3/24/26 Omaha City Council Meeting
This week's Omaha City Council meeting is something that will directly impact the youth of Omaha. A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to discussions about affordable housing. As part of the youth in Omaha, this topic was particularly important to me. Another crucial topic that was brought to the board was a project involving the Papillion Creek Water Resource Recovery Facility. The meeting covered smaller topics such as approval of a liquor license and approval of funding for the REACH Program.
Starting with the smaller topics, and like in my last blog, I will start with the liquor license approvals. This week, there were several awesome approval recommendations. Firstly, Millwork Commons. Millwork Commons is now an Entertainment District, and the council recommended approval for 36 Special Designated Licenses for the areas within Millwork Commons. Along with some routine renewals, Elie’s Chinchorro and Maple 88 Mexican Kitchen received approval recommendations for their licenses. On the topic of approvals, the REACH (Readiness Education Awareness Collaborative of Homebuyers and Homeowners) reached an agreement with the Greater Omaha Chamber for the City of Omaha to continue funding REACH. The topic of REACH leads directly into my next, and favorite, topic: affordable housing.
Housing can be a very daunting topic for the youth of Omaha. There can be a lot of pressure surrounding moving out, and as a senior in high school, I am a direct witness to this. On Tuesday, the board voted 5-0 to pass a resolution that directs the Mayor’s Affordable Housing Task Force to create a new policy for Tax Increment Financing, or TIF. They talked a lot about how they will use TIF to hopefully aid the affordable housing shortage in Omaha. What is TIF? TIF is essentially a way for developers to get a loan from a private bank upfront to build not only affordable housing, but housing in all price ranges in areas that need it, and then allowing them to pay back the loan later, using property taxes that would typically go to the city. This will make affordable housing much more accessible for young people and families in Omaha.
The Papillion Creek Water Resource Recovery Facility is one of Omaha’s biggest infrastructure projects. It is essentially a sewer treatment plant that cleans all the wastewater before it is returned to the Missouri River. At this last meeting, the council was scheduled to vote on a $411 million contract with McCarthy Building Companies to lead the next phase of construction, but the vote was moved to April 7th. You can read more about this topic at this Nebraska Examiner Article.
Going into spring, our City Council reminds us that the Omaha Spring Cleanup will begin on April 18, 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM, and it will move to a different area of Omaha every Saturday. The first one will be in Central Omaha. We are also reminded to carefully sort through our recycling and definitely do NOT recycle lithium batteries.
On April 7th, we will learn the outcome of the $411 million vote, so make sure to tune into our short summaries on social media or our blog for more details!