HOWARD COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MINUTES

 

JULY 12, 2007

 

 

A meeting of the Howard County Board of Commissioners was convened in open and public session on the 28th day of July 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 3rd day of July 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 8:40 a.m.  Roll Call:  Bill Sack, ABSENT; Lauren Scarborough, AYE; Rance Lierman, AYE;  Gary Rasmussen, ABSENT; Larry Seifert, AYE.    Also present are 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.  Commissioner Sack called the Clerk’s office and stated he would not be able to attend today and  Commissioner Rasmussen called and said that he would be late.

 

Road Discussion

Shannon Mackey was on the agenda to discuss an abandoned road in Section 33-13-12.  There was no discussion or action taken as there was no one to present any information regarding this.

 

County Attorney Dave Schroeder was excused at 8:45 am as he had court in Bartlett.

 

Consent Agenda

Motion was made by Lierman and second by Scarborough to approve the consent agenda which consists of reports, minutes of the previous meeting and claims in the amount of $231,771.88.

Roll Call: Scarborough, AYE; Lierman, AYE; Seifert, AYE.  The claims were audited and checks were drawn on their regular accounts.  The Claims will appear at the end of the minutes.

 

Thiele Survey Discussion

Mike and Katie Thiele were present to discuss with the Board the subdivision of their property and a survey that had been done back in 1997 or 1998.  The Board asked if they would visit with Zoning Administrator Franz Trumler and then come back to them later this morning as they are in need of more information.

 

Treasurer Corrections

Deputy Treasurer Loretta McDowell was present to discuss credit refunds for Dennis & Shirley Brandt for the age of their garage and for Candace Tenopir for corrected data to her home.  Credit refund to Dennis Brandt is $l7.98 and for Candace Tenopir a total of $535.91.  Motion was made by Seifert and second by Scarborough to approve the credits.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

 

 

Blue Cross Blue Shield

Discussion was held on the deductible for the county employee health insurance.  Blue Cross Blue Shield will no longer offer the $250 deductible that the county has carried so the Board needs to choose which deductible they will carry.  After more discussion, motion was made by Seifert and second by Lierman that due to time constraint, the county will use the $500 deductible.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.  They stated that they will look into this after the first of the year when we can have a representative come to a meeting and give an explanation for each deductible.

 

McDowell Public Hearing

Motion was made by Scarborough and second by Lierman to open the public hearing at 9:30 am for the liquor license application of Miretta Vineyards.  Roll Call: All Ayes.  Present are Mick McDowell and Loretta McDowell of 1420 Indian Street, St. Paul, NE to meet with the Board.  They have applied for Class Y license for their vineyard.

As there was no one present, motion was made by Lierman and second by Scarborough to close the public hearing at 9:35 am.  Roll Call: Seifert, AYE; Lierman, AYE; Scarborough, AYE; Sack, ABSENT; Rasmussen, ABSENT.

After some discussion was held regarding the vineyard, motion was made by Scarborough and second by Lierman to approve the application of the McDowell’s.  Roll Call: Seifert, AYE; Scarborough, AYE; Lierman, AYE; Sack, ABSENT; Rasmussen, ABSENT.  The paperwork will be completed by the Clerk and sent to the State Liquor Commission.

 

Sheriff’s Department

The Commissioners had received a letter from the Dannebrog Community Watch and two letters from Joan Kapustka regarding law enforcement patrol in Dannebrog and Boelus.  Sheriff Harold Schenck met with the Board to discuss the letters.  He had statistics of the number of times the deputies patrol the rural areas and rural communities.  They are as follows:

 

                                                                      May                            June

                        Boelus                                     30                                27

                        Dannebrog                              52                                38

                        Farwell                                                16                                12

                        Elba                                         48                                24

                        Cotesfield                               39                                15

                        Cushing                                   26                                18

                        St. Libory                                67                                63

 

The Sheriff stated that he would respond to the letters and cite the statistics to them. He also stated that a deputy may patrol the community several times a day, but they only record it one time. 

 

Commissioner Rasmussen is present at 10:06 am.

 

Hospital Budget

Hospital Administrator Art Frable, Finance Officer Jeanine Soneson and Hospital Trustee Ron Tagge met to review the hospital budget with the Board.  They also had some diagrams of the new addition for the clinic which they shared with the Board.  Discussion was held on the purchase agreement between the Hospital and Rickie & Linda Goettsche.  This will be relayed to the County Attorney as a resolution will have to be prepared for the transaction.

 

After review of the hospital budget, motion was made by Seifert and second by Lierman to approve the budget as presented.  Roll Call: All Ayes.  Motion carried.

 

Planning and Zoning - Mike & Katie Thiele

Zoning Administrator Franz Trumler and Mike and Katie Thiele met with the Board to go over some concerns the Thiele’s have in regard to a survey they had done and a subdivision of their land.  They had met earlier with the Board but Chairman Seifert stated that they would need to discuss it with our zoning administrator first.  Franz contacted DEQ and will visit with them regarding the situation.  There was no action taken as the County Attorney was not present so this will be discussed at a later when more information is received.

 

County Budget

Terry Galloway met with the Board to review some numbers on the budget for this year. They went over several departments on the budget list.  He was given some new figures so will meet with the Board again at their next meeting.

 

As there was no further business to come before the Board, motion was made by Scarborough and second by Lierman to adjourn the meeting at 12:25 pm.  Roll Call: All Ayes. Motion carried.

 

The next regular meeting of the County Commissioners will be July 26th.

 

Dated this 12th day of July 2007.

 

 

Larry Seifert, Chairman

 

ATTEST:

 

Marge Palmberg

Howard County Clerk