KSB plans community beautification projects

The KSB board met yesterday at Grandma Jo's and discussed past and upcoming projects and expenses.

One of their goals was to clean up the Welcome to Sidney sign east of town by highway 30. The board discussed getting some new trees to plant near the sign but decided on native grasses instead, because they're heartier and they look better in the winter. They also planned to pick up any litter around the sign.

"That's what Keep Sidney Beautiful is about," said executive director, Cheryl Jones. "We do stuff no one else will do."

Middle school kids from St. Patrick's youth group helped out KSB Cares yesterday as one of their community service projects. The kids picked up trash along Glover Road. KSB Cares does a service project with a different group or business every quarter.

KSB coordinates many projects in conjunction with the community. It held the great trash race in Sidney May 4. The race was basically a litter clean-up project where citizens scoured Sidney for trash. The group had about 125 people at race, around half the number expected, resulting in a lot of leftover t-shirts.

"You could have a community-wide contest of sorts, for whoever could best recycle that shirt," said board member, Kelly McNabb.

The contest would show the community how creative recycling can be. The board passed a motion to do the t-shirt contest and charge a $5 entry fee.

Jones discussed her plans to attend the Keep Nebraska Beautiful conference for training in Nebraska City at the end of June. This is one of the requirements for the board to keep the grant that funds their activities. Attending the conference shows that the Sidney chapter is an affiliate in good standing with the statewide organization.

"It's wonderful for Nebraska because we have so many affiliates in good standing," Jones said.

The board chose the winner for June's yard of the month.

"The yard of the month is just an outstanding yard in the community," Jones said.

They choose a different yard for each month throughout the summer.

The board also passed a motion to print cards to inform newcomers to Sidney about recycling programs and drop off locations in the city. These cards will go in racks around the city.

"A lot of the time, when people are moving to the community, they see those cards and it's really helpful," Jones said.

KSB receives its money from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. The grant is called the litter and waste reduction education grant. The money pays for Jones' salary and covers expenses for their office in the chamber of commerce building and some small education projects. The grant was for around $28,000 this year.

Additional money comes from donations. KSB raised around $3000 in cash from local businesses this year. It gets around $300 per year from a printer cartridge recycling program.

KSB currently has $11,000 in non-grant money.

President Sue Hiett suggested that they save at least some of the donated money from this year.

"You never know, year after year if you're gonna get as much donated," Hiett said.