Dorchester Times: News Roundup: New Property Code Officer Starts In August

Thursday, July 28, 2016

News Roundup: New Property Code Officer Starts In August

New Property Code Officer Starts In August: Slops, be warned! Recently, this blog reported that a new enforcer has been hired to ensure that Dorchester residents are keeping their property up to community standards and village ordinances. This was confirmed by the minutes from the Dorchester Village Board's May 2016 meeting. Penny Keller is the village's new nuisance abatement and code compliance officer and will begin her duties in August, according to official documents. This hire will help ensure that property clean-up notices and enforcement originally initiated by SENDD a few years ago continues. In the meantime, if you suspect a property in Dorchester is non-compliant with village standards, you are urged to call 402-418-8670 or to i.comply@outlook.com.

First Day Of School Is Aug. 17: Mom and Day can hardly wait for school to start again. We know that is the case in many Dorchester area households. On Aug. 17, bells will ring again at Dorchester Public School. See the calendar of DPS events by clicking here.

At least 25 Homes In Dorchester Now Vacant: A recent drive around Dorchester found that at least 25 homes inside Dorchester's village limits are currently vacant. Twenty-five houses in a town of under 200 households is far too high. Perhaps it's time for a concerted, private effort of concerned citizens to start coordinating and planning to purchase and renovating these homes as rental properties. After all, it seems there is no desire or motivation by the current owners to do anything with most these homes but to let them deteriorate.

$30,000/Year Delivery Job In Crete: Culligan of Crete is looking for a motivated full-time delivery driver. If interested, visit them at 2220 West 11th Crete, NE. Deliveries to Crete, Milford, Dorchester, Wilber, Dewitt, Friend, clatonia, Plymouth, etc.

Red Cross Needs Blood Donations Due To Serious Shortage: Earlier this month, the American Red Cross issued an emergency request for blood and platelet donations. A critical blood shortage still exists. Dorchester area residents can help and will get a special "thank-you" of a $5 Amazon.com gift card claim for those coming to donate. Upcoming area blood drives will be held in DeWitt on Aug. 15, at the DeWitt Community Building from noon to 6 p.m. Also, in Seward on Aug. 5, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. John Lutheran Church. For more information, call the American Red Cross Blood Services at (402) 321-3576.

Study Says Tattoo Ink May Be Toxic: A new European study finds that getting tattoos may lead to long-term skin problems and an increased risk of cancer. The report by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) found red ink was the most dangerous, but they warned blue, green and black ink is also risky. Great. Does this mean taxpayers will be paying for the healthcare of all those inked hotties we've seen at Wal-Mart every week in the years since Dorchester has been without a grocery store?

8 comments:

AnonymousJuly 28, 2016 at 12:03 PM
How much is this Property Code Officer going to cost us tax payers? When one persons property is targeted better make sure it is everyone
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJuly 28, 2016 at 9:27 PM
I hope the village of dorchester and the board and committee members follow the same rules and the new "officer" doesn't overlook their properties just because of who they are. The village needs to clean up their mess behind their shop and some of the committee members should get rid of the junk cars
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJuly 29, 2016 at 1:18 PM
Also, I hope something is in the works about the dogs running loose. i recently had my little dog out in my yard, on his tie out cable. and I was out there with him. A large brown dog wearing an orange color attacked him. I was able to pick up my dog and hold out of harms way. but I ended up with abations on my knee where i kneed the brown dog to get him to leave. We are both ok, but I am wary now to walk him, or let him out on his cable.
ReplyDelete
Replies
cynical richardJuly 29, 2016 at 7:10 PM
.................... ive seen that brown dog in town during my morning coffee runs ................................. i hear he likes grapes ..................................... you should feed him some .............................................
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJuly 29, 2016 at 8:57 PM
Call the sheriff's office about dogs on the loose. They will respond and ticket the owner if they find them.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousJuly 31, 2016 at 10:06 PM
Stop the inflow of whiskey tango and third-world welfare takers in small town all across america
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Village Dweller checks all reader comments to determine if they are appropriate for print.

Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."