First Super Board Meeting Called “Very Beneficial”

By Gordon HopkinsThe first meeting of the Jefferson County Super Board was held Thursday, December 5, 2024. The meeting was not open to the public but one of the attendees, Jefferson County Commissioner mark Schoenrock, gave a report to his fellow commissioners at a meeting Tuesday morning, December 10. Schoenrock described the meeting as “very beneficial.”The concept of a super board was first proposed by the new Fairbury Public School Superintendent Dr. Devin Embray. The idea is that a meeting of multiple governing bodies, including commissioners, Fairbury City Council and the Fairbury Public School Board, would be primarily about sharing information between the three entities. The super board does not include a quorum of any governing body and no actions are voted on. The first meeting was held in the superintendent’s office. Present were Dr. Embray; school board members Andrea Smith and Jonathan Winters; newly-elected Fairbury Mayor Kelly Davis; city council members Charles Endorf and Bradley Kuzelka; and Commissioner Schoenrock.Schoenrock said, “ I think probably one of the main things that we discussed is the challenges that each of our three boards have had, to continue to provide top quality services to our citizens now, whether it’s the county board, the city council or the school board, in the face of dramatically rising costs.”Also discussed were infrastructure and the increasing costs of retaining employees. Schoenrock said, “The school board discussed a lot of the challenges they have keeping staff. You know, keeping the personnel is always a challenge. They’ve got some pretty significant infrastructure needs that they’re going to have to address now, as well as the City of Fairbury. They mentioned those same things.” Prior to the super board meeting, Jefferson County Commissioners heard a presentation from the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) regarding the state’s Infrastructure Hub, a portal designed to pair grants with infrastructure projects.“We have been working with the governor and the legislature for the last couple of years to try to address that issue, that for a lot of these larger projects, we’re never going to have the funding within our budgets, whether it’s the county, the city or the schools, said Schoenrock. “We now have an office at the state level to help local governments obtain those kinds of external funds. So just a huge step forward. And you know, they were all very interested in learning about that.”Also discussed were the impact of drugs and crime on all levels of government, as well as the need for additional mental health services and child care.Originally, the super board intended to meet quarterly. However, Schoenrock indicated the board will instead meet every other month.He also hopes the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the County Attorney can participate in future meetings.The next super board meeting will be on February, 6, 2025.

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