By KALIN KROHE
Panhandle Post
At its May 3 meeting, Alliance City Council approved a resolution for financial assistance to help Keep Alliance Beautiful (KAB) continue recycling operations, after being denied funding from the Nebraska Environmental Trust (NET).
KAB was expecting $95,342 in funding from NET this year, after having received similar grants from the organization each year in the past decade.
The council authorized $12,500 to be transferred from contingency funds to KAB for the first quarter and continue through quarterly installments.
KAB will receive $50,000 in total from the city for the 2022-2023 budget year.
"They have received some other grant funds from other sources," Alliance City Manager Seth Sorenson said. "But unfortunately, it requires a one-to-one match. And that is the part where the grant that they were unable to secure this year, would have come in handy because they could have used that as that one-to-one match. The intent is for that to be used as their one- to-one match. And hopefully this will get them through the next year and they can apply once again, for the grant (NET)."
KAB's recycling operation is vital in Alliance and the Panhandle.
"One of the things that I have discovered in the last few months is that we're actually serving the entire region," Sorenson said. "We have people who drive from other counties to come here just to recycle."