HOWARD COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MINUTES

JUNE 12, 2008

A meeting of the Howard County Board of Commissioners was convened in open and public session on the 12^th day of June 2008, in the Boardroom, Howard County Courthouse, St. Paul, Nebraska.

Notice of the meeting was given thereof by publication in the Phonograph-Herald on the 4^th day of June 2008 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.

Vice-Chairman Sack called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. Roll Call: Bill Sack, AYE; Lauren Scarborough, AYE; Rance Lierman, AYE; Gary Rasmussen, AYE; Larry Seifert, ABSENT. Chairman Seifert had contacted the board members and stated he would not be able to make this meeting. Also present are County Attorney Bob Sivick and County Clerk Marge Palmberg. Vice-Chairman Sack 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

Commissioner Lierman presented an underground pipe permit that had been requested by Tim Duester between the SE ¼ of Section 20-14-12 and SW ¼ of Section 20-14-12. Motion was made by Lierman and second by Rasmussen to approve this permit. Roll Call: All Ayes.

Commissioner Rasmussen stated that John Reimers had contacted him regarding water drainage by his place.

Mail

Correspondence was received from the City of St. Paul regarding a public hearing and a letter from CNCS regarding the reappointment of Commissioner Lierman to their board.

Emergency Manager

Discussion was held on the emergency management program. Motion was made by Scarborough and second by Lierman to appoint Michelle Woitalewicz as a chief deputy of Emergency Management. Roll Call: All Ayes.

Hospital Board

County Attorney Sivick had contacted Hospital Administrator Art Frable regarding the Board of Trustees. After they had discussed it further, the hospital decided to keep the same number of board members so no action is needed.

Executive Session

Motion was made by Lierman and second by Rasmussen to go into executive session at 8:51 am with the County Board, County Attorney and County Clerk for the purpose of discussing personnel. Roll Call: All Ayes.

Motion was made by Scarborough and second by Lierman to come out of executive session at 9:56 am with no action taken. Roll Call: All Ayes.

Emergency Management

Jackie Mayberry met with the Board to present the Disaster Declaration for the Vice-Chairman’s and Clerk’s signatures. Motion was made by Scarborough and second by Lierman to approve this. Roll Call: All Ayes.

Computer Lab Training

Franz Trumler met with the Board to discuss the Bit Mobile Computer Lab. It would cost $270 per day and classes would be taught for a week. The Board asked Franz to do a survey to see how much interest there would be with the county employees and report back to them.

Extension Office

Extension Educator Cheryl Tickner met with the Commissioners to discuss the Youth Tech Computer session they will be having. She asked permission from the Board to have the bit mobile connected with electricity from the courthouse. The Board stated there was no problem and felt this would be a good service for our youth.

Cheryl also discussed the extension budget with the Board. She stated that the $2000 for a laptop computer which came out of their budget should have been taken from the equipment budget, thus they did not have enough to cover this expense. The Board stated they understood but asked that they be mindful of their budget.

Protest Hearing Dates

Discussion was held regarding valuation protest hearing dates. It was decided to set July 7 through July 12^th and July 14 through July 16^th to hear valuation protests. Times will be decided at a later date.

Consent Agenda

Motion was made by Lierman and second by Rasmussen to approve the consent agenda consisting claims in the amount of $143,187.83 and the minutes of the 5-27-08 meeting. Roll Call: Sack, AYE; Scarborough AYE with the exception of claim number 08060104 for Sheriff Schenck’s uniform cleaning in the amount of $47.80; Lierman, AYE; Rasmussen, AYE.

Assessor Deloris Heminger inquired about her budget as she had been notified that she had gone over her budget and she wanted to know if the Board paid the claims she had submitted. The Board stated they made a transfer of $4,228.09 to the Assessor’s fund, a transfer of $25,885.61 to the Jail fund and a transfer of $1195.39 to the Extension fund from the Miscellaneous General fund so that all claims would be paid.

Budget Amendment

Discussion was held on the county budget. The budget will have to be amended to transfer money to cover unexpected expenses this fiscal year. Motion was made by Scarborough and second by Rasmussen to amend the 2007-2008 budget in the amount of $98,873.84. Roll Call: All Ayes. The Road budget will need $63,222.79 and Communications will need $35,651.05 to cover June expenses.

Restricted Funds

Discussion was held on this next year’s budget. Motion was made by Lierman and second by Rasmussen to increase the restricted budget authority by an additional 1% for the 2008-2009 budget years. Roll Call: All Ayes.

County Health Insurance

It was decided to table the discussion of the county health insurance until the next meeting.

Public Comment

Citizen John Reimers had some pictures he wanted the Board to look at concerning the water drainage issue on his property.

There being no further business to come before the Board, motion was made by Rasmussen and second by Lierman to adjourn the meeting at 11:16 am. Roll Call: All Ayes. The next regular meeting will be on June 26^th.

Dated this 12^th day of June 2008.

Bill Sack, Vice-Chairman

Howard County Board of Commissioners

ATTEST:

Marge Palmberg

Howard County Clerk