We heard from Brodey Weber - Lincoln City Council on October 3, 2025 at Lincoln South Rotary Club.
Brodey came prepared to update us on many of the activities of the City of Lincoln.
He started with the Belmont Redevelopment Plan . He shared that it was very personal to him since that is the area where he went to school. He was proud that he introduced and sponsored the plan which was just adopted on Monday (9-29).
He shared that with plans like this - involving public and private parties, there is a lot of planning and review such as ensuring compliance with zoning. It can become a complex roadmap.
He said that Belmont is considered a food desert by federal guidelines. There are limited opportunities for food access even thought there is a large supermarket in the area. The development of a farmer's market would go a long way to provide more opportunities.
Another aspect of the plan is to expand on the Belcomt Community Center as a community support center to get the neighborhood active. There is also an aspect to encourage new business development using the existing retain spaces/
Brodey also talked about an investment in housing - to make sure the neighborhood was competitive. They will have plan to expand on affordable housing and to help with repairing older structures.
Most of all, Brodey stated that they will be listening to the Belmont community - what to they see - how can we move forward but preserve their right history.
Lincoln on the Move initiative that fulfills a promise to invest in streets. There are projects in all areas of the City - including neighborhood streets. With the $18 million annually raised from the quarter-cent sales ta, there will be more than 60 projects over the next eight years.While answering questions from the group, Brodey verified that the City does use a bidding process and that there seem to be sufficient contractors.
Project O Street was introduced as one of the most significant infrastructure undertakings in our City. It is designed to improve safety, traffic flow and long term durability.. The projects have intentionally been scheduled in phases (both in time and location) and will avoid Nebraska sports event traffic. The projects will include all aspects - street, utilities and sidewalks - to do all at one time. Brodey shared the planned phase:
- Phase 1: Late fall 2025 to fall 2026 - 16th to 14th Streets
- Phase 2 - Spring 2026 to fall 2026 - 14th to 11th Streets
- Phase 3 - Summer 2026 to fall 2027 - 11th to 9th Streets
The next topic Brodey introduced was the Central Library Project. He focused on the efficiencies of using the existing SCC building rather than building new such on the Pershing site. We heard about some of the features of the facility - you can read more from our program from Ryan Wieber - click here.
Planned to be open in the summer of 2026 - South Haymarket Park. Brodey described it as a destination park in the heart of Lincoln's Haymarket District. It is 8.5 acres that have economic development through private investments. Some of the features:
- Dog Park
- One of the largest in-ground skate parks in the midwest
- An inclusive playground - we believe that everyone of every ability should have options to to play together as a family
- Chris Beutler Trail
Creating the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning and City Development Services Department was officially completed on 9-29. This was a merger of Lincoln/Lancaster County Planning Department and Building and Safety Department. People recognized that, when working on a project, most needed to visit both departments. This will provide aster service and improved coordination.
Brodey mentioned that the Poll Repair & Maintenance Fund is allocated $1.5million. Their focus is to provide maintenance and maybe some upgrades to the 9 existing City pools - not developing and building new.
Finally, we were told that just this morning (9-3), we received approval for a three-year $2.3million SAFER grant. the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant is provided by FEMA and will partly fund 9 firefighters. This will provide great relief and reduce overtime pay.
BIO
A lifelong resident of Northwest Lincoln, Weber has served as Vice President of Client Relations for Mid America Casing Supply, LLC. In 2020, he was appointed by Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird to Lincoln’s Keno/Human Services Advisory Board. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Highlands Neighborhood Association as well as Community Action Partnership of Lancaster and Saunders Counties where he serves as Vice President. Weber is a member of Lincoln’s Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Group, a past participant of the Lincoln Public School’s Citizen’s Academy, and a former assistant debate coach at Lincoln Southwest High School. He graduated from Creighton University School of Law earning his law degree with a concentration in Business, Commercial and Tax Law. Weber also graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in May 2020 with a B.A. in Communication Studies.