NOTICE OF MEETING
NOTICE
IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Otoe County Board of Commissioners will meet in
regular session at 8:30 a.m. on November 25, 2008, in the
AGENDA ___________________________________ November
25, 2008
8:30 a.m. -- Open Meeting; call roll;
accept agenda; accept minutes from
previous
meeting; audit and sign payroll claims and regular claims
8:45 a.m. – Public Hearing to hear
support or objections to vacating a portion of
Roads P and R in
sections 30 and 19, Township 7, Range 15
9:00 a.m. – Gregg Goebel,
Emergency
Operation Plan (LEOP); Discussion and/or action RE: Communication Equipment
9:15
a.m. – David Schmitz, Zoning Administrator: Discussion and/or action RE:
Independent Contract Renewal
with Schmitz
Land Surveying for zoning administration services
9:20
a.m. --
a) Discussion
and/or action RE: 911 addressing
b) James
Cook: Discussion and/or action RE: Inspection and engineering report for
Bridge
#53860 located west of Intersection S-70
c) Miscellaneous
10:00 a.m. – Discussion and/or action:
Workshop regarding prioritization of bridge projects
(No public comment will be permitted)
Other business matters to address when
time allows:
Miscellaneous Correspondence and other
matters that may come before the Board
.
Janene Bennett
The
Individuals requiring physical or sensory
accommodations, including interpreter service, Braille, large print or recorded
materials, please contact Janene Bennett,
November 25, 2008
The Otoe County Board of Commissioners convened in regular session at
8:30 a.m. on November 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 including the
The meeting was called to order by the Chairman of the Board, Dale Haverty. Answering present at roll call were Commissioner Haverty, Commissioner Kreifels 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 Kreifels to accept the agenda as posted. There being no
discussion, Chairman Haverty called for a vote by
roll call. Voting -- Commissioners Haverty, aye;
Kreifels, aye; Schroder, aye. Motion carried.
Commissioner Schroder made a motion, seconded
by Commissioner Kreifels to accept the minutes from the previous meeting as
mailed to them as each member was furnished with a copy of same. There being no
discussion, Chairman Haverty called for a vote by
roll call. Voting – Commissioners Kreifels, aye; Schroder,
aye; Haverty, aye. Motion carried.
Commissioner Schroder made a motion, seconded
by Commissioner Kreifels to audit and sign payroll claims and regular claims
unless otherwise noted. There being no further discussion, Chairman Haverty called for a vote by roll call. Voting -
Commissioners Schroder, aye; Haverty
aye; Kreifels, aye. Motion carried.
At 8:45 a.m. a public hearing was held for the purpose of hearing
support or objections to the vacation of a portion of
Bob Caldwell with JMA Farms said he was one of the landowners who
organized the petition drive to have the road vacated. He listed several reasons
for making the request: no one lives on the road; all adjacent landowners agree
they would like to have the road vacated; vandals and hunters tear up the road
when it’s muddy; there have been problems with vandalism to their gates, signs
and storage sheds; and the County would save money by not having the
responsibility to maintain the road. He felt vacating this road was a win-win
situation for everybody involved. Commissioner Haverty
asked him how they intended to control or limit access to the area.
Doc Gigstad commented that he has been a
taxpayer in
David Rowen, one of the adjacent landowners,
said his grandparents used to live on that road. He would like to build a cabin
there someday, but he’s afraid vandals would destroy it. When Commissioner Schroder questioned who would maintain the road, someone
replied that John Crook (one of the landowners) would probably grade the road
with his own tractor and blade.
Ed Rowen, who is the maintenance operator for
the Rural Water District, was concerned whether he would have access to the
water line.
Gigstad asked if the landowners intend to grant permission to individuals who
may want to enjoy rights on their property to which he replied “yes”. There
being no further comments, Chairman Haverty closed
the public hearing and asked for a motion. Commissioner Kreifels made a motion,
seconded by Commissioner Haverty to vacate the
portion of S 72nd road lying between Roads P and R in Sections 30
and 19, Township 7, Range 15 as requested by those landowners submitting a
petition for vacating said road. There
being no further discussion, Commissioners Haverty
called for a vote. Voting aye were Commissioners Kreifels, Schroder
and Haverty. Nay – none. Motion carried. A resolution
will be drawn up to officially vacate said portion of roadway which will include
a detailed legal description.
Gregg Goebel,
Goebel then presented the Board with an Equipment Request Report in the
amount of $29,553.09 that was approved by the Communications Committee
detailing expenditures from the Homeland Security Grant funds. The money is
being spent for the purchase of radios, repeaters and other equipment necessary
for a communication system. When all of the equipment is installed, every fire,
rescue, and emergency entity within the County will be able to communicate
directly with each other since they will be able to do simulcast broadcasting. He
anticipates a completion date in March of 2009.
David Schmitz was unable to attend today’s meeting due to illness. The
Last August, Larry Ossowski, Director of Blue
Rivers Area Agency on Aging, had requested a $10,000 matching donation to
purchase a $50,000 Handi-bus that would be used in
the
Miscellaneous correspondence was read by the
Two e-mails were received, one from Pam Lancaster and one from Steve
Erdman, soliciting support for their election to NACO (Nebraska Association of
County Officials) offices. The election will be held at the NACO convention in
December.
With the termination of Lynn Denniston,
Steffensmeier was asked to be in charge of the 911 addressing. This job includes
using a measuring device to determine a house number, calling Diggers’ Hotline
before installing the post and sign, and providing the information to the
County’s 911 data base. He said he doesn’t like the idea of measuring to the
front door of a house and suggested using the driveway as the point of
measurement. He felt it would be more accurate for fire & rescue personnel
to find a residence in an emergency. Other questions were raised. James Cook
questioned whether vacant sites or farm buildings could be assigned an address.
Polhman replied that an address is assigned anytime
someone requests one, such as at a bin site where an accident could occur.
Steffensmeier also suggested ordering blank signs and affixing numeral decals
after the address number is assigned. This would save time and money by being
able to install the sign at same time the address number is determined. He also
said using 18” high intensity signs would be a little more expensive, but would
last longer; they won’t fade and are more visible at night. Commissioner Haverty said he preferred using shorter signs for two
reasons - they would be less likely to catch in the wind and break and they
don’t stick out into roadway where they could possibly get hit by wide
machinery. The
James Cook came before the Board to question when was the
last time an inspection was made on Bridge #53860. Steffensmeier had a
report in hand dated December 4, 2007. It
indicated that the tonnage posting should be 4 ton and it needed to be day lighted;
the pier was settling and they could not determine how deep they were in the
ground. In 2005 the water channel was 28 feet; in 2007 the channel increased to
31 feet deep. Cook asked why the bridge wasn’t repaired or a new tonnage sign
installed. Steffensmeier said he gave the bridge crew a recommendation to
install the appropriate tonnage sign. Since 1989 several inspections have been
made by several different people. Cook asked why this bridge has never been
placed on the 1 & 6 year plan. Steffensmeier said all closed bridges,
including this one, will be reviewed during the scheduled workshop later this
morning. The
Leonard and Jerry Martin did not appear as scheduled. Commissioner
Kreifels asked Steffensmeier what the status was regarding the field access
road used by the Martins. He said that Ron Marshall from OPPD told him OPPD is
in the process of purchasing more right of way in
preparation for installing additional train tracks to the power plant this
spring. When the project is finished, the field road will be restored to its
original condition. In the meantime, the Martins just need to contact the contractor
who is doing the grade work and he will provide access to the farmers when they
need to get to their fields. Steffensmeier said he left this message on
Martin’s answering machine and has not heard from them.
Chairman Haverty called for a 10 minutes recess
before commencing the bridge project workshop.
As noted on the agenda, a workshop was held with no public comment being
permitted. Steffensmeier presented each Board Member with a list of the twenty
three bridges that are currently closed. Chairman Haverty
asked him to identify the FEMA bridges; the bridges that he considers to be repairable
and the bridges that need replaced. Steffensmeier set up a laptop where he
could show pictures of each bridge site. Commissioner Haverty
said he was not concerned with a detailed damage report; he was only interested
in what bridges need repair or replacement. He said they do not intend to
establish priorities today. Before doing that, they need time to look at other considerations
such as alternative routes; whether it is school/postal route; traffic count;
the amount of work that needs to be done and the cost. Steffensmeier said box
culvert and tube projects should be done first to generate soft match credit
that can be applied to federal aid projects.
There being no further business to come before the Board at this time,
and since all items on the agenda have been disposed of, Chairman Haverty declared the meeting adjourned at 11:53 a.m. The
next regular meeting is scheduled on December 9, 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 November 2008.
Janene Bennett