Fester >> Goodwin >> Hardin is absent. Hug. >> Hug. >> Hug. >> Hug. >> Here. >> Melton is absent. Row >> here. >> Mr. President >> here. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance and remain standing for opening remarks by council member Goodwin. >> To the flag of the United States of America to the republic for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Good afternoon everyone. You may be seated. So, happy spring. And this is my favorite time of year for a few things. One, I want to congratulate the Nebraska Huskers and their run in the big dance. Yay. Although I'm actually a Kraton fan. Uh it's good to see Nebraska team out there. Uh but also this time of year, uh several things uh I'd like to mention. one, uh, it's time to start, um, cleaning up, blowing trash. Many of you guys know that, uh, clean and green is initiatives that are dear to my heart. And for a long time, I've, uh, championing efforts, uh, called the community cleanup challenge. Uh, it's a free and easy way to impact your neighborhood. You can pick up trash, recycle items, compost organic matter. You can to protect storm water with all these efforts, clean up weeds, although many people have that rule that we don't want to uh clean up too early because we want to protect our uh hibernating uh you know, moths and butterflies. Uh you know, after trash day, clean up that blowing trash. It's just a great way to be a good neighbor, but also to help the environment. Um, if you're interested in in times, uh, many entities and groups, you know, are doing cleanups, including the city. And I also helped to champion an organization called uh, Global Leadership Group Omaha that has a cleanup date uh, coming up uh, this Saturday on the 28th. I also want to wish my mother a happy birthday today. uh she is 74 and she wanted me to tell you. She said, "Make sure they know I'm 74." So, happy birthday, Mom. And last but not least, uh my husband and I will be celebrating 33 years of marital bliss uh this Friday, the 27th. Thank you. >> Yeah, the party's in St. Louis, but um want to wish you happy birthday, Daniel. Um, he's been an awesome companion, a great father, and I love you. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> An affidavit of publication is on file, and a current copy of the Open Meeting Act is posted in a white binder on the east wall of legislative chambers. >> Council member Fezerson, you're recognized. >> Thanks, Mr. President. Just wanted to take a minute to introduce a group that's with us today. I had the pleasure of speaking with Randy Atkins and some students from UNO with the UNO civics leadership project. We appreciate their interest in uh city government and they asked lots of great questions. Thanks for being here. >> Good afternoon. Welcome to this meeting of the Omaha City Council. As a courtesy to those in attendance and to facilitate the conduct of our business, we ask that you please silence or turn off all electronic devices. A reminder that you will have three minutes to speak on an agenda item. Please stay on topic. For those not providing in-person testimony and you would like your comments entered into the public record, you can email the city clerk's office at city clerk at cityof omaha.org. Council members receive these emails and read them. Finally, council members may ask members of the audience back up for clarifying questions, but not for extra time to speak. I would also like to remind council members to speak clearly into their microphones so audience members in attendance and at home can hear them. And I learned this last week when I tell people to push those microphones together. That causes little static issues. So make sure they're straight and you're between them and you speak into them so we don't have any issues of people hearing at home or here today. Thank you. Item six to consider a class C liquor license for Goodl Life Sports Bar and Grill located at 1501 Mike Fehey Street. >> Public hearing is now open on item number six. Mr. Hton, good afternoon. >> Good afternoon, Mr. President, members of the council. David Hton, 284 South 87th A, Omaha, Nebraska. here on behalf of High Life Downtown LLC uh doing businesses Goodl Life Sports Bar and Grill located at 1501 Mike Fehee Street for their class C liquor license. Um this will be I I I'm sure that the council is aware of the other uh Goodlife uh sports bars in the community and this will be that um concept uh in the NO area. Um, I did want to make the council aware um that my client was contacted by the city finance department uh recently and it turns out that High Life Holdings LLC is currently behind on their reporting requirement um for the occupation tax. Um, according to my client, those uh they had a an accountant that they were working with that I I'm told has passed away last year and they're now with a new accountant. So, um, they're doing their best to rectify that situation and, uh, as of this morning have, um, filed, uh, the documents and my understanding is the city finance department is re re reviewing those now. Um, if the council has any questions, I'd be happy to address anything you might have. Thanks. >> Thank you. Are there any proponents here on item number six? Seeing none, are there any opponents? Public hearing is closed. >> Got a motion and a second. No lights. Roll call. >> Fester. >> Yes. >> Goodwin. >> Hug. >> Row. >> Mr. President. >> I. >> Motion pass. Five to zero. Item seven. An ordinance to reszone property located at 5510 North 83rd Street from R2 District to R4 district. Planning board and planning department recommend approval. >> Open the public hearing now on item number seven. Applicant here today. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Mick Magcguire, Straight Line Design, 3925 South 47th Street. I'm here on behalf of the owners here to answer any questions that might be >> Thank you. >> of concern. >> Are there any proponents here on item number seven? Seeing none, are there any opponents? Public hearing is closed. >> Motion to approve. Second. >> Got a motion and a second. Roll call. >> Fusterson. >> Yes. >> Goodwin. >> Hug. Yes. >> Row. >> Yes. >> Mr. President, >> I. Motion passes 5 to zero. Item eight, an ordinance to reszone property located southeast of 14th and Ohio streets from HI district R seven district. Planning board and planning department recommend approval. >> Public hearing is now open on item number eight. Is the applicant here today? Are there any proponents here today for item eight? Seeing none, are there any opponents? Public hearing is closed. >> Motion to second. Got a motion in a second. Roll call. >> Fester. Yes. Good one. Hug row. Mr. President, >> I. >> Motion pass five to zero. Item nine, an ordinance to amend the boundaries of the MCC Overlay district to incorporate into that district the property located at 5122 North 90th Street. Planning board and planning department recommend approval. >> Public hearing is now open on item number nine. Is the applicant here today? Are there any proponents here today? Seeing none, are there any opponents? Public hearing is closed. >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> Got a motion and a second. Roll call. >> Fester. >> Yes. >> Goodwin. >> Hug. >> Row. >> Yes. >> Mr. President, >> I. >> Motion pass five to zero. Item 10, an ordinance to amend the boundaries of the ACI overlay district to incorporate into that district the property located at 6016 Maple Street. Planning board and planning department recommend approval. >> The public hearing is now open on item number 10. Is the applicant here today? Are there any proponents here on item 10? Seeing none, are there any opponents? Public hearing is closed. Council member Feserson, you're recognized. >> Thanks, Mr. President. I'll just speak to this briefly. The applicant is not here today, but um they have assured me what this does is adopt an ACI overlay uh to a property that's in downtown Benson and sensitive in that respect because it's right next door to our community center. Um but it would it would divide what is essentially one building into two for future reuse. Uh which I think is positive. So I'll support this today and motion to approve. >> Got a motion and a second. Roll call. >> Fester. >> Yes. >> Goodwin. >> Hug. row. >> Mr. President, >> I >> motion pass 5 to zero. Item 11, an ordinance to amend the boundaries of the ACI overlay district to incorporate into that district the property located southeast of Jones Street and Conrad Drive. Planning board and planning department recommend approval. >> Public hearing is now open on item number 11. Are there any proponents here today? Seeing none, are there any opponents? Public hearing is closed. Got a motion and a second. Roll call. >> Fester. >> Yes. >> Goodwin. >> Hug. Yes. >> Row. Yes. >> Mr. President. >> I. >> Motion pass five to zero. >> Consent agenda. Any member of the city council may cause any item placed on the consent agenda to be removed. Items removed from the consent agenda shall be taken up by the city council immediately following the consent agenda in the order in which they were removed unless otherwise provided by the city council rules of order. The public hearing on agenda items 12, I'm sorry, on agenda item 12 was held on March 17, 2026. Is there any discussion? >> Motion to approve. Second. >> Got a motion and a second. Roll call. >> Fester. Yes. >> Goodwin. >> Hug. >> Row. >> Mr. President. >> I. >> Motion pass. 5 to zero. >> The public hearings and agenda items 13 through 36 are today. If you wish to address the city council regarding these items, please come to the microphone, indicate the agenda number you wish to address, identify yourself by your name, address, who you represent, and if you are a proponent or opponent. Public hearing is now open on items 13 through 36. Are there any opponents here today? I'm sorry, any proponents? proponents. >> My name is Timothy Ward. I reside at 1010 Hogan Drive, Pavilion, Nebraska 68046. I am on uh item 13, the manager applying for the liquor license for Harry Ko Trapensky. Just here for any questions should summarize. >> Thank you. Are there any other proponents? I know we have somebody on Zoom, correct? >> For 15. Yeah. >> Okay. Is there any other proponents here? Seeing none, are there any opponents here? Seeing none, public hearing is closed. >> Motion to approve items 13 through 36. >> Got a motion and a second. Roll call. >> Fester. >> Yes. >> Goodwin. >> Yes. >> Hug. >> Row. >> Mr. President. >> I. >> Motion pass 5 to zero. Item 37. An ordinance to approve an agreement with Metropolitan Utilities District for the collection of sewer use fees. is amendment of the hole requested by the public works department. >> Council discussion. >> Motion to move amendment of the >> got a motion and I'll second it. No lights. Roll call. >> Fester. >> Yes. >> Goodwin. >> Hug. >> Row. >> Mr. President. >> I. >> Motion pass five to zero. Item 38. A resolution that the city of Omaha planning department is hereby directed to work with the affordable housing task force and the tax increment financing committee to develop and present to the Omaha city council a recommended policy for affordable housing and redevelopment projects seeking the use of tiff ace communications in support. Public hearing is now open on item number 38. Are there any proponents here today? Hi, good afternoon. I'm Jody Holston, executive director at Front Porch Investments, 148 South 39th Street. Uh Front Porch was formed in 2021 to provide strategic and coordinated leadership to affordable housing. In just four years, we've invested more than 46 million into 33 projects, supporting nearly 1,800 affordable homes and 2,300 total homes. Most of these include deeply affordable units serving households at 30 to 60% of area median income. Through that work, we see firsthand where there are gaps and where our current tools aren't fully meeting the need. We need more housing supply of all types at prices that residents can afford can afford. One in four households in our city are cost burning, spending more than they can afford just to stay housed. The housing affordability action plan calls for the creation of 18,000 affordable units by 2030. The goal in updating TIFF policy is not to slow development, but to ensure that when public subsidy is used, it delivers the kind of housing our community needs. Affordable housing requires layering multiple funding sources just to make the numbers work. And TIFF is one of the few flexible tools that can help close that gap, which makes it especially important that it's used intentionally. It's a powerful driver of development, but without a clear policy framework, its outcomes for affordability are inconsistent. Over the past 5 years, 12% of TIFF supported projects have been affordable to households earning under 80% of area median income. And that's a result of projectby- project negotiations, not a clear policy. This builds on work already underway at the city and reflects a shared interest in making sure that our tools are working as effectively as possible. This resolution creates space to ask the right questions about how TIFF can better promote housing affordability while supporting development overall. We're not starting from scratch here. Cities across the country have implemented a range of TIFF approaches and we can learn from what work has worked for them and what hasn't and make the right design for Omaha. Front Porch stands ready to partner with the city by helping to analyze options, convene stakeholders or bring in national expertise. You'll hear from others today who are part of this broader group of stakeholders who are interested in working together to bring greater consistency and intention in how we use TIFF in Omaha. We welcome a transparent, thoughtful process that brings together diverse perspectives and that aligns public investment with community outcomes in a way that reflects Omaha's market and supports the city's housing and economic development goals. I respectfully ask for your yes vote today. Thank you. >> Thank you. Are there any other proponents? Mr. Dobby, good afternoon. >> Good afternoon, >> President Begley. Council members, uh my name is Scott Dobby. Uh, I'm the executive director of Omaha by Design, 618 South 11th Street, 68102. Uh, for decades, TIFF has been an essential part of Omaha's urban renaissance. Building anywhere any anything anywhere is a challenge, but bringing life back to old buildings and building new homes on long vacant lots can be nearly impossible without public tools like TIFF. The evidence is all around us in billions of dollars of investment that would not have happened otherwise. Investment is one way to measure progress. Another is people. And thanks to TIFF, our urban core has gained more than 5,000 new homes since 2010. Reinvestment driven by TIFF strengthens our public spaces. It brings new energy to the heart of the city, and it builds the wealth of our whole community. Reinvesting in existing neighborhoods, and making use of infrastructure we've already built is one of the most financially responsible decisions we can make as a city. But as powerful as TIFF is, it can be improved. We know it can. 5,000 new homes is a strong start, but we need more homes and more homes that are truly affordable to Omaha residents. in our work creating the more homes by design toolkit and in facilitating the recent ULI Nebraska technical assistance panel on accelerating affordable housing. We've heard a wide range of thoughtful ideas for how TIFF could better support affordable housing and small-scale neighborhood infill. As you consider this resolution, we would encourage an approach focused on strengthening the tool, streamlining where possible, expanding its usefulness, and aligning incentives to help accelerate the production of housing at all price points. This resolution moves us in that direction. It allows the city to take a closer look at how TIFF is working today, hear from stakeholders across the housing ecosystem, and bring forward a range of options for your consideration later this year. without committing to any one solution today because the goal should not be to slow down the production of any one kind of housing but rather to accelerate the production of all kinds of housing. We should be looking for ways to make tiff the best possible tool to support development that ranges from market rate to workforce to deeply affordable at every scale from catalytic projects to incremental neighborhood infill. So for these reasons, Omaha by Design supports today's resolution to explore positive changes that can be made to Omaha's TIFF program. We encourage you to move forward thoughtfully, keep a range of solutions on the table, and continue listening to those doing the work on the ground. Thank you for your time and consideration. >> Thank you. >> Other proponents. >> Hi, I'm Amanda Brewer, CEO of Habitat for Humanity in Omaha. 1229 Milwork Avenue in Omaha, Nebraska 68128. I'm here as a proponent of this resolution put forth by Councilman Fester and I'm happy to support it. I serve on the mayor's task force for affordable housing and this is something that we've discussed at length and there is a path forward um but it must be done thoughtfully and that's why I'm proud to support this resolution that does um create uh a discussion and an analysis of what is possible for our community. Habitat for Humanity has been uh an active user of TIFF. Some of you might be familiar with the blue stem prairie project we did north of 51st in Sorenson. the former May Park or Wintergreen Apartments. That land sat sat vacant for 20 years and without TIFF, it wouldn't have been possible. So, we do always see the benefits of TIFF. Um, we do feel like there's more opportunities though. 12% of all TIFF projects um going towards affordable housing of the housing units created is a good start. We think there are additional opportunities and um one one perhaps tool of that is a development fund and that's something that the the committee has been discussing as well. Um I can't speak to you without mentioning the power of home ownership and how we are losing um firsttime opportunities for home ownership in Omaha. Habitat is one of the only producers of entry level home ownership in our community and that is a big change from the last five years. In one census tracked at that 72nd in Sorenson south of there um it saw a 30% decline in home ownership in the last 30 years going from 80% to 50% home ownership. Um there is a gap in developing. So without um tools, all the tools um that we have being put to use, we're going to continue to see that widening gap. So I am here in support. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Hi, Cheryl Gar, housing director for Income and Housing Development Corporation, 1340 Park Avenue. uh would like to thank you for this your consideration of this resolution. I'm here also as a proponent um and is an exciting start for the conversation on affordable housing. It's an important first step in strengthening affordable housing in our city and I'm here in support of creating policies and that incentivize where appropriate require the inclusion of affordable housing and redevelopment projects utilizing tiff resoning and all other uh city tools. Earlier in my career in Chicago, I saw how inclus inclusive housing policy can evolve over time. Chicago first adopted its affordable requirements ordinance in 2023. As Jody mentioned, there's a lot of other communities that have uh gone through the painstaking process of looking at reviewing policy, and I think this is very applicable to Omaha. It wasn't perfect, but it created a starting point. Over time, it was refined and strengthened to better respond to market conditions and rising cost. Components of this resolution um that you are looking at. The key lessons are simple. These policies don't have to start perfectly, but they do have to start. Omaha is not Chicago. Our market, of course, is different, and we likely cannot support a broad mandate um across an entire city today. But in targeted areas with the right incentives, we can absolutely begin this to move the needle in this direction with a lighter policy that incl encourages a balance between affordable and market rate development. And importantly, there are practical steps that we can take right now too. Um, one immediate opportunity is to streamline prequalified affordable housing developments and tiff support uh particularly those pursuing low-income housing tax credits. All city of Omaha projects right now are scored lower than other state applications. uh when we apply um there are countless other things that can be reviewed. Uh the city of Omaha has been very good to in common as we start our development journey as an emerging developer. Um but we also can see that there's opportunities for growth um in the policy area to achieve all of our goals. The resolution opens the door to these improvements. It allows Omaha to be alignment of public investment with real housing need. Um, and as you've heard uh this quote before, but I think it's a good one. Uh, at the end of the day, the question isn't whether we can afford to prioritize affordable housing. It's whether we can afford not to. Thank you again for your time and leadership on this issue. Thank you. Any other proponents here today? >> Hello, I'm Phil Mlan, founder of the Mench Group. address 4209 Ellison Avenue. I'm here as a proponent for this policy. Um uh I've been here before you all several times on projects and I think TIFF has been a very powerful tool towards making a lot of the development that I've done affordable and um I think as we expand into building more affordable housing in Omaha, I think TIFF could be a very powerful tool. I know a lot of the policy and the things that we're talking about right now is focusing on the urban core, but I would like to see some of that policy be be geared towards north Omaha and kind of northeast Omaha as well to address some of the housing gaps and affordability there as well. And as we look at um adding this policy and making some changes to it, I think we should look at like some of the AMI levels because obviously in those areas as far as north and northeast Omaha, the AMI is a little bit lower in those areas than compared to some of the other areas. So, um I'm here as a proponent of this policy. I think it is be good for affordable housing. I think TIFF is a powerful tool and it will definitely help with our housing issues that we have and our goals. Thank you. >> Thank you. other proponents. >> Uh, good afternoon, council. Jake Hoppy, 840 Fairkers Road, Omaha, Nebraska, CEO of Hoppy Development Group. Uh, been before you before as a developer of affordable housing and market rate housing both. Um, tax increment financing is a obviously it's a critical policy tool. Uh but it's a special policy tool in our view because it really reflects the community's aspirations and desires as to what constitutes sort of a what merits the public's investment in the projects that it sponsors. Um and it is controlled at the community level. So there's no one, you know, there's not a federal policy. Obviously there's state rules around the use, but really uh you know critically it is it is directed at the community level. Um and it's meant to public or it's meant to finance sort of public benefit related to the projects and the opportunity is kind of laid before any community to define what that public benefit is. So it seems natural then that in a period when housing affordability is deemed so critical and urgent that uh looking at whether it how to strengthen the tiff policy in order to recognize that potential public benefit makes perfect sense. Uh and therefore I'm in favor of of this resolution. Um there are many great suggestions of how to address affordability. Uh uh Phil mentioned one is you know the location the general tiff laws restrict uh tiff to certain areas. Obviously if you broaden u the policy use or the potential use of some of the funds related to tiff. You could address things like location or different elements of programming or levels of affordability. All of which uh can strengthen the projects that come before you. Um, and I would just comment, you know, the development community is extremely resilient. Uh, we're very good at at understanding new policies and incentives uh and responding to those and incorporating those into our projects. And so I have no doubt that if if policies were recommended uh in relationship to TIFF, the projects that you would see before you would still work and would find ways of adjusting and incorporating those policies to deliver on the on the goals that you're uh hoping to achieve with any changes that you might propose. So anyway, uh appreciate the time this afternoon. >> Thank you for being here. Other proponents. >> Good afternoon. My name is Nick Kohler. live at 4806 Dodge Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68132. I'm here today to speak in support of resolution 38. Thank you, council. Omaha is not just facing a housing crisis. We're facing an affordable housing crisis. And I think that distinction is important. It's not simply about the number of units being built, but whether the people who already live and work here can actually afford to live in them. The need for affordable housing is only going to rise. Inflation remains high, as expected to rise further, with global instability already driving up the cost of essential goods. As everyday expenses increase, families have less and less room in their budgets for housing. And that reality is not abstract. It's already impacting people across Omaha. Let's take a look at the numbers and try to get a personal on the ground feel for what this means. The average salary in Omaha ranges between 58,000 and $65,000 a year. And housing is considered affordable when the cost of housing as well as utilities is no more than 30% of a person's income. After taxes, someone earning $58,000, and I'm not a math expert, but it equates to around $3,700 a month. 30 30% of that is around $1,110. This is what affordability looks like. Yet, we continue to see projects described as reasonable and market rate with rents of $1,250 for a studio and up to $2,500 for a two-bedroom. By any honest math, these are not attainable for the average resident of this city. And that gap is exactly why the city must take responsibility and ensure that affordability is not just encouraged but meaningfully required in these new developments. TIF is a powerful tool. It uses taxpayer dollars to close funding gaps for private development. And because it relies on public investment, it should produce a clear public benefit. That benefit can take many forms. Intentionally designed public spaces, truly affordable units within developments themselves, or dedicated funding to support first-time renters and families in need. But there must be a return for the people of Omaha. If we want this city to thrive, if we want it to grow in a way that is inclusive, sustainable, and equitable, all while avoiding the brain dra, which admittedly I was a part of for a few years, it starts with taking care of the people who are already here. This resolution is a strong and necessary gap in that direction. For that, I thank you and I urge you for your support. >> Thank you. Other proponents here today, item 38? Seeing none, are there any opponents? >> Louis Humanis 2709 D Avenue. Uh I uh oppose this because of a few reasons. Um uh so the one reason the the main reason is that you don't have a uh uh it um a real goal in mind. you say you're gonna you need 18,000 affordable housing units and that's what you're working for, you're not going to you're not going to get those 18,000 by uh 2030 and you guys know that. So the and the the second reason is um because of the uh the tiff the tiff committee involvement. TIFF only allows the benefit to be within the uh the map, the CRA map. And so when you do this and you're going to have affordable housing units in those areas, you're just going to concentrate uh poverty and that's not fair for uh people in poverty. Um, and then the third reason I would say is that uh, well, once you pass is that you look at other cities and see what they're doing. I'm a proponent of uh, the exclusionary fee. Like if if uh, uh, development is going to just have market rate units and not affordable units that they pay a fee for each unit that's not affordable. And so that moves funding to the city coffers and then you can have like a plan with the planning department. And so you have a fund similar to uh front porch where they where they got their 40 million. And so that if you assess a exclusionary fee then um you allow the community to develop how they want to and then the city can direct funds for affordable uh housing projects and not have to concentrate um these projects in um within the CRA map which would be unfortunate. Thank you. >> Thank you. other opponents. Larry store 5015 Lafayette Avenue, Omaha 68132. I'm against the ordinance because quite frankly to be on topic, uh, no, we should not be directing them to do this. And the reason is these things are always decided in the planning committees long before it gets to the city council. It's a waste of our time to be in talking about this because it's a cut deal anyway before it gets to the council. All we're looking for here is a whitewash of it. Uh to be off topic as many of these people have been. I have to get off the topic of the question. The question is stated, sir, is should they be directed to? Well, my answer is no, because they already do it. And I think you're wasting our time anyway. And I am going to uh risk being called out of order again and off topic by saying you're rerunning last week's performance with people that are going off the topic of that paragraph and giving their own opinions and sounding like presenters rather than proponents or opponents who are directed to stay on topic at the start of your meeting. >> They have three minutes just like you do, Larry. >> Oh, I'm going to quit before you kick me out. Bye. you you have 1 minute and 30 seconds left and you are doing great, but thank you for being here today. >> Are there any other opponents here today? Uh, good afternoon, Omaha City Council. Donnie Johnson, the Johnson Question Foundation, North Concerned Citizen Foundation, 4928 North 52nd Street. I I I looked at some of these programs and I I think what these ladies are trying to do is great. And what Larry may have missed is that all those people that lost houses in California, they're looking for a place to live. And I don't know if they should get a lower price if they move to Omaha. A lot of folks will be moving to Omaha because all the problems we're having with the global warming or whatever they call it, fires. So they they might be moving in the right direction. My argument is that we need more jobs. Thank you. Are there any other opponents here today for item 38? >> Seeing none, public hearing is closed. Council member Feserson, you're recognized. >> Thanks, Mr. President, and I want to thank the testifiers that are here today. Um, I appreciated your comments and appreciate your partnership. You're the ones that are doing this work on the ground as affordable housing developers, and we appreciate that. >> Clearly, affordability is on everyone's mind. Uh and a significant comp portion of affordability is affordable housing. Um as Miss Holston observed, we've done a good job of quantifying the need. We think it is 30,000 units overall in the city in the next 5 years and that 60% of those units at least need to be affordable and that's where we get the 18,000 unit number. We have adopted uh an affordable housing action plan um that has a number of substantive recommendations in it. Um but that's been about three years ago. Uh we've done some things uh in terms of making accessory dwelling units more attainable in the city. We've appropriated about $60 million in public and private funds to front porch to help fund such projects and that's going well. Uh we recently as a council adopted a mechanism that allows a $40 million reinvestment in affordable housing projects in the urban core with the help of the Loier Foundation. And these are all positive things, but there's so much more we need to do to address that 30,000 or $18,000 or $18,000 unit number. Um and these need to occur throughout the city. So I offered this recommen this resolution to express urgency as one of these many items we need to do which would update our tiff policies and consider consider requiring or incentivizing affordable housing in our redevelopment projects and that is an or. It says incent or require as part of this consideration. It instructs the planning department to review and make those recommendations to us. Uh that can be adopted by the TIFF committee or if it requires it be adopted by city ordinance. Um we're requesting that review be done as well. I initially said by May 5th because I feel urgency around this. Um in respect though to the mayor's wishes and to the planning department's wishes for a little more time. This resolution provides six months which would be by September 1st. and I'm amenable to that at request. There are many factors to consider here. Uh and we want to make sure we do get it right. Um this is not a simple equation. Um and we want to make sure we do it in a way that does not inhibit additional units from coming online. In my op in my personal opinion, I think it is reasonable to require a certain number of units uh affordable or if not uh possible in certain projects or in certain instances require a payment in Lou to support other affordable housing projects. Um and if that requires additional incentives, uh I think it probably does. I think we should pursue that as well. Uh one, uh in particular that's of interest to me is community housing bonds. Uh other communities do this. Lincoln does it. I think we should do that too and that would help uh address the situation as well. And as Mr. Hoppy um observed, the most important thing is that it sets an expectation that affordable housing is a policy priority for our city for those that are seeking public subsidy. I think that's a reasonable expectation to have. But rather than prescribe any of these things, what this resolution does is that it requests the department to work with experts like we have here today and other developers and uh technical adviserss to come up with a policy for us to consider in the next six months to adopt. And you may you may ask why now? Um I've been interested in this since 2021 uh inquiring with the law department and the planning department about our ability to do something like this. Clearly, we can u but I think it's not until now that I feel like we have the critical mass and consensus around affordable housing as a priority issue to proceed with this including mayor mayor Euing who has identified this issue in his state of the city speech as a priority for him and his administration as well. So, we look forward to working with him to come up with a solution uh on this specific item, but affordable housing in general as well. And to be clear, what we're talking about here today is not a silver bullet. Uh there are geographic limitations to what we're talking about. Uh and we're talking about hundreds of units uh potent potentially from this mechanism as opposed to the thousands we know that we need. So this can't be the only thing we do, but certainly does need to be part of our overall strategy. Um it was observed that about 12% of projects have been affordable that have been approved by the city council recently. And that's true. That's a number from the from the city planning department, but I'll I'll hone in on that number a little bit more. Uh that's from 2020 to 2024. And as an average of those years, um but one of those years was very high uh due to one particular project in in the city on average per year, it's been more like five or 10%. So that's important to point out too, I think, when we talk about the need for something like this. So, I know today we we weren't sure if we'd have five members or six members of the council here. And of course, we prefer to have a full council, but I would urge us to move forward today. This is just the first step in a process that's going to take six months. We'll all have additional time to review whatever recommendations come out of the planning department uh and their process to really hone in on this and make sure we get it right. Uh so, with that, I'll yield my time for now. Thanks, Mr. President. >> Thank you, Council Member Goodwin. you're recognized. >> Thank you, Mr. President, and I appreciate uh Council Member Fester's words. Um I sit on the planning committee with him and uh this resolution was really birthed out of discussion after meeting with the planning committee and really offering guidance, which I think is what the council is here to do. um with fresh ears as a new council person. One of the things that I've heard in many public hearings, one is from developers saying that the margins are very slim as it pertains to how do you fit tiff in um to affordable projects. But then you also have community saying that if in fact an incentive is given to build and develop in a disinvested area then there should be some level of community benefit. Uh I want to point out as did my councilman Festererson that this resolution is simply saying incentivize or require. So there does you know provide the flexibility for the committees um and the um task force to determine what's the best path forward. But I had been a little frustrated when I'd hear developers say well we just can't do it and not really having anything to fall back on to say well why or can we see the numbers or how do we get there? And so I think that this uh resolution again provides the guidance um looks under every rock whether it's local, regional or national to determine the steps forward. Again, when you talk about the number of units that are needed um citywide, this is one of many steps we as a council um as a city with partnerships within the community need to take. Um last but not least, um you'll always hear that I'm a proponent of uh various types of housing. We need all types of housing. We need lowincome housing, affordable. We need middle inome housing and we need market rate housing. We need housing for all really is the approach that I think that we we all want to pursue together. Um so I am in support um of this resolution because of the guidance it gives and also the uh the timeline that really kind of frames it for all to say okay here we are um and and this is what we've determined um as recommendations as a collaborative effort. So thank you. >> Thank you council member Row. You're recognized. >> Thank you Mr. President. Um I appreciate the discussion that we've had today. This is in my mind probably one of the more important topics that we need to deal with in our environment today. And um housing's been important in my life my whole career since I was in college. And uh so it is important to me and I know the the value of affordable housing. people. I I'm not sure everyone understands how important it is for a kid growing up to be able to have a home to call home, a place to to go after school, a place that they can find stability and they can find it at home. Uh Donnie mentioned jobs. I mean, I have a friend that's his he likes to say jobs well housing is where jobs go to make a home. And I and I think that really is true. And I think it's very very important. I'm I I'm generally in support of this resolution. I've been a member of the task force. There was seven or eight six or seven eight of us that were appointed by the mayor and we worked for several months to formulate about six um items that we could recommend to the mayor for him to consider and then come back with some with some specifics. and Jod was on that team and Amanda and and then several others and I was thankful to be a part of that and we did over a number of weeks come up with uh six items that we forwarded to the mayor and Dave Mr. Fansaw, our planning director, had a conversation with Mayor Yuing, I believe, um, about two or three weeks ago, and presented those six items. And one of them was, uh, in specifically was about TIFF. It was how how we were using TIFF. And during our um, meetings on that task force, I I just wanted you to know that we had open and honest discussion. I mean, we we were very um uh open to to to talking about ideas that maybe weren't normal for us and things that were different. The one that I did want to push back and I did push back in our committee meetings, our task force meetings, and I'll push back today is that word require. And I I'm I'm glad that council member Fester, you know, clarified that the the wording of this resolution is incentivize or require. If it had said and require, I mean, I'm not a linguist, but if it had said and require, I would have been no on the vote. Having thought about it and seeing that the word is or require, I can see where this gives an an opportunity for the administration to come back with a lot of different ideas. I think other incentives are going to be important part of this. I think that it isn't just one uh silver bullet as uh Pete mentioned. Um so I'm I'm generally in in support and I appreciate the six months. I think, you know, when we uh just just two weeks ago uh presented our our task force uh findings to the mayor, we I I don't want to get out ahead of our skis too much. And um I let I want to allow the mayor an opportunity to to have input and to really think through because it's really going to be important and he mentioned it in the state of the city address just last week and I I appreciated his um the importance that he put it on there. I I am concerned um a little bit today. We are a short council. This is an important conversation for us to have and we've been having and I appreciate that. But we have two council members that I know this topic is important to them and they would love to weigh in on that. So having said that, I would like to make a motion that we lay the vote over on uh resolution number 38 until April 7th. That'd be two weeks. We're off next week. We don't have a meeting next week, but in on April 7th, that would allow Council Member Harding and Council Member Meltton an opportunity to have a at least a participation in this discussion. So, I'll make that motion, Mr. President. Have a motion, a layover for April 7th. >> Yes. >> Any second. There's no second. >> Motion to approve. >> Got them. I'll second. Motion to approve. I'll I'll make a couple brief comments. Um there's been a lot of thought put into this by again the people that came down. Thanks for being here today. And I know council member Feserson has really championed this even before my time on the council and now with Mayor Ewing having weighed in and I think it it shows how delicate of a process it is where council member Feserson listened to people and was open to pushing it back to September which is before us today. I think September 1st on or before and in the resolution I think it's important I'm not going to read the whole thing but whereas the city of Omaha city council requests the planning department present it with the proposed policy for debate and approval which shall be placed on an agenda for public hearing on or before September 1, 2026 proposed policy for debate and approval. So that's why I appreciate council member Row wanting to lay it over, but also we have 6 months that will certainly not going to cheat council members out of a good debate and discussion in a public forum like this. And I think it's important that that the public knows that that we're trying to do everything we can to expand the toolbox. And there's there's things you try to weigh and and improve on. And I think that's the purpose of this this today here to go forward with this resolution voting on it and given time to continue having the weigh in and then we can get something by by the fall that we can vote on. Council member Hug, you're recognized. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, I've been involved with discussions about TIFF and as they relate to single family homes for well over 30 years, not on the council, but as a u time I spent as a developer of inner city uh residential property, single family residential property. And I hope that as this proposal is being developed that they don't overlook the smaller projects and the smaller guys, the small individual one-man construction companies who are looking to do a single family home, the single family homeowners who may have a home that they're going to do a significant improvement or renovation on. Um, you know, I hope that we can provide some tiff for those projects. Somebody wants to buy a large home that's been converted to apartment complexes and they want to buy that, turn that back into single family home. I hope we can find some tiff relief for them as well. So, that would be my only recommendation is let's not forget the little guy and let's make sure that there's trickle down on this proposal. Thank you, Mr. President. >> Thank you, Council Member Row. You're recognized. >> Thank you, Mr. President. M >> well clearly I'm disappointed that we don't have a layover this uh on this item for a couple of weeks but I am I am supportive of affordable housing. I want us to see um what creative things that we can do to move the dial because we really do need to move the dial. I'm convinced of that and as you I'm I'm supportive of the resolution. Um, I just will tell you I'm not going to take my overinflated basketball and go home. I will vote for the resolution, but I wanted to be to be sure to be let people know that there are things that we need to discuss and we can't. My my biggest fear on the on changing some of these items on tiff is that we'll have unintended consequences. That was the the terminology I used in our task force was I fear for unintended consequences and if we if we put a mandate out there that and and clearly on the but for the developer has to come and say you know what I can't do this project but for tiff and if we put mandates and constraints on them that cause a developer to say you know what I can't build this project if I have to have 20 units of affordable housing in It's important that we have all kinds of housing and if we are shutting the door on potential projects, that's one of my big concerns. Um, I'm for affordable housing and if we can make it work, that's great. I want it to work, but I just don't want us to have um I want us to be very thoughtful about how we go about it. >> Thank you. No further lights. There was a motion in a second. Roll call. >> Fester. >> Yes. >> Goodwin. >> Yes. >> Hug. >> Yes. Row. Mr. President, >> I >> motion pass five to zero. >> Item 39, an ordinance to approve a purchase order to Polyine, Inc. for the purchase of sludge dewatering liquid polymer to be utilized by the Pilion Creek Water Resource Recovery Facility. >> We own 40. Is that 40? >> 39. Okay, thanks. Public hearing is now open on item number 39. Are there any proponents here? Seeing none, are there any opponents? Public hearing is closed. >> Item 40, an ordinance to approve the option for a 5-year extension of the contract with FirstStar Fiber, Inc. for the Omaha Mixed Recyclables Processing 2022 through 2031 alternate 2 contract. >> Public hearing is now open on item number 40. Mr. Tyler, good afternoon. >> Good afternoon. Uh Jim Tyler, City of Omaha Public Works. uh here to answer any questions about this contract. Uh we also have members uh here from First Star Fiverr who can answer any questions you may have. >> Thank you. Are there any other proponents here today on item number 40? Seeing none, are there any opponents? Public hearing is closed. >> Item 41, an ordinance to vacate a portion of Military Avenue right away. Sorry. Oh, >> I beg your pardon. Council member Fesser Sin, you're recognized. Thanks, Mr. President. Uh, we discussed this item a little bit at pre-consel, but I see we have Mr. Lehey here if you wouldn't mind coming down. Yeah, >> I I saw your light on Pete. That's why I stay. Just your name and address for the record. Y >> Patrick Ley, CEO of Firstar Fiber, 10330 I Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68127. >> Thank you. And as we discussed this morning, um this is an extension of the current um contract. So nothing particularly new or different here, right? Going for the next five years. >> Yep, that's correct. >> There's been times in the past where this has been a contentious renewal, but not this time, which we appreciate and we appreciate your partnership uh in our recycling program because uh without a um um a processor u it wouldn't wouldn't happen, right? So um one question I asked this morning was just how are things going at the plant there? I know we've had a couple um fires recently, >> but my understanding is no one's hurts and operations are fine, right? >> Yes. Uh fires unfortunately are uh the nature of the beast in our industry. It's not just us who are fighting these uh issues across the industry. we were all struggling with it and we're struggling quite frankly with the insurance uh as they look to say hey you know this is a challenging industry and just keeps on getting more challenging uh because we can't control what is sent to us and more and more things uh are including these lithium ion batteries uh which when compressed uh overheated or a host of other just deformities will start to shoot sparks and when you have paper and plastic with sparks you have the recipe obviously for a fire. Uh we are investing or already have invested in some upgrades to our safety protocols uh safety team uh our sprinkler systems. We've rearranged some things uh in our warehouse all with the help of quite frankly the Omaha Fire Department which we have a very proactive relationship with. they walk uh our facility regularly uh and give us some best practices that then we put into uh place. Uh and I would just say I mean I think uh all the council uh has probably been to Firstar at one point or another you know we have a large facility and we're able to uh adapt and overcome when we do have an issue. Unfortunately, uh we're still up and running in a matter of two or uh 6 hours and we're always in communication with uh the public works on on the status. >> Great. So, if there's a message we can help communicate today to folks is sort your recycling carefully and do not put lithium batteries in your recycling. >> Yes. We we appreciate the city of Omaha and keep Omaha beautiful. Uh and and us for the partnership with the Omaha Recycling Guide. that's your go-to source for information and we just got to keep hitting it harder and harder and I know uh the city and keep Omaha Beautiful have plans uh to expand that education and we're 100% supportive of that. Great. >> Thanks. Thanks for your partnership. >> Yep. >> And Jim, one more question for you. I I forgot to ask. I know we've had we had a lot of conversations around the renewal or the upgrade, I guess I would say, of all of our waste hauling contracts recently. And uh recycling of course is an important part of that. When we went to the cart system, we saw a substantial increase in our recycling rates um tonnage and percentage-wise. Do you happen to know that off the top of your head how that currently still looks? >> Um off the cup cuff, I think um we saw a really big increase right when we got the carts and it's it's stayed right around that same rate, maybe fallen off just a little bit. Um I think it's around um 40% increased in overall tonnage after we got the carts before when we had the small eight 18 gallon bins. So uh that's a positive and and again like I said I think it's remained pretty steady since then maybe fallen off a little bit. Um something I would like to add is um we are going to do some um concerted efforts on trying to reduce the amount of contamination not just batteries but overall contamination that that gets you know we'll call it wish recycling. People throw things to be recycled that can't be recycled. We recently did an audit with First Star Fiber to see what's coming in. And so we're going to work really hard on educating to help people know what to not put in recycling and what to throw away. And I know I got off topic off that a little bit, but I wanted to make sure that point was heard. >> Great. Thanks. Thanks, Mr. President. >> You bet. >> Council member Hug, you're recognized. >> Le want to say for the record, in my opinion, I think your organization is doing a phenomenally outstanding job. Um I believe uh maybe not both recent fires but on one of the previous fires I was reached out to with an explanation of what happened which I was I was very grateful for. So you guys have been very open and very forthcoming with any information anytime there was an incident. I since you're in my district I do appreciate that. But what what I think I I'd like to ask you to talk about a little bit is your employment um your your employment pool and where you how many people you employ and where they come from because I think that that's all part of your success story. So I don't want to put you on the spot unrehearsed, but if you could just talk about that for a little bit. >> Yes. Uh thank you Councilman Hug for the the kind words and I I would just say uh and Councilman Fesman Festererson uh mentioned it where we were 5 years ago as a company and I was not here 5 years ago to where we are today and the communication and and the ease of this contract renewal. It's not just us. I want to give credit also to public works uh Jim and his team uh uh for the partnership. Recycling is a tough industry. It is a dirty industry. Uh and I'd like to say we get tough people who work there. It is part of our success story and quite frankly it's part of our challenges as well because our hiring pool uh the majority uh come from uh second chance circumstances. uh whether they are still in the justice system in prison in jail or they've just been recently released and they're in a halfway house. Uh that does create challenges when it comes to breaking their snitches get stitches mentality uh to you see something you say something safety culture. Uh but when we are able to train and get their buy in, they become some of the most loyal uh employees and team members over the course. And we're very proud that of the 120 or so employees that we have, over 50% of them have been with us for over 5 years, which is a great knowledge base for when new team members like me step in uh that they have experience, they know what to do, whether it's a safety issue like a fire or uh an equipment issue, uh etc. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Item 41, an ordinance to vacate a portion of Military Avenue right away. Planning board and planning department recommend approval. >> Public hearing is now open on item number 41. Are there any proponents here today? Seeing none, are there any opponents? Public hearing is closed. Council member Hug, you're recognized. >> Um, I believe that's carryover button. Okay. Council member Goodwin. Okay. Hey, I missed Festererson last time. We're going to move on then. Making sure. Thanks. >> Item 42, an ordinance leving a special tax assessment for the demolition group number 2026-01. >> Public hearing is now open on item 42. Are there any proponents here today? Seeing none, are there any opponents? Public hearing is closed. Item 43, an ordinance to amend certain portions of special levy ordinance number 10399, levying a special tax and assessment for South Omaha business improvement district number 6880. >> Public hearing is now open on item 43. Are there any proponents here? Seeing none, are there any opponents? Public hearing is closed. Item 44, an ordinance to approve the interlocal agreement for the administration and implementation of assistance during SWAT operations. >> Public hearing is now open on item 44. Are there any proponents? Seeing none, are there any opponents? Public hearing. >> Gotcha. There Mr. trying to get home. >> They are held. >> Uh, good afternoon, Omaha City Council. Donnie R. Johnson, the Johnson Question Foundation, Northern Mall concerned Citizen Foundation, 4928 North 52nd Street. And I'd like to share something about these rookie officers that we call them in the Navy. We call them my little bitty brothers. And the reason why is because the >> 43 >> Belleview Police Department, the Omaha Police >> Donnie, we're on item 43. >> Is it 44? >> Oh, 44. I'm sorry. >> Yeah. Yeah. the the I'm trying to figure out all these rookies on here, this program. So, we call them my little bitty brothers in the Navy, the SWAT team guys. They're their little brothers. In the meantime, Mr. Begley, you might be remembering this Grand Island to Lincoln. I've been going out to Lincoln talking about moving the state fair back to Lincoln. So, can we have these officer as they want to be a part of these program? Can this generation do like the previous generation walk from Grand Island to the state fair? And can this generation walk from Lincoln to Grand Island to the state fair? I don't think these rookies can handle that. >> Thank you. Are there any other opponents here? Public hearing is closed. >> Item 45, an ordinance to transfer $83,48 in the 2026 budget from the wage adjustment account to the police department. Public hearing is now open on item 45. Are there any proponents? Seeing none, are there any opponents? Public hearing is closed. >> Item 60, a resolution to approve a settlement agreement for Michael and Leah French versus the city of Omaha in the amount of $400,000. The >> public hearing is now open on item number 60. Are there any proponents here today? Seeing none, are there any opponents? Public hearing is closed. >> Motion to approve. >> I'll second motion in a second. Roll call. >> Fester. >> Yes. >> Goodwin. >> Hug. >> No. >> Row. >> No. >> Mr. President, >> yes. >> Motion passed four to one. Non-action items. Items 46 through 58 do not require public hearing or city council consideration at this meeting, but will be placed on a future agenda for public hearing and our vote. The reason for non-action is noted after the item on the agenda as well as the date the item is expected to appear on an agenda for consideration. >> Got a motion and a second to adjourn. Roll call. >> Fester. >> Yes. >> Goodwin. >> Hug. >> Hug. >> Yes. >> Row. >> Yes. >> Mr. President. >> I. >> Motion passed. 5 to zero. Meeting is adjourned at 306.