July 22, 2008

The Otoe County Board of Commissioners convened in regular session at 8:30 a.m. on July 22, 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.

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.

Dave Schmitz, Licensed Surveyor, presented the following subdivision plats for approval:

Hanau Subdivision located in the NW ¼ NW ¼ S32-T7-R11 as requested by owner Ruth Juilfs, Trustee. The existing farmstead, including a house and outbuildings, is being separated from the original farm. Schmitz said the well water was tested and the boundary lines meet all offset requirements. Commissioner Schroder made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Haverty to authorize the Chairman to sign the plat map for Hanau Subdivision, a 3.52 acre tract located in the NW ¼ NW ¼ S32-T7-R11. Voting – Commissioners Schroder, aye; Haverty, aye. Motion carried.

Calm Creek Subdivision located in the NW ¼ NE ¼ S9-T9-R11 as requested by owners Matthew Wohlers, Wayne Wohlers and Paula Wohlers. Schmitz said they are selling the parcel to someone who plans to build a new home on the 7.34 acre site. They will be hooking into the rural water line and all setback requirements have been met. Commissioner Schroder made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Haverty to authorize the Chairman to sign the plat map for Calm Creek Subdivision located in the NW ¼ NE ¼ S9-T9-R11. Voting – Commissioners Haverty, aye; Schroder, aye. Motion carried.

A public hearing was scheduled to hear support or objections for the issuance of a Conditional Use Permit to erect a wireless telecom tower in the W ½ SE ¼ S21-T7-R10 at the request of Alltel. At a previous public hearing on June 24^th, the County Board advised Alltel to revise their plan in order to meet the 1 to 1 setback requirement of the Planning Commission. Schmitz said no one from Alltel appeared at the second public hearing of the Planning Commission last Thursday. However, someone expressed opposition to Alltel getting an easement from the adjacent landowner of the proposed site. Since there was no Alltel representative at today’s meeting, Chairman Haverty closed the hearing and no action was taken.

The County Clerk received two separate contract renewals from Barone Security Systems. One includes semi-annual inspections of the range hood fire suppression system and an annual inspection of the sprinkler system at Duff’s Nursing Home for an annual fee of $730. The second contract includes semi-annual inspections of the fire alarm system located in the Jail Facility at the annual rate of $217. Commissioner Schroder made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Haverty to renew said contracts with Barone Security Systems, agreeing to the terms set forth in each contract. Voting – Commissioners Schroder, aye; Haverty, aye. Motion carried. The contracts are effective July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2013.

Glen Steffensmeier, Highway Superintendent, Lynn Denniston, Bridge Foreman, and Wally Pohlman and Rich Kuenning, Road Foremen, came before the Board to discuss road and bridge matters.

Steffensmeier said he would like to work with the Board members when planning the road budget for FY09. He noted the Road Department used 82,687 gallons of diesel fuel last year and 12,549 gallons of gasoline. With high fuel costs and unstable economic conditions, it is going to be difficult to write a budget.

Steffensmeier said Nebraska Machinery has a new lease program. They are offering to lease a new Caterpillar skid steer loader for $2500 per year. It comes with a set of forks and a bucket. After the year is up, Nebraska Machinery will deliver another new machine; the County transfers the tires from the previous loader to the new loader and keeps the old bucket and forks. Nebraska Machinery will put new tires on the “traded-in” machine and add it to their rental fleet or sell it as a used loader. Commissioner Schroder said he has talked to Commissioners from other counties who think this is a good deal, but Otoe County needs to work on the budget before making a decision. Pohlman said he uses a skid steer approximately 100 hours per year; Kuenning said he would use one more often if the hours were unlimited; Denniston said a skid steer would be handy to use at times. Commissioner Haverty said it’s a good deal if they find there is a need for one.

Steffensmeier and Board members reviewed a survey indicating where OPPD wants the County to relocate a road east of the railroad tracks near the power plant. OPPD plans to purchase the land from John Schnitzer. After OPPD acquires the land, they will give the County an easement to move the county road onto their property. Steffensmeier said the County will need to get a Relaxation of Standards from the NDOR before relocating the road. He said the land is located in a flood plain. The road would be used by farmers only; there probably would never be any homes built in the area.

Steffensmeier announced he has designed new time sheets for the maintenance department to record their daily activities. With the County being declared a disaster area, all FEMA projects will require documentation in order for the County to get financial reimbursement. Each worker must notate the number of hours spent on a project, each piece of machinery or equipment that is used and a description of the work that was done. Information from these time sheets will be transferred to a FEMA Project Report. FEMA has a standard cost for each piece of equipment used, so the men will need to keep track of the hours for each machine in addition to the number of hours of manual labor. It is important to have accurate records that would justify an audit. Steffensmeier introduced another form entitled “Work Order Request”. When someone calls to report a road problem, it will be documented denoting who made the call, when the call was made, and a description of the problem and what work needs to be done to rectify it. Written work orders will be given to the foremen who will delegate the work to the maintenance crew. When the job is complete, the foremen will sign off and date the document, then place it in a file. As 1 & 6 Year road/bridge projects are completed, a copy should be placed in the Road Plan book as well.

Each Board Member was given a Clarification to Article 7 Section 3 of the Union Contract. Steffensmeier said he has spoken with Kevin Brown, Union Vice President who agreed to the intention of this article. It stated that the normal working shift for road employees is 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with two 15 minute breaks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon and a half hour lunch period. There are no provisions for combining the breaks and the lunch period together and taking them anytime of the day. Additional verbiage was added to clarify this article – Morning break should be taken in the morning sometime after 9:00 a.m. and before 10:00 a.m.; Noon lunch is to be taken after 11:00 a.m. and before 1:00 p.m.; Afternoon break is to be taken after 2:00 p.m. and before 3:30 p.m. The only exception would be in case of an emergency. All breaks and lunch are to be taken at the job site or working site; employees are not allowed to take a county vehicle to pick up lunch on county time; they should drive their personal vehicle and include the drive time as part of their lunch period. Commissioner Haverty said employees need to plan ahead and take lunch with them when they know they are going to be on a job site. The County needs to do everything we can to economize the use of county vehicles.

Steffensmeier has met with OPPD and NRD personnel to discuss the possibility of moving the beginning point of the Steamboat Trace Biking Trail to the south of the current parking lot. When S 72^nd Road was rebuilt the entrance to the trail overlapped into the new road. This has created a safety hazard for bikers. OPPD and the NRD would like to move the current parking lot to the south. OPPD owns land on the south side of the Railroad tracks. They said they may be willing to donate some of the land for relocating the parking lot.

Randy Holdsworth, representing the Douglas Rescue Squad, approached the Board to request financial assistance. He said volunteers are becoming fewer, especially during daytime. They rely on assistance from Palmyra Rescue and contract with a paramedic service out of Lincoln to handle traumatic and life threatening incidents. The Advance Life Support (ALS) Service costs $2500 per year. The only sources of revenue for the Squad are holding fund raisers and collecting transport fees. Holdsworth asked if the Board would help by paying all or a portion of the $2500 fee to continue receiving ALS Service out of Lincoln. The Village of Douglas may contribute a portion from the sales tax collected. He said the Rescue Squad is not a part of the Rural Fire District and does not receive any property tax revenue. When they bill patients for transporting; sometimes they receive payment from Medicare or insurance. However, if they have no insurance or do not qualify for Medicare, the Rescue Squad may not get paid at all. Typically, they charge $475 per patient plus $12.50 per loaded mile. Holdsworth said they currently have about $3,200 in their general fund and $5,000 in the sinking fund, which is like a savings account for the purchase of a new ambulance someday. He questioned whether Otoe County has ever considered providing life support services for the entire county by creating an Ambulance District. He said Lancaster County is considering the creation of an Ambulance District within the next two years. Commissioner Haverty said they must be consistent in treating all rescue squads alike and what they do here would set precedence for all. They will take his request under advisement while working on the budget.

Becky Sturm, who provides technical support for the County’s computer systems, said the Nebraska Public Service Commission (NEPSC) is in the process of implementing phase II of the enhanced wireless 911 Service throughout the state. For the past few years, Ms. Sturm has worked with GIS Workshop in setting up an MSAG (Master Street Address Guide) and PSAP(Public Safety Answering Points) for Otoe County. When an emergency call is made from a cell phone, a 911 dispatcher will be able to view the cell phone’s call back number, identify the cell tower and provide a location of the caller based on GIS information. Otoe County has been paying GIS Workshop an annual fee of $5000 to keep this information updated. Now the Public Service Commission will pay the fee and possibly reimburse the County for what we have already spent, including the cost of some equipment. She said the State has provided a generic contract detailing the products/services that GIS Workshop will be providing to Otoe County at NEPSC’s cost. Commissioner Haverty said he would like to have it reviewed by the County Attorney; then bring it back to the next meeting for approval.

Pat Haverty, RCEDC Director, came before the Board to give a report of the last quarter’s activities. RCEDC continues to be involved in creating a regional economic development program. Plans are underway to apply for a $75,000 BECA (Building Entrepreneurial Communities Act) Grant that will be used for setting up a workforce recruitment program in Southeast Nebraska. He recently learned that a partnership of nine counties surrounding Lincoln was awarded a ¼ million dollar Regional Innovation Grant to study issues involving workforce availability. Leadership Nebraska City is accepting applications for its next class. A Youth Leadership Nebraska City program is now being developed in collaboration with the school systems. A Site Selection Consultant event will be held in Nebraska City in September where consultants from across the nation will meet and become familiar with southeast Nebraska and build a personal relationship with local economic development professionals. The 2^nd annual Southeast Nebraska Regional Economic Development Summit will be held at Peru State College on August 12^th.

At 10:47 a.m. Commissioner Schroder made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Haverty to go into executive session to discuss personnel issues and possible litigation with the County Attorney and Highway Superintendent. Voting – Commissioners Haverty, aye; Schroder, aye. Motion carried.

At 11:25 a.m. Commissioner Schroder made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Haverty to go back into regular session. Voting – Commissioners Schroder, aye; Haverty, aye. Motion carried. No action was taken while in executive session.

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 Schroder made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Haverty to adjourn the meeting, until the next one, which will be on August 12^th, 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 22^nd day of July 2008.

Janene Bennett

Otoe County Clerk