Grand Island City Council approves new police chief, medical office building, housing plan

GRAND ISLAND, NE -- The city of Grand Island has a new police chief.

With the announced retirement of current Chief Robert Falldorf, the search of a new one started about six months ago. 

The  council approved the appointment of Kevin Denney as police chief. Denney has an extensive career of 29 years of law enforcement experience. He earned a bachelor’s in sociology, a master’s in criminal justice and public administration and he is about to complete his PhD in Criminal Justice.  He will be moving from Irving, Texas to Grand Island.

The city council had many things to approve at Tuesday’s meeting. 

Among the many things that were approved at the meeting was the redevelopment plan to change a proposed hotel to a medical office building.

The developer of the Prairie Commons area said they want to have the medical services together. A hotel might still be constructed in the future, but it would be moved across the street. 

A rezoning request was approved to allow for new development. They are proposing to develop a combination of single family homes, duplexes, and townhomes on the northeast corner of E 7th St. and Congdon Ave.

The council also discussed redevelopment plan for the mall. Council members approved contract changes to ease negotiation with the anchor stores which is set to be a central piece to the project.