseball scene at Sportsman's Park, migratory birds tied to Johnson's location along the Central Flyway, a black swallowtail butterfly and a design centered on corn and the history of the land.

Williams said the class may combine student icons into a mosaic so more designs can be represented.

The student murals are being produced on Polytab, a woven material that is primed like canvas, painted with UV resistant acrylic and then installed on the wall much like wallpaper.

Williams said Johnson residents were open to letting students shape the designs, which she said is essential to the course.

'If you already know what the design is, then why are we there?' she said.

Williams said they are aiming to install by Oct. 9 because the adhesive requires temperatures above 50 degrees for 48 consecutive hours. Art student from Johnson- Brock helped primed the wall while Webb painted the eagle.

The council voted 5-0 in a special meeting to adopt Resolution No. 15-26, amending the city’s amended and restated core area redevelopment plan to add the SLB Holdings redevelopment project. No one spoke in opposition during a public hearing that preceded the vote, and council members raised no questions before the roll call.

Council President Nathan Seitz presided in the absence of Mayor Chris Erickson and did not vote. All six council members were present.

The plan covers a 650-squarefoot kiosk with a drive-thru lane, said Michael Sands, the attorney who advises the city and its Community Redevelopment Authority on tax increment financing.

TIF allows a developer to apply the additional property tax revenue generated by a project’s increased value toward eligible redevelopment costs for a set period. Sands called the $212,000 request a “perfect use of TIF funds,” and modest relative to the roughly $1.9 million the developer plans to invest.

The site sits inside the city’s core area redevelopment plan, but the project is expected to generate enough on its own to be carved out as a stand-alone, self-sustaining TIF project, Sands said. He compared it to the Dollar General project the council approved several years ago.

“It’s definitely a blighted site,” Sands said, noting the property had been on the city’s nuisance property list for some time. The plan includes both private construction and public infrastructure improvements.

Once complete, the development is conservatively estimated to be valued at just under $4 million, Sands told the council.

Sarah Blackburn, of SLB Holdings, thanked the council for its backing and said the property’s condition had not deterred her.

“We saw a lot of potential with that property,” Blackburn said. “We appreciate all the support we’ve got from the city of Auburn.”

After the hearing closed, Councilman Tom Clark moved to approve the resolution, with Councilman Rick Janssen as a second.

After the meeting, Blackburn said they are ready to start work once documents are all signed.

“Our contractor is lined up and ready to go. It’ll be 10 to 20 weeks of construction, which will start as early as this week depending on weather,” Blackburn said.

“There will be about a 30-day period where we are receiving inventory, getting the store ready and training employees,” Blackburn said. “We’re still targeting a mid-December opening.”

The resolution for the bond election must now be received by Johnson County’s Election Commissioner Kathleen Nieveen by Tuesday, September 1, in order to be put on the November 3 ballot.

Tim Ripp of Clark and Enerson architectural firm suggested building a new Pre-K-8 school facility just east up the hill from the current school campus where the practice football field is located. Parking can be located to the east of the new school site. Ripp indicated that a new school at this site wouldn’t take much grading or utility improvements.

Kim Wellensiek voiced concern over the site being “landlocked” between residential buildings causing some logistical issues with traffic and space. She also said the board should consider all the school traffic that would be driving through the Shawnee Ridge subdivision when the new school is constructed. The board will continue to discuss the final location of the proposed facility.

The new PreK-8 school would consist of an auxiliary gymnasium with 1 ½ courts and seating for 600. It would be a nice sized elementary gymnasium, said Ripp. According to Superintendent Jon Rother, hosting district wrestling is the only sports activity where more room may be necessary.

The need for adding a performing arts facility was also discussed. Preliminary concepts have a stage built into the gym. This space could also double as the music room.

The Board also briefly discussed the idea of building a Pre-K-6 facility and moving the 7th and 8th grade students to the high school facility. Rother said moving the 7th and 8th grade students to the high school would be a tight fit, but doable. Rother went on to share how current programming in the Johnson County Central high school requires more space. This current programming includes the JAG program, CNA nursing classes, agriculture/FFA classes, technology spaces, and two special education classrooms. Rother also discussed the idea of having a handicapped accessible area located at the top of the bleachers in the new school gymnasium, rather than on the floor.

Ripp said the shower spaces in the locker rooms could be reduced in order to extend the wrestling practice area and that would eliminate some of the issues. Rother responded that the JCC wrestlers would probably like having two wrestling mats at the Tecumseh high school site, rather than having to travel to the Cook site for practices.

President of JCC’s Board of Education said she would like to have a dedicated auditorium in the new school facility. However, the board discussed that this would need to be done as a future project.

The JCC Board of Education briefly talked about a lease purchase option in paying for a new school facility. According to Andy, a representative from DA Davidson investment firm, the lease purchase option would reduce the levy and generate about half of the project.

Thelengthofthebondwasdebated between board members Dan Jones and Jon Schmid. Dan Jones recommended 30 years while Jon Schmid thought 20 years could bring a positive return. The board plans to do a 30 year bond. The school will be required to call bonds every five years since its student enrollment is under 2,000 students. Tim Ripp suggested selling the bonds two years after the bond election passes.

JCC’s recording secretary Laurie Badertscher reported that after the summer projects are completed and the vendors are paid, JCC will have approximately $350,000 remaining in the Building Fund.

Rother indicated that JCC Schools could pay for the construction of a pedestrian bridge between the new school and the current high school campus through a Trail grant the school intends to apply for.

Auburn runners Brindley Mazzulla and Hailey Janssen each had top five finishes to help edge out Falls City by two points to win the girls team title at the Auburn Cross Country Invitational on Friday, August 28.
Team scores
1st Auburn- 24; 2nd Falls City- 26; 3rd Platteview- 28; 4th Nebraska City- 60.
Auburn Individual Finishers
3rd Brindley Mazzulla- 22:13.65; 4th Hailey Janssen- 22:33.90; 11th Addison Henry- 23:37.91; 16th Emma Feilen- 24:53.63; 20th Macy DeBuhr- 25:13.69; 29th Rylee Dotson- 30:55.20.
Ethan Pemberton led the Bulldog boys with a 12th place finish as the boys finished fifth as a team
Team scores
1st Cornerstone Chr- 19; 2nd Platteview- 24; 3rd Humb-Tab R-Stein- 49; 4th Nebraska City- 71; 5th Auburn- 79; 6th Louisville- 82.
Auburn Individual Finishers
12th Ethan Pemberton- 19:54.82; 22nd Fenix Allgood- 22:10.28; 24th Zack Haynes- 22:31.85; 25th Everett Kadavy- 22:54.26; 27th Kyle Jones- 22:59.14; 30th Lucas Culley- 23:31.28.

The Johnson County Central Cross Country Team traveled to the Cass County Fairgrounds on August 27 for the Weeping Water Invite.“Overall, it was a good start to the season as the JCC runners continue to build for the future,” said Nick Weber, JCC's head cross country coach.
Boys Division
In a very competitive field, the Johnson County Central boys team finished in a tie for third with Syracuse with a score of 34. Ashton Huskey and Juan Aguilar were both varsity medalists for the Thunderbirds. Ashton Huskey finished sixth with a time of 19:06. Juan Aguilar came in 11th place with a time of 19:57. Jon DeFreece placed 18th with time of 20:36. Harrison Bacon followed in 19th place with a time of 20:39. Damian Andrade finished 21st at 20:54.
Girls Division
In JCC girls cross country competition, JCC's Natalya Kirkendall led the JCC girls team with a 16th place finish with a time of 28:27. Sophia Rainey placed 25th at 34:48. Edith Blomstedt followed in 26th place at 37:15.
Boys Junior Varsity
Johnson County Central had 10 runners in the boys junior varsity race on August 27. Jonas Lassen completed his race at 21:03 for a forth place finish. Dalton Henderson placed seventh at 21:29. Kael Fricke came in 20th at 22:37. Aaryn Kaster followed in 22nd place at 23:07. Matthew Cruz finished in 25th place at 23:28. Memphis Pingel came in 30th with a time of 24:24. Chase Harrifeld finished in 38th place at 26:14. Elliott Werner placed 42nd at 29:25. James Francis followed in 44th place with a time of 33:30. Jose Aguilar finished 45th at 45:30.
The Johnson County Central Cross Country Team will host the Thunderbird Cross Country Invitational on Friday, September 4 at 9 am.

Score by Set
Johnson-Brock 21-25-17– 1
Falls City          25-20-25– 2
After falling to the Tigers, Johnson-Brock would win both sets against Southern to draw even on the day. 
In two sets, the Lady Eagles would tally seven ace serves, with three of them coming from Isabell Bishop, who also led the team in digs with 11. Setter Kinley Vice had a game-high 26 assists in just two sets.
Southern was competitive in the first set, but Johnson-Brock dominated set two, winning the match with a second set score of 25-11.

Score by Set
Johnson-Brock 25-25– 2
Southern          21-11– 0