Dorchester Times: Curtis, Neb. Honored For It's Town Planning, Development

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Curtis, Neb. Honored For It's Town Planning, Development

The Dorchester Times has received a news released that the Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) has announced the City of Curtis, Neb. (pop. 896) as the State of Nebraska’s newest Leadership Certified Community (LCC).

We are sharing this news because Dorchester is similarly sized and Dorchester officials (both elected and public employees) may want to investigate Curtis' pathway to success as a best practices model.

According to the news release, Curtis is the 23rd Nebraska community to qualify for the state's LCC program, created in 2011 to help Nebraska communities adapt to ongoing changes and opportunities in economic development. Qualifying communities must demonstrate an understanding for and preparedness in strategic and community planning, as well as display readiness in technological development to help new and existing businesses grow. Certified communities earn designation in the program for five years, and are required to update and maintain information and websites.

Curtis was praised for "local leaders’ utilization of the community’s LB840 program assists both new and expanding businesses, and aids in preparations for local businesses’ transitions in ownership. Curtis’ LB840 sales tax provides grants, loans or land to individuals or entrepreneurs working to establish or expand a business. LB840 loans are currently in use in six Curtis businesses."

For Dorchester to establish an LB840 program, it would have to establish a sales tax. Nebraska communities can impose up to a 2% sales tax, if approved by voters.

Curtis is developing a community industrial site, initiated by Curtis’ 10-year Comprehensive Plan. Construction on a local seed business in the park, located near Curtis Municipal Airport, is nearly complete.

The City of Curtis' administrator and clerk said: “Becoming a Leadership Certified Community has helped us prepare for and understand what businesses need in order to grow. We are now in a better place for economic development, and the City of Curtis thanks DED for help and guidance in achieving this recognition.”

Curtis' innovative housing program provides incentives for Nebraskans to grow their families in Curtis. The City has gifted five housing lots on land adjacent to the community golf course. A 2013 housing study, made possible through a Nebraska Investment Finance Authority (NIFA) Housing Study Program, indicated a rise in the community’s population over the past two decades. The study encouraged local leaders to continue efforts to accommodate growth by developing additional housing units.

For information about the Leadership Certified Community Program, contact kelly.gewecke@nebraska.gov or 308-627-3151; or, visit
http://neded.org/community/community-info/community-improvement/leadershipcommunity.

2 comments:

AnonymousSeptember 13, 2018 at 5:21 PM
New business in Friend. The Speckled Door. We have a Speckled Legacy.

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AnonymousSeptember 14, 2018 at 2:42 PM
Dorchester needs to utilize having the best geographic location in the county
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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."