Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Sorted by date Results 51 - 64 of 64
Holt County Supervisors will contemplate additions and changes to planning and zoning regulations during an Oct. 31 public hearing at the courthouse in O’Neill. Planning and zoning officer Mike Durre told supervisors, during the board’s Sept. 29 meeting, five regulations will be under consideration, including language about unregistered wells; setbacks; crude oil, tarsands, and affluents; carbon dioxide pipelines; solar farms and wind energy. Planning and zoning board member Mary Kaczor sai...
Effective Monday, March 23, the Holt County courthouse and annex are open to customers by appointment only. Holt County supervisors approved a motion to limit access to the courthouse during an emergency video-conference meeting, March 20. Limited access will be in effect until at least until March 31, when the supervisors will re-evaluate the situation at their regular meeting. The meeting was called after department heads met Thursday to discuss possible procedures to enact. Individuals needing to conduct business with county officials are...
Six Holt County supervisors listened as nearly 50 citizens presented testimony last Friday afternoon. A public hearing regarding TC Energy's application for a pipeline construction permit was held in the district courtroom at the Holt County courthouse. Pipeline opponents, from elementary students to 90-year-old grandparents, packed the courtroom, filling approximately 100 seats, and spilled out to the second-floor hallway. Speakers were called in order of sign-up, which had begun in the morning...
The Holt County supervisors spent nearly two hours at a meeting last week, reviewing a road-haul agreement brought to the table by TC Energy representatives last October, paragraph by paragraph, despite having a new agreement drafted by Dave Domina in hand. The scrutiny came after Holt County attorney Brent Kelly presented a preliminary agreement drafted by the Omaha attorney who was hired by the county officials on a 4-2 vote Oct. 31, 2019, to negotiate a road-haul agreement with TC Energy. At Kelly’s suggestion, the supervisors held an execut...
Holt County citizens filled the county supervisors’ meeting room in the courthouse last Friday morning as the county leaders took care of business. Bryan Steskal of Steskal read a letter penned by his wife, Diana Steskal, who was unable to attend the meeting. In the letter, Steskal wrote the Holt County zoning board members denied TransCanada’s conditional use permit until two conditions are met, including one that requires obtaining easements. Many, she said will most likely be appealed. She also cited three federal court cases filed aga...
Three Holt County supervisors agreed, when the leaders met at the courthouse in O’Neill last Thursday, to serve on a committee to look for ways to improve efficiency within the road department. Road superintendent Gary Connot described several recent issues he attributed to lack of training, oversight and accountability. “I personally think we have got to get more oversight, more practical training and more instructions to our motorgrader operators,” he said. “We had a guy this last summer – we had the best set of roads in the county – in a per...
Bill Tielke and Steve Boshart will retain their leadership positions on the Holt County Board of Supervisors. Tielke was re-elected by his peers as chairman of the supervisors, while Boshart was re-elected to chair the board of equalization. Pursuant to traditional policy, the two leaders will serve as vice chair for each other. County clerk Cathy Pavel presided over the election process until a chairman was elected, then turned the gavel over to Tielke for the balance of the annual organization meeting Jan. 9, at the Holt County Courthouse. Pa...
The Holt County supervisors addressed cyber security at their final 2019 meeting. The leaders met Dec. 31 at the courthouse in O'Neill. Steve Anson with Anson Insurance Services was invited, by chairman Bill Tielke, to present information about insuring the county against "hacking" of county computers. Tielke indicated cyber security concerns were raised at a recent convention he had attended. "I don't think it's a matter that we can keep beating around the bush and not doing something about,"...
The Holt County supervisors met Monday, Dec. 16, in front of a crowd of concerned citizens. Agenda items regarding a TC Energy road-haul agreement and some township road concerns drew the visitors. The supervisors heard an update on a bronze statue planned for the courthouse lawn by the “Finian Women.” They are a group headed by daughters of longtime Holt County resident, Doc Cook, who referred to himself as a Finian, according to county clerk Cathy Pavel. Natalie Cook Butterfield addressed the leaders regarding fundraising and planned placemen...
The Holt County supervisors addressed a recent article submitted to area media when they met at the courthouse Monday, Nov. 18. According to the letter submitted by Holt County attorney Brent Kelly, published in the Nov. 20 edition of the Advocate and online at SummerlandAdvocate.com, and by other area news media, his purpose was to explain some of the issues county residents and elected officials will face as TC Energy proceeds with its effort to build a pipeline. Chairman Bill Tielke turned...
The final item of business handled by the Holt County supervisors last Thursday afternoon at the courthouse in O'Neill caused some disunity among the leaders. As the supervisors passed time waiting to address an agenda item regarding outside counsel to handle a road-haul agreement with TC Energy, the meeting room filled with about two dozen county residents, many who are facing eminent domain proceedings for pipeline right-of-way easements across their land. While three of those citizens, Bryan...
Jon Cannon of Lincoln, deputy director of the Nebraska Association of County Officials, was a guest at the Oct. 15 meeting of the Holt County supervisors at the courthouse in O'Neill. Cannon is currently on a quest to visit each of the state's 93 counties. The county leaders approved a one-year lease of a skid loader from NMC CAT in Norfolk, at a cost of $7,800, for use by the weed department. CAT was contacted with a request for the lease option by Bill Teilke, chairman, during the Sept. 30 mee...
Seats in the Holt County supervisor’s chamber at the courthouse in O’Neill were all occupied and additional chairs were taken in, when the leaders met Monday. Many audience members voiced concerns, during the 10 minutes set aside for public comment, regarding TransCanada’s route across the county, as well as a new transmission line that will also cross the county. Diane Steskal of Stuart presented a letter to the supervisors, signed by herself and her husband, Byron Steskal, regarding the proposed Keystone XL pipeline route. She read the letter...
Each spring and summer, Holt County officials deal with landowners who fail to comply with state statutes addressing watering of roadways, mowing road ditches and trimming trees. During the Holt County Board of Supervisors meeting July 17, at the courthouse in O'Neill, the members voted unanimously to install a new flag warning system to address the continued nuisance of roadways being watered by irrigation systems or other machinery. According to state statute 46-266, no person is permitted to...
