Gage County Newsletter

By Don Schuller 4/1/24 Committee meeting:I questioned Highway Superintendent Mark Kuhnke about plans for the bridge on South 94th Road, south of Highway 8. The bridge is presently closed. Kuhnke informed the board the engineer needs to do hydrology computations and a land survey to design the bridge. It will be at least another year before construction will take place.I asked Kuhnke if the patching and milling of the Rockford blacktop could be completed sooner than this summer, as he had indicated at an earlier meeting. The road is in terrible shape due to waiting for the state’s schedule to assist with the cost of overlaying. There was discussion about hiring a private company to complete the patching rather than having the county crew do it. A private company may be more efficient due to the size of the project, and be able to get the job done sooner. Then hopefully it could be milled sooner. If not, at least the potholes are patched. Patching is done before milling so there are no remaining potholes after it is milled making a smooth surface. If it is patched following the milling, patches will make the road rough again. Chairman Tiemann asked Kuhnke to put a bid package together for contracting the patching.I asked Kuhnke how landowners are progressing with tree removal in road easements. He said some landowners are getting this done without notice from the county, but there are still intersections with trees or shrubs obstructing view. Landowners will be getting notification to remove these.Road and bridge:The portion of Hickory Road maintained currently by Blakely Township, Highway 103 east, is proposed to be taken over by the county. Blakely officials are in agreement. This will be presented to the board in two weeks for a vote.4/3/24 Regular meeting:A motion was made by Supervisor Haxby and seconded by Supervisor Dorn to table a decision on a special use permit for Pinpoint Communications to install buried fiber in the county easement. Much discussion took place. Supervisor Lytle questioned the purpose for the tabling. Both Lytle and I were concerned about hindering progress and causing unnecessary issues for Pinpoint. Haxby was adamant about tabling the decision to give her more time to look closer into this. She has expressed her dislike of the Public Service Commission providing Pinpoint a grant as opposed to using their grant money south of Wymore. Haxby said Pinpoint is using their grant to include an overlap along South 1st Road between Sargent and Dorsey Streets, an area already included in a contract the county has with Nextlink. Haxby said she supports capitalism and competition in the market, but she cannot support a permit to overbuild an area using government subsidies.The motion to table was approved unanimously. I voted to table due to lack of information. Pinpoint representatives were not present. I am not pleased that grant funds are being doubled up, but I am unsure that it is appropriate for a county board to deny a special use permit for this reason.Veterans Service Officer Scott Bates introduced Earl Adams. Mr. Adams is a Vietnam War vet. He was honored for his dedicated service with a gift and an award. Adams briefly shared a few of his scary experiences. He was exposed to Agent Orange, a chemical defoliant which has caused cancer issues such that he will be on medication for the rest of his life. Thank you, Mr. Adams for your service. If you know a veteran willing to be nominated to be honored, please contact the Veterans Service Office, 402-223-1342.Public Comment:Steve Knocke of Virginia addressed the board about completing the hard surfacing of the three miles of 162nd Rd (Virginia Road). He expressed gratitude for Haxby’s efforts in obtaining grants. He asked the board to continue to pursue grants for this project. The board is not allowed to comment during public comment.I asked Sheriff Gustafson to update us on the horses. He said the money earned from the sale of the horses is being held by the Clerk of District Court. The $16,000 of expenses for the county discussed earlier was for February only. Since then, the total has risen to nearly $40,000. More than $70,000 in donations have helped offset the county’s cost.Bids closed for two separate bids: Road Department security cameras and Sheriff’s Department door controllers at the courthouse. Two bids for each were received; Applied Connective at $23,388.80 and $52,715.99 respectively; and Diode Technology at $23,574.95 and $62,163.07 respectively. The bids were unanimously accepted and given to Building and Grounds Manager Dave Jones to review. Jones recommended approval of the Applied Connective bids for both contracts. There was discussion on warranty, etc. Bids were very close and comparable.A motion to approve the Applied Connective bid for the door control system was made by Lytle and seconded by Swavely. A motion was then made by Haxby and seconded by Lytle to approve the Applied Connective bid for the security cameras without additional warranty. Both motions passed 6-0.Tourism Director Dakota Hurley, joined by NGAGE Director Rachel Kreickemeier, explained a proposed project named Pioneer Place. The project will be located between 4th and 5th St. on Court St in Beatrice on a lot that is presently vacant. This project will serve all ages having two shuffle board courts, benches, picnic tables, and a water fountain. A motion to approve was made by Lytle and seconded by Swavely for a $20,000 grant from the Visitor Improvement Fund to pay for this project. The motion passed 5-0 with Tiemann abstaining due to possible conflict of interest.Hurley introduced Ron and Terri Sue Mazza of Food for Hope. Mrs. Mazza said they want to build a community learning center to complement their commercial kitchen. They are renovating a pole barn. They teach many different kinds of cooking and people come from all over to learn from them. Lytle spoke in support and said it is a good use of tourism funds. It will be a good addition to the community. Motion by Lytle seconded by Swavely to provide a $25,000 Visitor Improvement Grant toward this project, which is estimated to have a total cost of $210,000. The motion was approved 6-0.Motion by Haxby seconded by Dorn to approve the special use permit for the Dusenberry Ag business in Holt Township. The motion was approved unanimously. Public hearing on this permit was held during the last meeting.County Assessors’ Office employee Annette Corter retired. Tiemann thanked her for many years of outstanding service to the county, which began in 1993. Good luck in your retirement, Annette.I asked Tiemann about the status of the board signing an inter-local agreement with the state for the operation of the Extension Office because I had been contacted by an Extension board member. Tiemann explained that we have been operating on an extension of the previous agreement. The county has been providing employees which are supervised by the state. This causes issues with the employees due to different vacation and holiday policies etc. Tiemann said every county operates differently and has their own specific inter-local agreement. Tiemann would prefer to provide the state a lump sum, then have them hire the employees. Because the state isn’t receptive to this, the county has taken no further action. The board went into executive session to discuss the matter further.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.

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