Belden residents say improving pool, sidewalks are top concerns

BELDEN — It takes a village and oftentimes it takes a survey.

The two came together for a Town Hall meeting Sunday night in Belden where 36 residents attended and identified top priorities for improvements to this south central Cedar County community of 113.

Andrea Larson, community planner for the Northeast Nebraska Economic Development District (NNEDD), led Sunday’s meeting by revealing results from the community-wide survey that was completed in June.

Each survey category revealed two or three top concerns but the overriding priorities were improving the swimming pool, improving sidewalks downtown and putting in public restrooms at the park, said Janice Wobbenhorst, Belden’s village chairwoman.

“It was a very productive meeting with lots of good input,” she said. “Everybody had the opportunity to comment on what they agreed with.”

The survey and Town Hall meeting is necessary to qualify and apply for NNEDD grants.

“All of the grants ask, is this what your community wants? Is this what the community needs? We need people to kind of be on the same page,” Wobbenhorst said.

Robert Patefield, village board member, said NNEDD is helping to identify sources of grants and the amount of money available to help with community improvements.

“We’re small enough and the need is enough that there’s some really good opportunities out there that we just need to take advantage of,” he said.

He said it’s always good to gather together and hear from the residents what they want in their town.

“A lot of things flew out that I wasn’t expecting,” he said. “We’re trying to improve and feed off of that energy.”