NORFOLK, Neb. -- The latest Norfolk city council meeting was a relatively short one but was certainly eventful.

It all started Monday night when an item was requested to be taken off the consent agenda to the regular agenda for discussion. This item was a resolution declaring the city's intent to incur indebtedness for flood control recertification, up to $410,000. This was at the request of Norfolk resident Jim McKenzie, who wished to make a public comment on the issue.

McKenzie said flood control was one of the most important pieces of infrastructure, but wanted to discuss the debt level of the city. McKenzie said the project, in tandem with others, such as a potential lift station for the sanitary sewer system, was creating an issue for Norfolk residents. McKenzie claimed Norfolk's debt limit load has increased by 118% in two years and urged council members to prioritize spending money. 

"It's imperative you folks look at the big debt picture of what's going on and how it impacts the citizens of Norfolk," McKenzie said. "The flood control certification is critical and must be completed as soon as possible. I urge you to contrast this with your other spending projects and prioritize your spending as not to overburden the citizens of Norfolk with more and more tax and rate increases." 

Corey Granquist was the first of many council members to offer a retort, asking McKenzie how he proposed projects to be completed instead. What followed was a lengthy conversation between multiple individuals on the council and McKenzie, often at the same time.

"What's your suggestion?" Granquist asked. "You come up here and say we can't have indebtedness, we can't raise our taxes. There's plenty of pointing fingers, but what's your thought? What's your solution?"

"I suggest that the sewer issue with the lift station you look at some alternatives," McKenzie said.

Mayor Josh Moenning questioned McKenzie about what those alternatives would be, with Granquist pointing out that a study on the lift station had already been done. From there, discussions continued on other topics past the lift station to other city projects. Moenning attempted to get the discussion back to the agenda item, but conversations on indebtedness continued.

"We're talking indebtedness," Granquist said. "So, we want police station done, we want streets done...and here we are talking about this (flood control recertification) that also has to be done. Do we raise taxes? Jim don't want to raise taxes, but we got to do it somehow. Things have to get done, Jim. We can't do one thing and wait twenty more years. What are we going to do? I asked you for an idea...all you're doing is pointing fingers, and it's getting old, so give us an idea."  

The conversation from this point forward would continue for around ten minutes, with the entire discussion found in the video above. Those involved would occasionally speak over each other and get off-topic, some raising their voice to be heard. Moenning eventually stopped the conversation saying their discussion was getting very irrelevant to the agenda item, and that the city needed to conduct business.

The city would approve the resolution unanimously.