Commissioners consider moving historic bridge to Neligh

The Antelope County Commissioners postponed action on an agenda item requested by Andy Frey, Elm Township road closures follow-up, sending a half-dozen county residents away without resolution.

The commissioners held public hearings Sept. 3 on proposals to close two segments of county road.

Both closure requests, one mile of 848 Road, from one-half mile east of 529 Avenue to one-half mile east of 530; and one-half mile of 847 Road, were petitioned by Frey.

Brian McDonald, county engineer, advised closure of both roads at the September hearing, citing liability issues due to the roads not being maintained.

No one else testified in favor of the closures.

Several residents and landowners spoke in opposition and a letter was read into the record from a landowner, also in opposition to closing the roads.

Casey Dittrich, road superintendent, advised the commissioners that historically, if there was opposition to a road closure, they were not closed.

Commissioners voted, 4-1, after the September hearings, Jacobs voting nay, to vacate the east half of the 848 Road segment, with ownership of the easement reverting to adjacent landowners. A decision on closing the west half of the 848 Avenue proposal and the segment of 847 were postponed until surveys were completed, due to questions about location of fences.

Two new commissioners were not prepared to vote on the remaining road closures at the Dec. 10 meeting. Vice chair Regina Krebs, who conducted the meeting in the absence of chairman Dean Smith, said she received a transcript of the hearing the previous afternoon and had read it, but did not have a chance to look at maps and aerial photos of the sites.

"We've only got two commissioners here at the table (who) were part of that meeting and I would like to bring myself up to speed on that," Krebs said.

Several area landowners, who had been notified of the agenda item, attended the Dec. 10 meeting at the courthouse in Neligh.

Dittrich said the surveyor had driven the final stake Monday, Dec. 9, with only minor (less than 10 feet) fence-line adjustments noted. He read summaries of McDonald's September recommendation, as well.

"Mr. Frey has gone through the proper procedures to get an answer from the board, aside from you guys being new and not being here for the public portion of it," Dittrich said. "In the past, if we've had any opposition, we found ways to make it work or didn't proceed with it. There has been opposition to both sections. People took time out of their day that day and today, so I would like the board to consider that."

County attorney Joe Abler was called to the room for advice on hearing public comment again. He advised if the board wished to reopen the public hearing, it would need to be advertised and registered letters sent to adjacent landowners, or the commissioners could review the records in order to decide on closing the roads.

"I would like to table it and have time to read all this," Pedersen said before making a motion. The matter was tabled until the Jan. 7 meeting on a unanimous vote.

Dittrich presented a proposal for moving the Singing Bridge, a structure that is listed on the Nebraska historic registry, from its present site on the Elkhorn River between Neligh and Clearwater.

He said a Norfolk contractor, Pat Gubbels with Thiessen Construction, will allow the county to be a "big part" of the project. County personnel would provide equipment and manpower to save on expense, estimating a cost of around $50,000 to remove the structure from the site and transport it seven miles to Neligh.

"I need some input from the commissioners, some input from the public, some opportunities from the public, to get this thing moving," he said. "It's a historic bridge, we've gone through the legwork of getting the DOT onboard, as long as we don't use any federal funds...we've had a site inspection done by the contractor...one of the only guys who would take on this project. He is very confident that we can move that bridge without destroying it."

"Pat Gubbels is a very master at this," Commissioner Charlie Henery said.

Dittrich said he believed work could take place from the county right of way. In addition, he has verbal permission from adjacent landowners to access the site, but written permission may be required.

Local officials believe the bridge has contributed to flooding in the area.

"I think it (the problem with ice jams) needs to go away," Henery said. "I think it would help everybody downstream and upstream."

"We have an opportunity, and I don't want to stop," Dittrich said. "A lot of things have to happen after it comes down...the process of getting it out of the river and getting it up on the ground and moved, I want to be 100% part of that. After that, I am looking for ideas."

"Oh yeah," Dittrich replied when Henery asked, "You want the challenge, don't you?"

Although the fate of the bridge after arrival in Neligh has not been determined, Dittrich said the bridge can be stored at the county yard until a permanent site can be determined.

Henery said he is working on finding a site to display it in Neligh.

"We have some pretty neat stuff within our town, with the museum, the wildlife museum and the old schoolhouse," he said.

The project will be placed on the next meeting agenda. In the meantime, Dittrich was directed to continue to work on arrangements for the move.

Dittrich also revisited consideration of a resolution allowing overtime pay for the road department.

"I would like to see the employees have the option for overtime (pay) or comp time," he said.

When he approached the subject at the previous meeting, Pedersen had requested to see amounts paid for overtime since a resolution had been adopted after the March flood. Dittrich said overtime payment during the most recent three months averaged $7,699, with a steady decline, November showing $5,100.

"We get more work done with the same number of people," he said. "It helps us on the benefit side of things too."

Henery opined, "I know the comp time worked out good for us, but we need to get the work done, and the guys are more willing to work with overtime than comp time. I feel like we should continue to give the option to them."

The commissioners unanimously approved paying the overtime. A resolution will be drafted for approval at the Jan. 7 meeting.

When Henery asked if Dittrich would report on overtime dollars expended each month, county clerk Lisa Payne explained the payroll report the commissioners sign off on each month includes overtime figures by department.

Henery reported on a meeting of the Region 11 Emergency Agency he had attended. He said microwave dishes will be installed "shortly" to replace antennas on a tower for the Nebraska Regional Interoperability Network, a statewide law enforcement communication system. The dishes have been stored for several years awaiting installation, with northeast Nebraska up next on the list. The delay has reportedly been due to the availability of Homeland Security funds that pay for installation.

NRIN Northeast covers 11 counties, with plans to use existing commercial radio towers, NPPD towers, city towers and state towers. The number of towers a county needs varies because of the size of the county, population and the topography of the land. Region 11 includes Antelope, Madison and Pierce counties and the City of Norfolk.

According to Henery, Antelope County will receive six dishes, Pierce County, two, and Madison County, five. Although the local entities will not incur expense for the equipment or installation, they will be responsible for insuring the equipment. Region 11 manager Bobbi Riser is looking into obtaining the insurance coverage through the Nebraska Intergovernmental Risk Management Agency.

Henery said the stored equipment is now outdated but will be updated when it is installed.

"The dishes are the same, it's the stuff that runs it," he said.

NRIN will connect dispatch centers across the state and includes the possibility for court arraignments via video. Another aspect deals with dispatchers. NRIN can transport the data back and forth to the radio and 911 dispatch centers, which will enable one Dispatch Center to serve multiple counties in some cases.

Consideration of a resolution to implement policy for dispersing office promotional items to employees during recognition events was tabled. Krebs said she had reviewed the policy presented by Payne at the Dec. 3 meeting. She said changes need to be made to verbiage but was waiting on a phone call and wanted to run it by Abler.

In other business, the commissioners:

• Heard from Dittrich that four applications for road access permits submitted by TransCanada have issues that need to be resolved before approval;

• Approved appointment of Payne and Vicki Miller of Elgin to the Antelope County Visitors' Committee, on the recommendation of committee members, to replace Pedersen and Deb Warren of Elgin, who stepped down;

• Approved a request from the Clearwater Chamber of Commerce for a $300 Promotional Grant, as presented by the Visitor's Committee ($1,500 Improvement Grant was approved Dec. 3);

• Heard the board will reorganize for the new year at the Jan. 14 meeting;

• Directed Payne to deposit $1,000 received from Nebraska Preparedness Partnership to the disaster account;

• Heard from Payne that the county received a $721.03 dividend from Northeast Nebraska Telephone Company, the Clearwater telephone and internet provider;

• Convened as a board of equalization to approve tax roll corrections and a vehicle tax exemption for Sons of the American Legion, as presented by assessor Kelly Mueller.