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RANDOLPH – Michaela Casey said she hates to hear sentiments that Randolph is a “dying town.”
As someone who was born and raised in Randolph, she’d like to raise her own family here.
Casey was one of 30 people who attended an aptly-named Progress Town Hall meeting last week to discuss recent Northeast Nebraska Economic Development District (NNEDD) survey results and find ways to move forward on resident-indenitifed priorities. The survey, developed for the City of Randolph with 48 respondents, provided feedback on everything from city streets to the public library, the appearance of downtown, recreational amenities, and more.
Grant funding exists for swimming pools, downtown revilatilzation, streets, trails and other wish-list items identified from the survey, said Andrea Larson, NENDD community planner. The town hall meeting is an important step for community engagement in any NNEDD grants or other funding sources.
“I do think something needs to be done and I understand this is a step in the process,” Casey said. “I see surrounding communities. Their downtowns are beautiful. I think ours is poor. I hope something can be done to help lift our community.”
While the survey indicated some areas for improvement, it’s important to highlight the good, too, said Daryl Schrunk.
“There’s so much potential. There’s a lot of positive things,” he said. “There’s a lot of people who really want to see their town grow and thrive and I’m excited to be a part of the process.”
Residents can pick up a full copy of survey results at the city office. Here’s a roundup of some survey highlights and additional comments shared at the meeting: - Demolition of dilapidated commercial or industrial sites, and houses was identified as a high concern for survey respondents.
The city has taken steps to address this with the purchase, demolition and cleanup of the Cedar Motel on Highway 20 which was later transformed into a newly built Stonacek Funeral Chapel. The city has also recently purchased dilapidated commercial properties downtown with immediate plans for asbestos removal and eventual demolition. A dilapidated house and lots on North Bridge Street were also purchased by the city with plans to sell for eventual removal and re-development.
But that work - especially with connected buildings - isn’t always easy, said Cody Backer.
“You run into a lot of liability issues when you tear buildings down. If you fix one building you could create a problem with another one,” he said.
- Future economic growth efforts should focus on attracting new retail and service businesses, as well as support and expand existing businesses and industry, survey takers said.
The availability of pet grooming and boarding, as well as a car wash were rated poorly. Other medical services such as pharmacy, chiropractic, eye care and dental care are sorely needed, town hall participants said. A shared workspace building was another idea offered.
Unfortunately, until the floodplain project is completed and floodplain maps can remove that designation, it will be difficult for Randolph to experience any real economic growth.
The city is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to finalize the project and have not yet received a timeline on when floodplain maps will be updated, said City Administrator Sheila Korth.
“We’ve reached out to our senators and our U.S. House of Representatives member to try to get that moving more quickly,” she said. “Once that designation is different and the map is different, it will open up more opportunities.”
- Respondents indicated the visual appearance and condition of downtown buildings as well as vacant commercial buildings downtown were the highest priority areas there.
Mel Engel said there are at least two green space areas downtown that she would like to see improved.
- More than 80 percent of survey respondents said they would like to see additional housing or apartments in Randolph, including some designated for senior citizens. The lack of new construction of affordable homes for sale, and a high amount of poor, dilapidated or vacant or abandoned housing were rated as high areas of concern.
The city has a vacant property ordinance that requires property owners with a vacant dwelling to register with the city and pay an annual fine which increases each year the property remains vacant.
There are grants also available for down payment assistance and owner-occupied rehabalitation, Larson said.
Property upkeep and rehab was rated as a top concern along with the condition of sidewalks and storm water drainage.
“Some people can’t afford to replace a bad sidewalk. Even with a grant, they can’t afford it. It’s sad but some of the sidewalks are just bad,” said Jami Fye, with some sidewalks crumbling and others buckling.
Casey said she often has to push her baby’s stroller in the street while walking around town due to the condition of the sidewalks.
Street lighting in residential areas could also be improved, said Denton Beacom.
“A lot of the town is very dark,” he said.
- When it comes to recreation, survey respondendents rated the condition of trails, the swimming pool, and the public restrooms as the lowest.
Trails exist along the Middle Logan Creek Floodplain project but residents would like additional amenities such as signage, benches and trash cans. The Randolph Area Foundation also was awarded a partial funding request to incorporate a new trail at the Randolph Area Veterans Memorial Park, however, with only a partial award the work wasn’t feasible to continue to develop.
City funds and private donations to renovate Randolph’s 50-yearold swimming pool have totaled $100,000.
“We haven’t done nothing with it yet. What was going to cost $100,000 last year, would be $500,000 this year,” said Mayor Dwayne “BoBo” Schutt. “We could probably put in a couple of new pipes. We’d like to fix the pool . . . but it’s going to be awful expensive.”
Survey respondents also indicated they would like the city park improved.
Beacom said the park is excellent, however, needs to be better maintained as weeds tend to overgrow especially in the basketball court area.
Schrunk, and his wife, Lynelle, also indicated that some of the park equipment needs to be repaired and replaced.
“It just takes fresh eyes sometimes, and it’s hard to stay up on those little things,” she said.
Survey respondents said they would like a dog park, a larger park shelter and additional public restrooms at the park.
- Street conditions and street maintenance were the lowest rated basic city service.
- Survey respondents rated poorly the city auditorium’s ease of parking and signage.
“I don’t know where we would put additional parking at this point in time,” said Councilwoman Janelle Biernbaum.
There also needs to be improvements in the auditorium kitchen with the flooring described as “in rough shape.” The audio equipment and reservation system could also be upgraded.
- The attractiveness and signage of the city office was rated low as well as staff knowledge. At least one survey respondent said the city office should be more visible.
- The library was rated highly in all areas and Theresa Schnoor called it “one of our best assets in town.” Most survey respondents indicated they use the library about once per month. On an open-ended question about how to improve the library, at least one answer indicated the abnormally high curb in front makes it difficult for some people to access the building.
- Maintaining a quality K-12 school system was also a high concern identified from survey respondents, most likely due to the Randolph Public Schools bond issue on the general election ballot. Biernbaum said people moving into a community want to know first about school quality and Randolph is fortunate in that area.
- Landline telephone audio quality and service from outside vendors is a problem for some in the community, including at the Randolph Community Golf Course Clubhouse.
