Proceedings Statement of the January 23, 2012 Commissioners meeting.
By Jack Andersen
Present were Chairman James Krotz, Commissioners Jack Andersen and Dan Kling and County Clerk Sindy Coburn.
Acting as the Board of Equalization, the Board approved a correction sheet adjusting the value of a piece of property that was incorrectly valued due to a software glitch. A letter from the County Attorney regarding the procedure for accessing personal property which was abandoned on real property by a previous owner of the land was reviewed.
Barb Van Kerrebrook and Patsy Futtere presented a two page report on the activities of the Generations In Volunteer Efforts (GIVE) program. In addition to other projects, eight members, along with the GIVE staff, attended a December 13 meeting in Chadron. The subject of the meeting was the effective marketing of tourism sites to attract visitors to our area.
Tom Kuester reported that Sheridan County has two fracture critical bridges that must be inspected by a State approved inspector at a cost of $4800. The board approved resolution 2012-1 entering into a cost share whereby the state will pay 80% of this cost. It was previously pointed out that a fracture critical bridge is one where the failure of one element of the bridge may cause the bridge to fail. Fracture critical does not mean that the bridge is presently unsafe for its designed load.
The Board approved a subdivision in SE1/4, Section 14, Township 34N, R42W for the construction of a cell phone tower.
County Weed Superintendent, Kristi Paul presented her annual reports. After some discussion the board approved the reports that must be submitted to the State by January 31.
County Attorney, Dennis King, presented a draft copy of a resolution that could place a county sales tax on the ballot for voters in the affected area. Funds from the tax could be used to offset some of the cost of law enforcement in rural areas. One citizen appeared before the Board and voiced concerns that funding a part of county law enforcement with a sales tax might not be constitutional and favored the present funding through property tax. Discussion of this issue will continue at the January 30 meeting. Citizens are invited to attend.
At 11:00 am the Board recessed and moved to the Road Department to reconvene and hold the annual 1 & 6 year road hearing. Two citizens were present to hear the presentation and offer comments. The hearing was closed at 12:05 pm. The Board recessed and returned to the Courthouse. At 12:20 the meeting was reconvened in the Commissioners Room. A motion was made by Commissioner Kling and seconded by Andersen to approve resolution 2012-3 adopting the 1 & 6 year road plan as presented.
Mike Hinde of Hewgley and Associates was present to discuss the merits and possible options available with the 5 bids presented for the construction of a structure to replace the deteriorating front steps of the Court House. The Board tabled the bids and will continue discussion and consider awarding the project at the January 30 meeting.
All meetings are open to the public and visitors are welcome.
Submitted by Jack Andersen
The minutes of this and all meetings of the Board of Commissioners are available to the public at the office of the Sheridan County Clerk. All meetings of the Board of Commissioners are held in compliance with Nebraska Open Meetings Law.
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