Gering News

Community Improvement Garners Honors For Gering

Hi-Way 92 Raceway Park Receives Funding

October 25, 2005

Star-Herald

Heartland Expressway Opens

Miniature orange traffic cones at a luncheon for dignitaries gathered Tuesday for the opening of the John McLellan Jr. Expressway conveyed a really large message.

"The road to success is always under construction," one side of the cone read, and that was the underlying theme for the completion of a major segment of the Heartland Expressway. District 5 Highway Commissioner Doug Leafgreen described the 5.5-mile stretch of highway from south of Gering to Highway 26 east of Scottsbluff as an important piece of an international trade corridor.

Leafgreen said he hoped many of the dignitaries could gather in Kimball in five years to celebrate the final local piece--the connection of Interstate 80 with Nebraska 71.

After a ribbon-cutting ceremony, the dignitaries boarded an AmeriStar bus to travel the new section of expressway, make a U-turn and return back to Gering. At that point the stretch of highway was officially open to the public.

As he stepped off the bus, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman called the event "fantastic" and said he had never participated in a highway opening in that style. "It shows what the possibility is for economic development," Heineman said of the view of the south and east sides of Gering from the expressway. "It's such a great view, and I think that any business interested in locating in the community will look positively on that."

March 17, 2005

Star-Herald

Gering Names New City Authority

The City of Gering has named Gary Rimington of Laramie, WY as its new city administrator.

(Starr) Lehl contacted Rimington Tuesday evening to offer the position. His hiring is pending the approval of the entire council at the next scheduled meeting on Monday, March 28. Rimington will be present during the meeting.

Rimington was in town last weekend, along with the other finalist, Craig R. Zins of Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

Rimington toured the community, met with people in the community during a social time at the Gering Civic Center and interviewed with community leaders, department heads, Mayor Starr Lehl, and the City Council.

The Mayor and City Council have completed a "thorough" background check, according to a press release, and called an "extensive" list of references, which "resulted in very favorable results regarding Rimington."

"We are just really excited to have Gary on board," said Lehl. "I just think that he was the best candidate out of the two we interviewed. He brings a very strong management background. He seems excited about coming to Gering and he wants to stay for a while, so that really excited us."

Rimington was a finalist during the city's last search for a city administrator.

"Gering is a great community. I've been a city manager in western Nebraska and we have lots of family and friends in western Nebraska. It looked like a good fit. I'm excited to relocate my family there," said Rimington.

Rimington's family includes his wife and three children.

He was the director of community services with the City of Laramie for six years. Before that, he was the city manager and assistant administrator to the city council with the City of Ogallala for a little over five years. Prior to that, he worked for the Omaha city Council for six years.

"This is a wonderful professional opportunity for me. I'm extremely excited. After touring the facilities and meeting a lot of employees, I'm looking forward to it. It looks like a good, wonderful challenge and I'm excited to help out and do what I can to keep Gering's progress going that they've been experiencing over the past five to ten years," he said.

An official start date is yet to be determined and contract negotiations will take place over th next few days regarding salary, vacation and other benefits.

February 10, 2005

Gering Courier

Raceway Receives LB840 Money - Raceway Park Gets $20,000

During their regular Monday meeting, the Gering City Council approved a $20,000 LB840 request for continued improvements to the Hi-Way 92 Raceway Park, east of Gering.

Lee Schwartzkopf, owner of Kawasaki Korner, purchased the former Oregon Trail Raceway last October. He has been using his own resources for labor and improvements to the parking lot, announcer's booth, and other areas.

"I plan to make a number of other improvements because i think this will be an asset to Gering," Schwartzkopf told the council. "Any profit for the next five years will go back into the track."

The new owner said he also plans to expand the track to include other special events like motocross racing, ATV racing, and tractor pulls.

Council member Larry Gibbs asked about the number of full-time jobs the track would create, one of the criteria for LB840 funding. Schwartzkopf's plan calls for one full-time maintenance person and approximately 12 part-time positions throughout the racing season, which runs from May through November.

Rawnda Pierce, Executive Director of Twin Cities Development, told the council the LB840 committee made the recommendation based on economic imact, one of the other criteria.

Schwartzkopf explained that when races are scheduled, drivers often arrie the day before for time trials and last-minute maintenance. That means the drivers stay in Gering motels and patronize Gering businesses. They also bring a pit crew with them, usually five or more people.

The track is the only operating asphalt track in the state and draws drivers from Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota. A minimum of six large events are scheduled for this season, with each one expected to draw approximately 500 people from out of town.

"I talked with one driver from Colorado last season who had never been here," Schwartzkopf said. "He was amazed at how beautiful the area was."

Exposure to Gering is expected to bring return visits to the area.

Council members unanimously approved awarding the grant. Schwartzkopf said he is preparing for the track's first event this season, scheduled for May 6th.

February 8, 2005

Star-Herald

Gering Provides $20,000 For Hi-Way 92 Raceway Park

Gering will provide $20,000 to help fund improvements at a local racetrack.

The Gering City Council approved a request by Lee Schwartzkopf, the new owner of the Hi-Way 92 Raceway Park, for a $20,000 LB840 grant Monday.

During the council's regular meeting, Schwartzkopf explained the money would be used for facility modifications and improvements.

Schwartzkopf bought the raceway in October 2004. No one has made any improvements to the raceway for 10 to 14 years, according to the meeting agenda. Schwartzkopf does not owe any money for his purchase of the raceway and has been using personal resources to fund improvements thus far. He said he hopes to use the grant to make improvements before the beginning of the season, which begins May 6 and ends in November.

The revenues for the raceway will be used for further improvements for a minimum of five years, according to the agenda.

The Economic Development Application Review Committee recommended approval of the request because it felt the improvements would benefit the community.

Twin Cities Development Director Rawnda Pierce echoed the belief that the improved facility would have a positive economic impact on the community by drawing people to the raceway. Schwartzkopf said the raceway draws people from the surrounding states. These people will patronize hotels, stores and restaurants, said Pierce.

Pierce added that the LB840 funds are meant to fund not only economic development projects that would create jobs but also those that would benefit the community.

Schwartzkopf said the raceway will generate one full-time maintenance person and about 12 part-time positions through the race season.

"It's the only asphalt track really going in Nebraska," said Schwartzkopf.

The money will go mainly toward dirt work in the creation of a motor cross track for the raceway, which also offers stock car racing.

January 22, 2004

Gering Courier

Work Continues on Bypass Project

The three-year project to construct the Scottsbluff-Gering Bypass is well into its first year as millions of cubic feet of dirt are moved and bridge footings and viaducts go into place.

Doug Leafgreen, District 5 Commissioner for the Nebraska State Highway Commission, outlined progress to members of the Gering Business Club Wednesday at noon.

Leafgreen said the bypass is just one part of the Heartland Expressway, which will eventually connect Denver with Rapid City, SD. It will then become part of the expressway corridor that will connect markets between Canada and Mexico.

"I think the bypass can be good for Gering," he said. "It will have six major connections into the city and could translate into a lot of commercial development."

He said the city has already worked out a sticking point when the Nebraska Department of Roads wanted to use one of those points of entry for its new maintenance facility.

Through some trading of land, the state will build on a site further off, but connected to, the bypass.

"We're probably going to come in under budget," Leafgreen said about the estimated $37 million project. "The construction company made some innovations that enabled them to save lots of money."

Leafgreen said that overall, an interior transportation corridor will become even more necessary in the future.

Interstate 25 traffic estimates along the Front Range of Colorado indicate that by 2020, it will take three hours to travel the 50 miles of Interstate from Fort Collins to Denver.

"Colorado realizes something had to be done or the Interstate would turn into a giant parking lot," Leafgreen said.

The problem of increased traffic along the Front Range is growing even now. Leafgreen said he used to take Interstate 25 to travel south. Now, he takes Highway 71 to southern Colorado to bypass the traffic.

Leafgreen said that if the Heartland Expressway is to be completed, it will require federal dollars. He wasn't optimistic about Congress approving the necessary funding because of so many requests for funding for a wide variety of projects and programs.

The Heartland Expressway was born out of a highway needs study done by Nebraska in 1988.

One of the study's goals was to update the Interstate system in Omaha within 10 years.

The other goal was to connect all Nebraska towns with populations of 10,000 or more to the Interstate system.

The corridor was officially identified in 1991 by the federal government. However, funding dried up after the first round.

November 13, 2003

Gering Courier

Gering Honored For Community Improvement

Gering was recognized by its peers in Kearney last Friday with two awards during the 40th annual Nebraska Community Improvement Program.

Gering was presented with a Tourism Promotion and Development Award for the new name, marketing plan and logo for the Gering Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Gering was also given a joint award with Scottsbluff in the Arts and Humanities division for last November's Capitol Holiday tree ceremonies.

"The awards committee looks for volunteerism and community involvement when they select the winners," said Gering City Clerk Pam Richter. "More than 85 volunteer hours were logged in developing our new tourism logo and theme."

Gering New Horizons changed its name to the Gering Convention & Visitors Bureau in early April 2003 and developed a new logo and theme: Western Nebraska 's Great Escape!

Executive Director Karla Niedan said the change was to communicate an immediate and universal identity for Gering in the outside tourism marketplace.

"This new name gives us a brand identity," Niedan said. "The name makes it clear we're the contact point for information regarding tourism opportunities in the community."

Richter said she was pleased with the win. "It's nice to see all our hard work recognized. I'm sure our marketing plan will get wider coverage as states share this type of information with each other."

She added the application process was only four pages long, so they had to be brief in telling the process city and community groups went through since 2002 to develop the city's new tourism image.

"I'm thrilled about the award," Niedan said. "The best part is the judges are all our peers. They recognize the long process we went through to get where we are today."

Niedan said the Convention & Visitors Bureau has had good early success in "branding" Gering as a tourism destination. "This award shows we're on the right track."

The Nebraska Community Improvement Program is sponsored by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, the University of Nebraska and corporate sponsors in the energy and telecommunications industries.