MILFORD, Neb. (AP) - Residents of a small Nebraska town about 15 miles west of Lincoln are dreaming about how to use $6.85 million an anonymous donor left them.
The Lincoln Journal Star reports (https://bit.ly/M0BbAW ) Milford recently learned of the donations to nine groups in town, including the school district, the nine-hole golf course and the city itself.
Mayor Dean Bruha said he feels like the town won the lottery.
“It gives us an opportunity to do some projects that we could only wish we could do,” said Bruha, who is in his third term as mayor.
The donation to the city is supposed to be used for enhancements, not tax relief. All the donations are supposed to be used to create endowments. Union Bank and Trust is distributing the money on behalf of the donor.
The biggest chunk of money will go to the Milford school district. The district is receiving $2.5 million to support new programs, $1 million for its foundation’s scholarship fund and $300,000 for the teacher’s fund.
Bruha said the city is looking at building a recreational trail, repairing curbs and streets, improving handicapped access or adding infrastructure for housing. Milford will receive $1.6 million, which is more than half of its annual budget of $3 million.
Adding new infrastructure for housing is attractive, Bruha said, because the city doesn’t have much room to grow at the moment. The Big Blue River on the north and Coon Creek on the south limit its growth options.
“We would like to expand our residential area because we are bursting at the seams,” he told the newspaper. “We got tons of people who want to move here, but there’s no place to build a house.”
Milford’s local nine-hole golf course will get a $1 million endowment for maintenance and improvements and $250,000 to establish a retirement fund for the golf course superintendent.
Golf course superintendent John Melena said he doesn’t know who made the gift, but he hopes he or she knows it is appreciated.
“I can’t thank them personally, but I want them to know that we will be good stewards of the money,” he said.
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Information from: Lincoln Journal Star, https://www.journalstar.com
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