HOWARD COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MINUTES

 

MAY 31, 2007

 

 

A meeting of the Howard County Board of Commissioners was convened in open an public session on the 10th day of May, 2007, in the Boardroom, Howard County Courthouse, St. Paul, Nebraska.

 

Notice of the meeting was given thereof by publication in the Phonograph-Herald on the 23rd day of May 2007, 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 Seifert called the meeting to order at 8:45 a.m.  Roll Call:  Bill Sack, AYE; Lauren Scarborough, AYE; Rance Lierman, AYE;  Gary Rasmussen, AYE; Larry Seifert, AYE.    Also present is County Clerk Marge Palmberg and County Attorney Dave Schroeder.   Chairman Seifert 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

Highway Superintendent Jay Meyer gave the Board a brief report of damages to the county roads due to the rain.  He has not gone over the whole county as of yet.  He stated they will be keeping track of the hours the road men are working so this can be turned into NEMA.

 

He told the Board that an excavator was delivered to be tried out.  He contacted Jim’s Champlin and Aurora Coop regarding a fuel contract.  He stated that we contracted fuel at Jim’s Champlin at 2.35 and Aurora Coop at 2.38 for 10,000 gallons.

 

The road discussion will be continued later.

 

Veteran’s Budget

Veteran’s Service Officer Don Shuda and county veteran’s John VanWinkle, Larry Kiser, Arnold Kyhn and Alfred Novotny were present to meet with the Commissioner’s regarding the annual budget.  The County has contracted with Hall County for Veteran’s services.  Mr. Shuda gave the Board statistics on veteran services’ in Howard County for this past year.  The Board wanted it stated in the record that Mr. Shuda has done a great job for Howard County and thanked him for a job well done. After more discussion, motion was made by Seifert and second by Lierman to have the veteran’s service budget set at 26,180 for the 2007-08 budget year.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

 

 

 

St. Libory Fire Department

Ron Dvorak, representing the St. Libory Fire Department, met with the Board in regard to a special designated license permit for the Blues Festival to be held on June 23rd.  Motion was made by Scarborough and second by Lierman to approve this permit.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

 

Bootlegger Inc.

Harley Conway, representing Bootlegger Inc. met with the Board in regard to a special designated license permit.  They will be doing the beer garden for the Howard County Ag Society bull riding event to be held on June 15th at the fairgrounds.  Motion was made by Sack and second by Lierman to approve this permit.  Roll Call: All Ayes.  Motion carried.

 

Road Discussion continued

Road secretary Jackie Mayberry presented a request from Qwest for an underground cable permit for Cody Road in Section 5-15-10.  Motion was made by Rasmussen and second by Lierman to approve this request.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

Motor Grader

Discussion was held on the financing of the new John Deere motor grader the county purchased.  The Board voted at the last meeting to do business with the St. Paul Bank for $100,000 over four years.  After much discussion, motion was made by Seifert to pay for the motor grader between the highway superintendent fund and the road fund rather than using the bank as the county has the money to pay for it this fiscal year.  Scarborough seconded this motion. Roll Call: Sack, AYE; Scarborough, AYE; Lierman, AYE; Rasmussen, NAY, Seifert, AYE.  Motion carried 4-1.  The Board felt that we did not want to amend the budget with only one month to go and Treasurer Connie Nickel had stated at the last meeting there was money in CD’s to cover it and could be budgeted in July.

 

Executive Session

Motion was made by Chairman Seifert to go into executive session at 10:02 am for the purpose of discussing personnel with the County Board, County Attorney, County Clerk, Hwy Superintendent and Don Wilson present.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

Motion was made by Seifert and second by Scarborough to come out of executive session at 10:18 am with no action taken.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

County Audit

At the last board meeting on May 10th , it was decided to ask for proposals for doing the county audit for this next fiscal year.  Proposals were received from Tonniges & Associates; Dana F. Cole& Company; Contryman and Associates and the State Auditor’s office.  Copies were made and distributed to the Board for them to review.  This will be put on the agenda for the next meeting.

 

Road Discussion continued

Road secretary Jackie Mayberry asked the Board about the safety manual and if they had any changes to be made.  Motion was made by Scarborough and second by Rasmussen to approve the safety manual as presented.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

Jackie discussed with the Board the fuel tax at the Pump & Pantry in St. Libory where we fuel county vehicles.  We are applying for a refund on the fuel tax.

 

Discussion was held on the county road damage due to the rain.  The road department is keeping track of any incident reports and Jackie wanted to know if the Board wanted the county to be considered a disaster.  It was decided that if we don’t send anything in, we would not receive any funds.  Motion was made by Scarborough and second by Lierman to have Howard County declared a local disaster and send in incident and status reports.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

Tim Renz, representing Caterpillar, met with the Board regarding the purchase of an excavator.  He had been contacted by Jay and asked to visit with the Commissioners.  He has a used one at a price of $55,000 that has been delivered here for the guys to try out.  After much discussion, motion was made by Scarborough and second by Seifert that Jay set individual specs and solicit bids for an excavator, low boy trailer and tractor.  Roll Call:  All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

Planning and Zoning

Alan McGuire met with the Board regarding the flood zone in the Dannebrog area.  He purchased a lot in the Oak Creek Subdivision and has been told that he is in the flood zone mapping district.  He is requesting that the Commissioners take his property out of the flood zone.  Zoning Administrator Franz Trumler stated several ways that this could be done but it then places the liability on the county.  County Attorney Dave Schroeder said that he would recommend to the Board not to do this because of the liability.  No action was taken.

 

Affidavit of Error

Jim Hirschman met with the Board in regard to an affidavit of error on some property that he had sold.  Motion was made by Seifert and second by Lierman to approve this paperwork and have Mr. Hirschman record this in the County Clerk’s office.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

Planning and Zoning Guidelines

Zoning Administrator Franz Trumler had some changes to the guidelines in the comprehensive plan for the county.  Motion was made by Seifert and second by Scarborough to add Section 10 to the county’s comprehensive plan.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

Salary Correction

It was found that an error had been made to a former road foreman’s salary when there had been a change in 2006.  Motion was made by Seifert and second by Sack to equalize the pay after an adjustment is made to correct clerical errors.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

Surplus Equipment

County Attorney Dave Schroeder had given the Board a letter in regard to two Gateway computers that have no value and the hard drive has been taken out of both so he is requesting they be declared surplus property so they may be disposed of.  Motion was made by Lierman and second by Sack that they be made surplus equipment and be disposed of.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.  The two computers that will be taken off the county inventory are: Gateway Computer  SN 001482602 and Gateway Computer SN 0019095855

 

The Board recessed for lunch at 12:00 noon.

 

The Board reconvened at 1:15 pm. 

 

 

Rescind Motion

Motion was made by Sack and second by Rasmussen to rescind their motion from the previous meeting to enter into a lease/purchase agreement with St. Paul Bank for the purchase of a motor grader.  Roll Call:  All Ayes. Motion carried.  It was determined there were enough funds for the purchase of the motor grader.

 

Patrol Car Bid

The Board received only one bid for the purchase of the used patrol car, 1993 Ford Crown Victoria, VIN 2FACP71W9PX175286.  Motion was made by Seifert and second by Rasmussen to accept the bid from Jerome Zulkoski for $302.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

Payroll Claims

Motion was made by Rasmussen and second by Lierman to approve the payroll 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:

 

                                                      PAYROLL CLAIMS

 

                                    General Salary                                     65,305.71

                                    Road Salary                                        33,945.05

                                    Weed Salary                                          2,443.42

                                    Communications Salary                      12,096.92

                                    Civil Defense Salary                                262.48

                                    Federal W/H                                       8,957.00

                                    State W/H                                           3,316.51

                                    BCBS Insurance                                 27,897.99

                                    FICA/Medicare                                   17,285.82

                                    Retirement                                          12,903.33

                                    NE Child Support                                    144.00

 

 

Minutes

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

 

 

 

Health Insurance

The Board received the Blue Cross Blue Shield contract for this coming year effective July 1, 2007.  The company had done away with the $250 deductible.  Motion was made by Rasmussen and second by Sack to go with the $500 deductible with the understanding that an adjustment may be made in June.  Roll Call: All Ayes.  Motion carried.  The Clerk will fax the contract into Omaha.  Blue Cross wants the contract signed and faxed to them today.

 

Meeting Date

The County Commissioners will meet on June 18th and not their regular meeting day.  The Clerk will put the notice in the paper.

 

There being no further business to come before the Board, motion was made by Sack and second by Rasmussen to adjourn at 4:37 pm.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

Dated this 31st day of May 2007.

 

Larry Seifert, Chairman

 

ATTEST:

 

Marge Palmberg

Howard County Clerk