HOWARD COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MINUTES

 

OCTOBER 26, 2006

 

 

A meeting of the Howard County Board of Commissioners was convened in open an public session on the 26th day of October 2006, in the Boardroom, Howard County Courthouse, St. Paul, Nebraska.

 

Notice of the meeting was given thereof by publication in the Phonograph-Herald on the 18th day of October 2006, a proof of publication filed in the Clerk’s office.  Copies of the agenda were posted in the courthouse, the county web site, mailed to each Commissioner, and kept current and available to the public at the County Clerk’s office.

 

Notice of the meeting was given to the County Board and a receipt of their acknowledgment is also filed in the Clerk’s office.

 

Chairman Bader called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m.  Roll Call: Jim Watson, AYE; Bill Sack, AYE; Larry Seifert, ABSENT; Gary Rasmussen, ABSENT; Philip Bader, AYE.    Also present is County Clerk Marge Palmberg.   Commissioner Seifert is out of the state and Commissioner Rasmussen will be here shortly. Chairman Bader also stated to those in attendance that a current copy of the Nebraska Open Meetings Act is available for review and indicated the location of such copy in the room where the meeting is being held.

 

Road Discussion

Road secretary Jackie Mayberry met with the Board to discuss the permit application for Twin Loups which will be under Friend Road.  Motion was made by Watson and second by Sack to approve the permit.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

Rasmussen is present at 8:45 am.

 

There was also discussion on the road by some property of Al Waskoviak’s 80 acres.  This will be addressed at a later date when more information has been gathered.  Also discussed was a letter from the Palmer School requesting some gravel be placed on a bus route.

 

Mail

The notice had been returned by Nielsen Construction regarding the Paul Street bridge; a fax from the US Department of Commerce regarding the Boundary and Annexation Survey and a letter from Senator Don Preister regarding the Open Meetings Act.

 

Minutes

Motion was made by Sack and second by Watson to approve the minutes of the last meeting.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

Audit Contract

The Board received the contact agreement from Tonniges & Associates regarding the audit for this last fiscal year.  The Board had approved this at a previous meeting.  Chairman Bader signed the agreement.

 

Juvenile Fund Discussion

Commissioner Watson had discussed this at the last meeting briefly as he is concerned as to whether the reports are being sent in.  He will send a letter in regard to this.

 

Payroll Claims

Motion was made by Watson and second by Sack to approve the claims as submitted by the County Clerk.  Roll Call: All Ayes.  Motion carried.  The following claims were audited and checks drawn on their regular funds.

 

 

            General Salary                                     60,477.79

            Road Salary                                        30,845.56

            Civil Defense Salary                                265.25

            Weed Salary                                          2,343.42

            Communications Salary                        9,128.86

            Federal W/H                                         7,862.95

            State W/H                                             3,002.39

            BCBS Insurance                                 27,730.01

            FICA/Medicare                                   15,708.62

            Retirement                                            9,967.39

            NE Child Support Center                        144.00

 

 

Tagge Engineering – Rose Road

Bruce Tagge, representing Tagge Engineering, met with the Board to discuss Rose Road.  Mr. Raddatz had been asked by the Board to do a study on widening this road.  After much discussion, motion was made by Watson and second by Sack to add Rose Road on the 1 Year Plan as to widening and improving the road from the Windmill Feed yard north to 18th Avenue.  Roll Call: All Ayes.  Motion carried.  Hwy Supt Jay Meyer will amend the 1 Year Plan to include this.

 

Motion was made by Watson and second by Sack to start the engineering survey work which would incorporate both the survey and design plan.  Mr. Raddatz estimated the project would cost approximately $13,000.  Roll Call: Bader, AYE; Rasmussen, NAY; Sack, AYE; Watson, AYE.  Motion carried.  Commissioner Rasmussen stated for the record that he feels if we are going to build this road, it should be done right using a 66’ right of way and make sure the state will allow.  Also discussed was the moving of the REA poles which would probably be at the county’s expense.

 

 

 

 

Culvert Public Hearing

Motion was made by Sack and second by Rasmussen to open the public hearing at 10:00 am.  Roll Call: All Ayes.  Motion carried.  Hwy Supt Jay Meyer, Dan Fredrick is present along with Bob Graham as he is one of the property owners.  A letter had been sent to Eugene Hurt who is the adjacent land owner.  Discussion was had on the placement of two culverts.  Motion was made by Sack and second by Watson to close the public hearing at 10:25 pm. Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

Motion was made by Watson and second by Sack to approve the placement of a 36” culvert to replace the 24” that is there and to lower to the right elevation.  Roll Call: All Ayes.  Motion carried.

 

Patrol Car Bids

Sheriff Schenck met with Board to review the bids for 2 patrol cars.  He had the specs for the 2007 Ford Crown Victoria which he had advertised for.  Bids were received from:

 

            Tincher Ford

            Plattsmouth, NE                     $21,099

 

            Anderson Ford                        $21,122

            Grand Island, NE

 

            Jacobs Ford                             $21,509

            St. Paul, NE

 

The Commissioners stated they would rather purchase locally and try to do this if they possibly can.   Sheriff Schenck stated that Jacobs Ford had been very good to them regarding servicing the vehicles even though they were not purchased from them.  The Sheriff stated that Unit 7 has around 101,000 miles on it and Unit 8 has approximately 105,000.  He would like to keep Unit 7 as a spare for Deputy Jensen to use on weekends and we should not have to purchase new equipment as they would transfer from the old vehicles.  Motion was made by Sack and second by Watson to purchase the patrol cars from Jacobs Ford as per their bid.

 

Assessor Neal Dethlefs met with the Board requesting we keep Unit 8 for county use.  The old vehicle is in need of some costly maintenance.  The Board stated that we will keep Unit 8 and put in on the Assessor’s inventory for county use.

 

Vehicle Title Discussion

Discussion was had on the transfer of the motor vehicle titles from the County Clerk’s office to the County Treasurer’s office.  Treasurer Connie Nickel was also present.  County Clerk Marge Palmberg had contacted the State Department of Motor Vehicles regarding this transfer.  She was told that the State had been encouraging County Treasurers to consider the consolidation of motor vehicle services and taking over the issuance of motor vehicle titles for the convenience of the public for a couple of years.  It would make the titling process a “one stop” service to accommodate the public. The County Clerk was told there are approximately 30 counties that now have the “one stop” service in the state with more coming on board each year.  After much discussion, motion was made by Watson and second by Sack to approve the resolution which would reallocate the motor vehicle services from the County Clerk’s office to the County Treasurer’s office.  Roll Call: All Ayes.  Motion carried.  Discussion was then had on when this transfer would take place.  Commissioner Rasmussen stated to do the process as soon as possible.  The resolution states December 1, 2006 but the Clerk will contact the DMV department regarding this.  Motion was made by Bader and second by Watson that it will depend on when the State can make arrangements.  Treasurer Connie Nickel stated she would like to wait until February 1, 2007 before this occurs.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

Mid Plains Center

Commissioner Watson spoke to the Board regarding the services that Mid-Plains provides to the county and had copies of their annual management report for review.

 

Executive Session

Motion was made by Watson and second by Sack to convene into executive session at 11:13 am for the purpose of personnel discussion with the County Board and County Clerk in attendance.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.  

 

Motion was made by Watson and second by Sack to come out of executive session at 11:34 am with no action taken.  Roll Call: All Ayes.

 

Road Discussion

The Board discussed the hours of the road department employees.  It was determined that with the time change, motion was made by Bader and second by Sack that the road employee work hours will be from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm with a mandatory 30 minute lunch break.  This will become effective on November 1, 2006 until March 1, 2007.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

There being no further business to come before the Board, motion was made Sack and second by Watson to adjourn the meeting at 11:40 am.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.  The next regular meeting of the County Board will be November 9th at 8:30 am.

 

Dated this 26th day of October 2006.

 

                                                Philip G. Bader, Chairman

 

ATTEST:

 

Marge Palmberg

Howard County Clerk