Gage County Newsletter

By Don Schuller 7/8/24 Committee meeting:Road and bridge:Letters to landowners for tree removal in county easements are going out. An addition county employee is assisting the road superintendent in traveling the county roads to locate trees needing to be removed and sending out letters. The county is shredding shrubs and grass in some of the ditches to accommodate work the county plans to do. There is a position for the Planning and Zoning Commission as a member’s term is expiring. The board has established a policy that the incumbent must apply by completing an application as would any new applicants. All applicants will be considered. Anyone interested should contact the county clerk’s office. There will be other positions as the three-year terms expire. Application will be taken at any time. The clerk will keep them on file and contact applicants as positions are up for re-appointment. The board conducted a Zoom meeting with South East Nebraska Development District (SENDD) to discuss grant applications. SENDD representative Kelly Gentrup was present for discussion. The board is considering hiring SENDD to administer the grants we have been approved for. There is a great deal of paper work involved with getting the money even after the grant has been approved. It is a complicated process. 7/10/24 Regular meeting:I attended by phone for the first one and a half hours of the meeting. I had a family funeral to attend.Discussion took place for hiring a grant writer. Including, Seward County sharing a grant writer with us. Two Seward County officials were present for discussion. Nothing firm has been decided.Planning and Zoning Administrator Lisa Wiegand said Planning and Zoning (P & Z) held a public hearing for the special use permit for a commercial diesel repair business in Lincoln township. There was no one present at the hearing for or against the permit. P & Z recommended approval of the permit. Today the county board conducted a public hearing. Again no one was present for or against. A vote to approve or deny will be on the agenda of the next board meeting in two weeks. Waiting two weeks is policy.Sheriff Gustafson said the county incurred costs for the removal of a trailer home that collapsed while being hauled on a county road near Liberty. The owner was moving the trailer from Ellis to Liberty when it broke down. Chairman Tiemann asked for all expenses incurred for the removal.I ended my participation by phone at 9:50. The following is taken from the minutes. Discussion on Settlement Agreement and General Release between Josh Carpenter and Gage County. … move into closed session … regarding Settlement Agreement/General Release. …Motion made by Dorn, seconded by Swavely to approve Settlement Agreement and General Release between Josh Carpenter and Gage County. Motion carried 6-0.(It has been reported the total cost incurred by the county is near $15,000 for the hiring of a local firm to move the trailer to a salvage yard.) Discussion on Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Gage County, Norris Public Power District and Today’s Power, Inc. Braden Dvorak, Deputy Gage County Attorney and P&Z’s legal counsel, and Bruce Vitosh, General Manager of Norris Public Power Dist. spoke about the MOU. There will be two solar energy system sites in Gage County, constructed by Today’s Power, Inc. for the exclusive benefit of Norris PPD, Diller and Hoag. Today’s Power is responsible for decommissioning and Norris will put dollars into escrow to prevent any issues for their customers in case Today’s Power didn’t complete the decommissioning. A third-party engineer would do calculations on decommissioning. Motion made by Jurgens, seconded by Lytle to approve the MOU between Gage County, Norris Public Power District and Today’s Power, Inc. Motion carried 6-0. This highlights the portions of the county meetings I feel are most relevant to my constituents. Use the link below to view the actual minutes and hear audio of the board meeting, when posted. https://gagecountynebraska.us/board_meetings/enhanced_minutes.aspxFacebook: Don Schuller – Public Servant.

Robert R. “Bob” Hays

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