BEATRICE – Most of the work at the new Beatrice Fire Station has been taking place on the inside, but residents will likely soon notice more of the exterior work remaining. A new communications tower was erected next the station on Monday.

"The overhead doors are set to be installed August Fifth...that week of August Fifth, and so you'll start seeing those improvements on the outside. Some parking lots and driveways are getting set to be poured. They're starting to get wrapped up and it's coming along, quite nice."

The new station located two blocks south of the center of downtown is expected to be completed in September or October. Voters approved a half-cent addition to the local sales tax to finance bond issues for the station, which will replace the cramped quarters in the lower level of the municipal auditorium, in use since 1965.

City Administrator Tobias Tempelmeyer says new centrifuges at the city’s wastewater treatment plant are now operational….an approximate $4 million project that updated the process of separating solids from liquids.

A recently scaled down river access project near the West Court Street bridge is expected to see construction begin soon.
"It will not require a closing of the highway, so once the state's done with their bridge work and they move on, we do not anticipate closing the highway down to traffic, for a third time this summer."

Water main work continues on West Court Street, focusing on completing connections along the south side of the street.

Tempelmeyer says downtown sidewalk projects will be concluding toward the end of this month, utilizing the last of Community Development Block Grant funds that were allocated for the improvements.