2025 APA Nebraska Awards

Emerging Practicing Planner Award: Rashad Moxey

The Emerging Practicing Planner Award recognizes someone who demonstrated an exceptional commitment and understanding towards the planning profession through distinguished practice, teaching, or writing.

Rashad Moxey is a planner in the with the Grand Island Community Development Department. He is a professional planner with a Masters of Community and Regional Planning from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and has been a Planner for the Hall County Regional Planning Commission since January 2018. Rashad has presented on several occasions at this Conference and the fall NPZA online workshop. He has been involved in numerous projects for the Grand Island and Hall County Community Development Department including helping establish the 4th Street Business Improvement District; managing the MicroTIF process adopted by the City of Grand Island; providing GIS support for the planning department and consultants working with the City of Grand Island and Hall County. Rashad is on the board of directors for the Grand Island YMCA and coaches football and track for the Doniphan Trumbell Highschool.

Wozniak-Selander Award For a Planning Pioneer: Wynn Hjermstad, AICP

This award recognizes personal and direct innovations in American planning that have significantly and positively redirected planning practice, education, or theory with long-term results.

Wynn Hjermstad has over 35 years of experience working in city planning and contributing to the profession. She began her career as a Neighborhood specialist, retiring last year as Livable Neighborhoods Manager for the City of Lincoln. Over the years, Wynn managed redevelopment and revitalization projects from small neighborhood projects to large scale redevelopments like Antelope Valley where she was instrumental in its inception in conjunction with the Joint Antelope Valley Authority’s work to decrease the impact of the flood plain, improve transportation, and spur private reinvestment. Wynn was also responsible for implementing Lincoln’s Affordable Housing Coordinated Action Plan, overseeing Lincoln’s federally-funded community and housing assistance programs, the City of Lincoln Lead Safe Lincoln grant, and, during the pandemic, the government's related Housing and Utility Assistance funds. Lastly, while she may not agree, she was instrumental in developing a TIF-driven residential rental rehabilitation program to increase housing quality, quantity, and affordability in Lincoln’s South of Downtown neighborhoods.  

President’s Award: Dr. Zhenghong Tang

The President’s Award recognizes outstanding contribution to the Nebraska Chapter through distinguished service, Chapter promotion, new programs or innovative processes.

Dr. Tang is a professor in the Community and Regional Planning Program in the College of Architecture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His research focuses on environmental planning, hazard mitigation, and Geo-AI. Dr. Tang's work aims to strengthen local planning capacity, fostering greater community resilience and environmental sustainability. He was recently promoted to associate dean for research and innovation for the college of architecture.

Dr. Tang also serves as a professor in the Landscape Architecture Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He also holds a courtesy professor in the School of Natural Resources and the School of Global Integrative Studies, and serves as a faculty fellow in the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute and the Center for Great Plains Studies. Dr. Tang has been a great partner for the chapter over the years, serving as the UNL liaison to the APA NE board and supporting student involvement in chapter activities such as the fall workshop and this conference.

Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan: Bellevue’s Comprehensive and Transportation Plan

This award recognizes a comprehensive or general plan that advances the science and art of planning. The award honors America’s most famous planner, Daniel Burnham, for his contributions to the planning profession and to a greater awareness of the benefits of good planning.

Two plans in one, Our Future View is both a Comprehensive Plan and a Long-Range Transportation Plan. This joint planning effort involved the execution of a joint planning process including communications and marketing, data analysis, community engagement, development of plan recommendations, and implementation steps. The Plan took an innovative approach to land use recommendations, thinking in terms of community investment and focus areas to determine districts, destinations, and economic development hubs.

The planning process began with a visioning workshop that got to the heart of Bellevue’s vision for the future. This workshop laid the foundation for the vision statement and values that were refined throughout the planning process and eventually listed in Section 2 of the Plan document. A three-day planning and design charrette served as one of the core engagement activities that shaped the development of the Plan.

One reviewer said the plan “is an innovative, action-oriented vision that seamlessly integrates land use, mobility, and economic development strategies. By combining a Comprehensive Plan and Long-Range Transportation Plan into one cohesive framework, Bellevue has set a new standard for community-driven, implementation-focused planning. With strong public engagement, strategic policy alignment, and clear action steps, this plan is a model for shaping sustainable, connected, and thriving communities.” Congratulations to the team who developed Our Future View!

Planning Excellence Award: Connect Omaha Active Mobility Plan

This award recognizes how planning is essential to addressing desires, needs, or challenges and emphasizes outcomes and demonstrates how planning helps to create stronger, more equitable communities.

While Omaha has developed as an automobile-focused city, it’s also home to a vibrant active mobility community passionate about traveling through active modes of transportation. To better support these travelers, the City of Omaha sought ways to enhance safety for all active modes of transportation, sparking the development of the ConnectOmaha: Active Mobility Plan. The project team used multiple approaches to gather input, including an online questionnaire, participation at community events, and open houses resulting in more than 500 participants.

Part of the plan’s success relies on aligning City policies with active mobility goals. The plan recommends enhancements to the municipal code, comprehensive plan, and Complete Streets policy, among others. The plan aims to create a more equitable transportation system across the City, allowing community members to walk, bike, and roll more easily as viable modes of transportation. With unanimous approval from the mayor’s office and city council, the City is well-positioned to start bringing prioritized projects to life. The jury felt this plan was “a groundbreaking transportation initiative that transforms Omaha’s car-centric infrastructure into a multimodal, equitable network.” Congratulations to the City of Omaha on their Active Mobility Plan!

Planning Excellence Award: Western Sarpy County Transportation Enhancement Program (WESTEP)

This award recognizes how planning is essential to addressing desires, needs, or challenges and emphasizes outcomes and demonstrates how planning helps to create stronger, more equitable communities.

The Western Sarpy County Transportation Enhancement Plan (WESTEP) is a strategic transportation plan for western Sarpy County, developed in collaboration with the City of Gretna, the City of Papillion, the City of Springfield, Sarpy County, and the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency (MAPA). WE-STEP provides a framework to help the rapidly changing communities develop for future generations. The plan identifies a proposed future regional transportation network and flexible guidelines that can fit with whatever develops around it.

There is a need to develop a plan for a connected, multimodal transportation network that provides safe, efficient transportation and supports planned residential, commercial, and industrial development. A unified set of policies, guidelines, and standards used by the County and each city is recommended to ensure that roadway design, right-of-way (ROW) allocation, utility coordination, and the like are consistent and cohesive across jurisdictions.

With the growth and progress anticipated in the coming years, it is paramount that the transportation network supports upcoming development to ensure a thriving future for the community–one with a network of streets, public transit, and alternative modes of transportation that connect the communities of western Sarpy County. According to one reviewer the Plan “is an exemplary model of regional, multimodal, and collaborative transportation planning. It meets and exceeds the required award criteria and should be recognized for its innovation, stakeholder collaboration, and clear path to implementation.” Congratulations to the We STEP team!

Planning Excellence Award: Lincoln SODO Rental Rehab Program

This award recognizes how planning is essential to addressing desires, needs, or challenges and emphasizes outcomes and demonstrates how planning helps to create stronger, more equitable communities.

Both the City of Lincoln’s 2020 Affordable Housing Coordinated Action Plan and the South of Downtown Redevelopment and Strategic Plan identified improving the quality of existing affordable housing as high priorities leading to the SODO rental rehab program. The goal of the program is to improve the quality of existing affordable housing, extend the life of the building, ensure tenants are provided with decent, safe, and sanitary housing at an affordable rent, and improve energy efficiency. TIF was used to create a local funding mechanism for rental unit improvements and has proven to be an effective tool to meet these needs. 

Although rental rehab programs are not new, this is the only program in Nebraska, and possibly nationally, that is funded 100% through local funds generated by TIF  In the first round, completed in 2023, 109 units were completed with an investment of $1.6 million. Round 2 began late last year and will rehab 118 units with an investment of $1.7 million.

Owner contributions and incentives provided by Lincoln Electric Systems (LES) through their Sustainable Energy Program help boost the overall impact. The program was designed after several years of community engagement with the neighborhood during the SODO Redevelopment and Strategic Plan development. One reviewer commented “By ensuring long-term affordability, engaging the community, and incorporating energy-efficient improvements, the program enhances housing quality without displacement. With measurable success and strong potential for replication, this initiative sets a new standard in housing preservation and economic development.”