NOTICE OF MEETING
NOTICE
IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Regular meeting of the Otoe County Commissioners of
AGENDA OF THE NEXT MEETING MARCH
25, 2008
8:30 a.m. -- Open Meeting; call roll;
accept agenda; accept minutes from
previous
meetings; audit and sign payroll claims and regular claims
8:40 a.m. -- Rick Sedersten,
Custodian: Discussion and/or action RE: Concrete safety hazards
Discussion
and/or action RE: Proposals to repair or replace Courthouse railing
8:45
a.m. – Public Hearing: Westfield Estates Final Plat – located in part of N ½ SW
¼ 10-8-13
Discussion and/or action RE:
Administrative Replat of Lot 1, Baker Schoolhouse
Subdivision
as requested by
owner Joy E Reese
9:00 a.m. – Gregg Goebel, EMA:
Discussion and/or action RE: Interlocal Agreement for
Cooperative
Public
Safety Services among 14
9:15 a.m. – Glen Steffensmeier, Highway Supt: Discussion
and/or action regarding road and bridge matters
a) Discussion
and/or action: Storage space rental for motor graders
b) Discussion
and/or action: Interlocal agreements with villages
RE: Exchange of services
c) Discussion
and/or action: Contract for sheep foot roller
d) Discussion
and/or action: Request for road closure
e) Discussion
and/or action: Define spending limits for road/bridge personnel
f)
Miscellaneous
Other business matters to address when
time allows:
Discussion and/or action RE: The Arbor
Day Holiday
Therese Trombino, Deputy Co
Assessor: Tax list corrections
Jackie Smith, Co Treasurer: Discussion
and/or action RE: Tax Refunds
Jan
Reed, Register of Deeds: Discussion and/or action RE: Proposal to purchase book
binders
Miscellaneous Correspondence and other
matters that may come before the Board
.
Janene Bennett
Otoe
The
Individuals requiring physical or sensory
accommodations, including interpreter service, Braille, large print or recorded
materials, please contact Janene Bennett,
March 25, 2008
The Otoe County Board of Commissioners convened in regular session at
8:30 a.m. on March 25, 2008 to audit and sign payroll claims and regular claims
and to take care of such other matters as are on the agenda for this meeting. Advance notice of this meeting was published
in the Nebraska City News Press and Syracuse Journal Democrat, announced on the
local radio station KNCY and posted in at least three public places. This
meeting was open to the Public, and the agenda was kept current, and is on file
for public inspection at the office of the Otoe County Clerk during regular
business hours.
The meeting was called to order by the Chairman of the Board, Dale Haverty. Answering present at roll call were Commissioner Haverty and Commissioner Schroder.
Commissioner Thummel was absent.
Chairman Haverty informed the public in
attendance that a current copy of the Open Meetings Act is posted on the south
wall of the Courtroom. Additional copies
are available upon request. He asked that all attendees turn off their cell
phones or set them to vibrate while present in the meeting room.
Commissioner Schroder made a motion, seconded
by Commissioner Haverty to accept the agenda as
posted. Voting -- Commissioners Haverty, aye; Schroder, aye. Motion carried.
Commissioner Schroder made a motion, seconded
by Commissioner Haverty to accept the minutes from
the previous meeting as mailed to them as each member was furnished with a copy
of same. Voting – Commissioners Schroder, aye; Haverty, aye. Motion carried.
Commissioner Schroder made a motion, seconded
by Commissioner Haverty to audit and sign payroll
claims and regular claims unless otherwise noted. Voting – Commissioners Haverty aye; Schroder, aye. Motion carried.
Rick Sedersten, Courthouse Custodian, reported
that the cement steps and several sections in the sidewalk surrounding the
Courthouse need repair. He obtained quotes from two vendors. Baragary Construction Inc submitted the low bid of $4,495
as compared to $7,600 submitted by National Seal Coat & Striping Inc. He
also received a quote of $7,000 to remove the bushes in front of the Courthouse,
block the windows, seal the foundation and back fill the window wells with dirt.
Commissioner Haverty said he wanted to hold off spending
money on non-essential items until the Building Maintenance Fund and
Inheritance Tax Fund are replenished. The Board agreed the cement sidewalks and
steps should be repaired to remedy potential safety hazards and accepted the
bid of $4,495 as submitted by Baragary Construction.
In regards to the railing leading to the front door of the Courthouse,
Commissioner Haverty said he will assign members from
the road crew to remove, reinforce and reset the railing.
At 8:45 a.m. a public hearing, which had been advertised, was opened for
the purpose of hearing support or objections to consider approval of the Final
Plat for Westfield Estates located in Part of the N ½ of the SW ¼ S10-T8-R13 as
requested by DGD, LLC. Dave Schmitz, Zoning Administrator, said the Otoe County
Planning Commission approved the final plat contingent upon the developer’s
establishment of an escrow account guaranteeing installation of utilities in
accordance with Regulation 712.02 of the Otoe County Zoning Manual. Bob Lewis
from Civil Design Group representing the developer said he has not received dollar
amounts from OPPD and Windstream as to how much they
will charge to install electrical and phone service to this development. As
soon as the cost is available and the escrow account has been set up, he will
return for Board approval of the final plat. Lewis added that there is a
notation on the plat stating that a lot cannot be sold unless the availability
of sufficient water is guaranteed, either by drilling a functional well or
connecting to a rural water line. Chairman Haverty
closed the public hearing at 8:52 a.m. No action will be taken until the escrow
account is established.
Schmitz then presented an Administrative Replat
of Lot 1, Baker Schoolhouse Subdivision located in the NW ¼ of the NW ¼ of S16-T8-R13
for discussion. He said the owner, Joy E Reese, has requested that additional
acres be added to the original 2 acre lot that was subdivided over 2 years ago.
By extending the boundary line to the pasture fence line the lot will increase
to 6.29 acres. The larger area will make the lot more attractive for use as a building
site. Commissioner Schroder made a motion, seconded
by Commissioner Haverty to authorize the Chairman to
sign the Administrative Replat of Lot 1, Baker
Schoolhouse Subdivision located in the NW ¼ NW ¼ S16-T8-R13. Voting –
Commissioners Schroder, aye; Haverty,
aye. Motion carried.
As a side note, Schmitz said his computer programmer has found most of the
scanned plats that were lost when the server went down last July. Even though
the plats were recovered, the software could not be retrieved and needs to be
rewritten. Schmitz said he would like the software to be compatible with that
used by the Assessor’s Office. He and Becky Sturm, the County’s Computer Technician,
will meet with GIS Workshop within the next couple of weeks to get a firm quote
on designing a new program. He estimated the cost to be between $6,000 and
$10,000. Schmitz questioned whether he should pursue the project now or wait until
the next budget year. The Board asked him to report back when he had a better
idea of the cost.
Gregg Goebel,
Glen Steffensmeier, County Highway
Superintendent, Wally Pohlman and Rich Kuenning, Road Foremen and Lynn Denniston,
Bridge Foreman, came before the Board to discuss road and bridge matters.
Steffensmeier recently met with personnel from OPPD who
made a request to block off a section of
Since June of 1998, Marvin Reick has stored
the motor grader that he operates in a shed located on his property. The County
has paid him $125 per month for storage rental for the past 10 years. The contract
will expire in April and Steffensmeier asked whether
the County intends to renew the contract under the same terms. A question arose
regarding insurance liability of the grader being stored. Commissioner Schroder made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Haverty to table any action until the insurance question is
answered. Voting - Commissioners Haverty, aye; Schroder, aye. Motion carried.
Steffensmeier said that the County has exchanged services
with local villages for many years. By statute there should be an interlocal agreement drawn up for each village specifying the
terms and conditions that is expected between the two entities. For example,
the County hauls rock for many of the villages.
The Village is billed directly from the quarry for the rock, but the County
provides a truck and labor to haul the rock from the quarry to the village free
of charge. With the cost of fuel, truck maintenance and labor increasing, he
questioned whether the County should be charging a fee for delivering the rock.
Commissioner Haverty said he wasn’t sure the County
should be doing this at all and didn’t think the County should be competing
with commercial haulers and contractors. Thad Thomson, Maintenance Man from the
For several years Richard Reeves has been paid $35.00 per hour to pull
the County’s sheep foot roller when needed. He provides the tractor, fuel and
labor and maintains a $1,000,000 liability insurance policy. Effective this
year he has submitted a bid of $45.00 per hour to cover his increased expenses.
Commissioner Schroder made a motion, seconded by
Commissioner Haverty to approve the hourly rate of
$45.00 per hour to pull the sheep foot roller with his tractor and to renew the
agreement as presented. Voting – Commissioner Schroder,
aye; Haverty, aye. Motion carried. The Commissioners
will sign the agreement after a current certificate of insurance is attached.
JMA Farms initiated a petition for the County to vacate a minimum
maintenance road lying east of
Steffensmeier said he talked with Highway Superintendents
from other counties to take a survey of what those counties set as spending limits
for their road employees. However, he hasn’t had a chance to discuss the matter
with his foremen. He will bring a recommendation to the next board meeting.
On April 8th, Steffensmeier will conduct
a bid opening for the purchase of a 1 ton dually chassis. He reminded the Board
he was allowed $25,000 for its purchase when the budget was adopted last
September.
Steffensmeier reported that the contractor has completed
his work on the Federal aid bridge located south of Intersection G-14. Now the
road crew will need to build up the road to meet the bridge approach. Since
this work was not included in the engineered design, he said it would be more
economical for the road crew to finish it rather than writing a change order
for the contractor.
Steffensmeier obtained three quotes for the purchase of
various road signs. Vendors submitting bids were: B’s Enterprises - $19,781.00;
Barco - $26,003.62; and Midwest Service & Sales -
$20,824.01. Commissioner Schroder made a motion,
seconded by Commissioner Haverty to purchase the
signs from the low bidder, B’s Enterprises in the amount of $19,781.00. Voting
– Commissioners Haverty, aye; Schroder,
aye. Motion carried.
Steffensmeier also requested pricing sheets from vendors
for the purchase of various sizes of metal culverts. The prices are guaranteed
for the next two months. He said he will make purchases as needed. In this way
the County will not have to keep a large inventory in stock. He will make the
purchase based on price, availability and quality.
Other business matters were addressed.
Commissioner Schroder made a motion, seconded
by Commissioner Haverty to issue a tax refund to Oneok North Systems LLC in the amount of $172.78 based on
tax list corrections made by the Assessor for tax years 2005 and 2006. Voting –
Commissioners Schroder, aye; Haverty,
aye. Motion carried.
Last year, the Courthouse remained open on Arbor Day as a convenience to
taxpayers who wanted to pay their taxes on the last business day of the month
before becoming delinquent. However, since the holiday lands earlier in the
month this year, the Courthouse will be closed on April 25th in
observance of Arbor Day.
The Deputy County Assessor reported that she had no tax list corrections
for today.
Jan Reed,
There was no miscellaneous correspondence to read.
There being no further business to come before the Board at this time,
and since all items on the agenda have been disposed of, Commissioner Haverty made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Schroder to adjourn the meeting, until the next one, which
will be on April 8, 2008.
I, Janene Bennett, County Clerk of Otoe
County, do hereby certify that the above minutes were taken by me, and are true
and correct to the best of my knowledge, and I therefore set my hand and affix
the county seal this 25th day of March 2008.
Janene Bennett
Otoe