Madison approved its 2026-27 budget while setting the stage for more than $2.5 million in potential street improvements over the next two fiscal years.
The plan could also bring significant outside money into Madison. City officials are looking at Community Development Block Grant funding that could potentially cover $500,000 to $700,000 of future Main Street work, reducing the amount the City would have to fund locally.
But much of what the Madison City Council discussed last week remains in the planning stage.
The council approved the City’s one- and six-year street improvement plan, moving reconstruction of Main Street from Second Street north to the bridge and $60,000 in street rehabilitation into the one-year plan. The individual projects, however, are still being discussed, including the scope of the work, engineering and how much the City ultimately wants to spend.
Economic Development Director Andy Colvin said the potential grant funding is one reason Madison needs to begin planning beyond the projects immediately in front of it.
“NENEDD was just here, and there are some CDBG grants that if we can get prepared now and we start prioritizing, we can have — if it meets it and we can work with them — a CDBG grant to help pay probably $500,000 to $700,000 worth of the work that we’re wanting to do anyway,” Colvin said.
One of the largest projects being considered is reconstruction of Main Street from Second Street north to the bridge. John Zwingman, civil engineer with Advanced Consulting Engineering Services, said plans for the section are approximately 90 to 95% complete.
Zwingman estimated approximately $900,000 for concrete, paving and storm sewer work, along with allowances of $75,000 for extending decorative lighting toward the bridge, $40,000 for sanitary sewer work and $25,000 for water main replacement if needed. Utilities Superintendent Matt Schnebel said the existing water main appears to be in good condition, making replacement unlikely, although Zwingman said sanitary sewer work will probably be included.
Engineering to finish the plans, handle bidding and complete postconstruction work is estimated at $22,000, with construction observation not to exceed another $20,000. Those services were part - Continued From Page 1
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of the council’s discussion but were not approved at the meeting.
If the council decides to proceed, Zwingman said the remaining engineering work would need to be completed in time to seek bids in December or early January, when contractors are lining up work for the coming construction season.
Because the work would affect one of Madison’s main routes through town, Zwingman said planning for traffic and business access would be an important part of the final design. Council members specifically questioned how customers would reach the grocery store during construction.
“We’ll probably have to come up with a temporary access to get people in and out,” Zwingman said.
He said sections could be poured in phases, leaving temporary rock surfaces through portions of driveways while concrete cures, then switching access as work moves across the street.
With the Madison County Fair and other summer activities to consider, Zwingman said construction would likely need to begin by about May 1 with a goal of finishing by early July if the project moves ahead.
“I think one of the things that the council needs to do — and I’m okay with whatever you decide to do as far as street projects — is actually take action,” Colvin said. “I think that’s where John needs the direction to say, ‘Okay, we are going to proceed with this project,’ because there are some time frames that he needs to meet as far as final design.”
The council also looked farther south on Main Street, where deteriorating concrete between Seventh and 12th streets has left the City weighing how much to repair now and what should wait for a larger project.
Zwingman said he would not recommend simply milling and overlaying the street because portions of the concrete underneath are severely deteriorated. The one-year plan includes approximately $60,000 for rehabilitation work that could replace damaged concrete panels, curb and gutter and address sidewalks and ADA accessibility.
Another possibility would be to bid a set quantity of concrete replacement and then determine where the worst sections are once the City knows how much work its money will buy.
“Now we go pick 4,000 square yards of the worst concrete in town,” Zwingman said as an example. “If that’s another way you want to look at it, we can do that too.”
Council members also discussed replacing approximately nine feet of the parking area along Main Street with new concrete, curb, gutter and sidewalk. Zwingman estimated replacing the nine-foot lane on the west side from Seventh to 12th streets at approximately $365,000.
The idea behind doing that work now would be to avoid tearing it back out if the remainder of Main Street is eventually reconstructed in concrete. Council members did not settle on an option during the meeting.
Zwingman said the decision also has to be weighed against needs elsewhere.
“There’s numerous places in town that are as bad or worse than South Main Street,” he said. “But then again, South Main Street is one of the visuals as people are coming into town, so I understand how that gets some priority over other stuff.”
While the individual projects remain under discussion, Zwingman emphasized that putting a project on the City’s approved one- and sixyear street plan does not commit Madison to building it as proposed.
“It’s not written in stone,” he said. “We can amend them at any point.”
The City’s preliminary planning continues into fiscal year 2028, when approximately $1.16 million could potentially be available for streets. That includes a proposed mill and overlay of Main Street from Third to 12th streets and additional work on streets and intersections elsewhere in Madison.
The CDBG money discussed by Colvin would be part of financing that future work, not funding Madison has already received. The City would first have to determine whether the project qualifies and pursue the grant.
That possibility also tied the street discussion to a broader conversation about grants and how Madison can use outside funding for projects already identified as community priorities.
Mandy Gear, executive director of the Northeast Nebraska Economic Development District, and Andrea Westerhaus, deputy director, told council members the City of Madison pays just over $3,000 annually for services that include community surveys, town halls, planning, identifying funding sources, grant writing and administration.
Westerhaus said Madison does not need to have a grant identified — or every detail of a project determined — before contacting NENEDD.
“You do not need to have a grant program identified before you contact us,” Westerhaus said. “In fact, we’d much rather hear from you at the very beginning of your ideas for a project when you find out you have a need or you would like to improve something than after you’ve already tried to figure out what your funding sources are going to be.”
That became particularly relevant when Park Board member Josh O’Brien questioned what assistance is available for Madison’s park and recreation priorities.
O’Brien said he contacted NENEDD several months ago looking specifically for park and recreation funding and came away with the understanding that the Park Board needed to first identify a project and have much of the groundwork completed before NENEDD became involved.
Westerhaus said the timing of that conversation may have contributed to the answer. If Madison had been attempting to submit an application during the current funding cycle, the project would have needed to be much closer to shovel-ready. With more time to plan for future funding cycles, she said NENEDD can become involved earlier.
“We can absolutely look at a global type project where we’re applying with maybe Game and Parks for the trails and CCCFF for the ADA stuff, and a Community Development Block Grant for public works involved in there,” Westerhaus said.
Madison’s capital improvement planning has identified needs involving the pool, walking trails, multi-sport courts, playgrounds and other park improvements. NENEDD representatives said the organization can help conduct surveys and town halls to determine community priorities, identify potential funding sources and write and administer grants.
NENEDD does not conduct private fundraising, although Westerhaus said the organization can help connect Madison with partners who do. Local foundation money, donations or money raised privately could potentially be used toward required grant matches.
“Uncle Sam does not care where the match comes from. He just wants it,” Westerhaus said. “It doesn’t have to be City funds. It can be donated funds. It can be fundraised funds. It doesn’t matter.”
Grant programs also have different application periods throughout the year, allowing Madison to potentially match different park projects with different funding sources rather than trying to fund everything through one application.
“There are a lot of different options and funding sources,” Westerhaus said. “They just might have to be mixed and matched a little bit.”
The NENEDD presentation also fed directly into a later council discussion over whether Madison needs additional outside help to move its park projects from ideas to completed projects.
The proposal before the council involved Susan Norris, who had previously discussed working with the Park Board on its priorities. During the discussion, one person argued that NENEDD and a consultant would serve different roles. NENEDD can identify and administer certain grant programs, while a consultant could work more directly with the Park Board on developing projects, establishing timelines, pursuing a broader range of funding sources and helping raise the matching dollars needed to compete for grants.
One person said she had worked with NENEDD for about 10 years and cautioned that the organization has a valuable role but cannot provide all of those services. She said NENEDD’s schedule can fill early in the year and Madison previously missed an opportunity to apply for a housing grant because the organization could not fit the application into its schedule. She also said NENEDD had not been involved in park improvement grants she had worked on beyond programs such as trails.
“They have their role, but they can’t do everything that you think that they can do,” she said. “They will not be the one working with your park board trying to make this stuff happen, trying to get you on a schedule, trying to get you on a completion timeline, trying to get a capital kit, raising those grant dollars for you.”
That left council members weighing whether those additional services justified hiring Norris or whether Madison should first make greater use of the services already included in its NENEDD membership. One council member said he preferred to continue with NENEDD, while another was willing to try Norris for one year to see what results she could produce.
The length of the proposed commitment was also an issue. One council member said he had previously asked about trying Norris for one year but came away from that discussion believing a three-year contract was required. Norris disputed that, saying both one-year and three-year documents had been provided. She said some work could be accomplished in one year, but completing everything the Park Board wants in that time would not be feasible.
A council member then made a motion to move forward with a one-year contract with Norris. No one seconded the motion, so it died without a vote. With no other motion offered, the council moved to the next agenda item.
