Haul agreement, township roads draw citizens to Holt County meeting

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 placement of a life-size bronze statue of General John O’Neill the group has commissioned by Bartlett native Herb Mignery. Mignery, a member of the Cowboy Artists of America, is known for his bronze creations, including a large collection erected in a garden located on the grounds of the Wheeler County courthouse in Bartlett.

She said Bob Nichols, who designed the garden in Bartlett, had been consulted and recommended placement on the west side of the courthouse, between the bell and the memorial marker. The group plans to sell memorial bricks for an area surrounding the statue.

In addition, Mignery has offered 15-inch replicas of the statue which the Finians hope to sell. She said interest was received from as far away as Ireland.

Supervisor Bob Snyder suggested the group apply for funds from the county business promotion committee. Butterfield said it was the next step, the group recently acquired non-profit status required to submit an application.

The leaders approved, by resolution, an additional $1.52 million bond to cover flood-related expenses, with a rate beginning at 1.4%, and a potential of no more than 1.6% if extended to 2024. The action brings the total flood-related bond debt to $5.5 million.

Ed Burival addressed the supervisors on behalf of the Shields Township board, asking for the county road department to provide snow removal.

Burival said the county had previously removed snow and township officials wished to continue the practice. The township has 25-30 miles of roadway, which do not all require snow removal, according to Burival.

“The ones we are mainly concerned with are the ones with residents,” he said.

Road superintendent Gary Connot said a road department foreman drove the area, finding unmowed roads that were catching drifts, along with brush and sod left from grading. He also said the board had new members take office.

“Before that, we had a pretty good understanding of what the county could provide for the township. It was at our convenience as to when we could get to those roads.” he said. “A different board (had) kind of different expectations, so we stepped away from it a year ago. We’ve also got some new operators, not familiar with county road system, let alone plowing snow off roads they aren’t normally on. As a matter of fact, we’ve got one of our guys with a snow wing laying in the ditch, must have hit an approach that he wasn’t familiar with.”

Ron Bennetts, a contractor who bladed the roads for the township this year said he had purchased a John Deere machine with a V-plow and a wing, from Antelope County.

our for snow removal, the same as the county’s previous rate. The proposed county rate is $175.

Supervisors Butterfield and Snyder both questioned why the township would want the county to do the work at a higher rate than Bennetts charged.

Burival said when he approached the road superintendent about grading roads last spring, he was told the county crews were too busy with flood-related work to help the township, so the board contracted Bennetts. He also indicated he was unaware of the increase in the rate for county work.

Bennetts said, “I am set up to plow it, and talked to some of the board members, on certain roads that need to be plowed…that have residents, kids (who) need to get out and get to school; and then the ones that don’t, if there’s big piles of hay that need to be moved, call and I will go get the (township) roads opened up so they can get to their hay, the same thing I am doing in Lake Township…each township is different, I will do it however they want it done.”

Board chair Bill Tielke commented that county roads would likely be a higher priority than the township roads, which may not meet the expectations of township residents.

“The county normally doesn’t take work away from private contractors,” the chairman added. “That probably isn’t what people have in mind, for Holt County to be one big construction company.”

A Shields Township resident, Pat Conway, said she just wanted her road opened to the highway and to get the snow off the roads in order to avoid driving in mud when it melts. She also commented on a need for gravel on the township roads and grading more than once a year.

“It’s a fine line getting enough snow off,” Tielke said. “I know we all want perfect roads immediately.”

He advised graveling and frequency of grading roads is up the township board. He also directed the township officials and Bennetts to discuss the matter and let Connot know the outcome.

Steel Creek Township board members Dennis Hrbek, Vic Pickering and Marlo Drobny were also in attendance, although not on the agenda, indicating a desire to continue a working relationship with the county road department, including snow removal and road maintenance. They were advised of the proposed rates as well.

Connot asked for guidance from the supervisors on road department policy updates he is drafting.

Although no action was taken, agreement was reached for the county to maintain approaches to asphalt roads, with landowners being responsible for driveways along gravel roads; the county will continue to provide one approach per half mile of roadway, with additional drives allowed at the landowner’s expense, subject to supervisor approval; county personnel will grade township roads after townships have exhausted all other options, at the rates proposed in the policy.

Connot proposed the county take the lead on maintenance and snow removal for several township roads improved by Grand Prairie Wind prior to wind tower construction, that serve as main access for multiple wind tower sites and are receiving inadequate maintenance. He said Grand Prairie would open other township roads.

Connot also asked for clarification on replacement of culverts. He said previous policy included the county being responsible for bridge maintenance, including on township roads, with culverts being the responsibility of the townships. He said many bridges had been replaced with large culverts over the years, which are beginning to rust out. Supervisor consensus was for the county to assume responsibility for culverts 36 inches in diameter and larger and multiples if placed at the county’s direction.

Robyn Kennedy also addressed the board regarding long-standing drainage issues affecting her property and asked about flow rates through three 84-inch culverts located near 504 Avenue and 871 Road that feed into smaller culverts located near her property. She said the culverts do not accommodate runoff. She said the county was involved in the issue when it first occurred 25 years ago.

Boshart advised her the township is responsible for the smaller culverts. He said the area had been surveyed, with Corp of Engineers involvement.

“I don’t know what else the county can do,” Boshart said.

Kennedy also had concerns regarding the TC Energy road-haul agreement. Boshart directed her to take those concerns to county attorney Brent Kelly.

A spokesperson for Stone Paving Co. of North Platte and the company owner met with the board regarding payment for work done by the company.

The spokesperson told the supervisors the company was allowed to do the job, and then payment was withheld.

Payment was withheld due to lack of a performance bond, as required in a contract between the county and the contractor, a provision of the bid specifications. Two checks, totaling more than $150,000 had been cut, but were on the agenda to be voided.

The company owner told the supervisors his business practice was to pay cash for everything and, having no credit rating, was unable to obtain a performance bond.

Despite having no performance bond in place, the project engineer allowed work to be completed for flood-related projects on the Atkinson cut across and near Chambers, with the understanding the bond would be forthcoming. He said he told by a company spokesperson and a representative from an insurance company that insurance was obtained, and bond would be issued, but he later received an email from the insurance company indicating all efforts to obtain bond had been exhausted.

A subcontractor had not been paid for asphalt by Stone Paving, the owner said, due to lack of payment by the county.

“Until you guys pay me, I’m broke,” he said. “It’s two months already.”

Boshart said the county attorney had advised the supervisors not to pay the bill without bond in place, as specified in the advertised bid. Tielke asked the Stone Paving spokesperson if she was willing to obtain a bond on Stone Paving’s behalf. She declined.

“You (the engineer) gave them the okay to do the work,” Butterfield said.

We were pushing to get the work done,” the engineer replied. “It was a very unusual circumstance.”

After a lengthy discussion, a motion by Butterfield to pay Stone Paving and subcontractor, Western Engineering, failed, on a 3-4 vote, Boshart, supervisor Doug Frahm, Snyder and Tielke voting no.

Snyder then moved to pay Western Engineering directly for the asphalt and 75% of the balance owed Stone Paving, with the balance to be paid in 90 days, providing no further unpaid subcontractors come forward. The motion carried on a 5-2 vote, with Tielke and Boshart voting no. Both cited setting precedence for the future regarding complying with contract and bidding terms.

Boshart and Butterfield disagreed on the project engineer’s responsibility for the issue.

“Let’s quit pointing fingers here and get on with it,” Snyder concluded.

“It is unfortunate you were led to believe you were going to be able to get a bond, and weren’t,” Tielke told the Stone Paving officials. “It’s unfortunate Ramsey was sent information that they would have a bond following.”

The payments will be considered with other claims at the Dec. 30 meeting.

County treasurer Connie Krotter reminded the leaders that tax receipts would slow during the first three months of the new year.

“We will be kind of on cruise control after the December collections,” Krotter said. “Everybody knows how that cash flow works, everything will slow tremendously.”

In answer to questions from Snyder, the treasurer said an ICE holding fund listed on the county’s accounts was created at the direction of the state auditor’s office. Snyder asked if the county would receive funds from liquidation of the convicted individual’s property.

“I don’t have any idea how the federal litigation and the federal court will rule,” Krotter answered. “We have it (the account) ready and available as we were directed.”

Sheriff Ben Matchett said the matter was proceeding in the courts and it may be two or three months before decisions are made.

Tielke told his peers about information he learned at the recent Nebraska Association of County Officials’ convention. He said there was concern about stockpiling of grain bags, which may lead to an issue for counties across the state. An out-of-state recycling company plans to collect the bags, with the potential for counties or natural resource districts to provide storage sites for crop producers to deposit the used bags.

“I can’t imagine netwrap won’t be right behind,” he said.

Before turning the gavel over to Boshart to preside during four agenda items related to the potential road-haul agreement with TC Energy, Tielke, who has a declared conflict of interest, said each of four individuals would be given 15 minutes to speak and no public comment would be received.

“The board can ask for information from the public,” he said.

Boshart read a letter from county attorney Brent Kelly, during both the morning and afternoon meeting sessions. Kelly cited an obligation to be in court at the time of the meeting. In the emailed correspondence, Kelly said, although he and Omaha attorney David Domina had traded emails, they had not yet met regarding the road-haul agreement. Kelly promised an update and asked for the date a draft of the agreement was needed for consideration by the supervisors. He anticipated construction wouldn’t start until spring 2021 but asked for clarification.

“If so, I think we should have plenty of time,” Kelly penned. “I would welcome any input from our citizens.”

Boshart informed the speakers that the board had turned road-haul negotiations over to Dominic and Kelly. Once negotiations are complete, the matter will come before the supervisors for consideration.

“We voted to put it in the hands of the attorneys,” he said. “If you have any questions, concerns, comments, suggestions - direct them to Brent Kelly, he’s the man in charge.”

Kelly’s email address is [email protected], according to Pavel.

“Then evidently, what I have to say is irrelevant,” said the first speaker, Terry Steskal.

He proceeded to say he asked to address the road-haul route after it came to his attention TC Energy was on the agenda to discuss the agreement.

He said a township road, near a church camp in western Holt County, that is included on TC Energy’s proposed haul route, is “just a trail. It isn’t a two-track (road), the bridge there has been washed out, I know since 2013.”

He also said there was quicksand in the area and cited another township road that, “even in the summertime, you better have a four-wheel road to get across that.”

He said there is no conditional use permit, no zoning board decision and the county has a resolution in place that Domina had not yet reviewed.

He ended his testimony by reading an excerpt from a “Nebraska Easement” article.

“While the Nebraska Supreme Court recent ruling ends a challenge to Keystone XL’s proposed route through the state, TransCanada/TC Energy starts as its pipeline proposal still faces many obstacles. The recent ruling deprives Nebraska landowners and members of the Ponca and Union Sioux tribes along Keystone XL’s route the opportunity to engage in a public process established by the state’s pipeline sitting law. However, it does not clear the way for them to allow a tar sands pipeline. The proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline still faces three federal lawsuits, the need to secure additional federal and state permits and a growing global, political and economic consensus that we cannot afford to increase the production.”

Copies of the entire document, including the resolution he referenced earlier, are available at the county clerk’s office.

There was an apparent misunderstanding when another citizen on the agenda took the floor.

Mary Jean Adams asked if she could defer some of her time to others, due to comments on the road-haul agreement being irrelevant.

Boshart said, “You have 15 minutes.”

When Adams concluded her presentation, she said, “is there somebody else (who) would like to follow me?”

Boshart then said she was the only one on the agenda, “It’s not public comment.”

“Everybody knows the damage that the bomb cyclone caused in March,” Adams said. “I can’t believe we are even considering a road-haul agreement with an out-of-country company that’s going to wreck our roads again. They’re not even put back to normal…We can’t control nature, but we can control human destruction and we can say no.”

She reminded the board that they adopted a resolution in 2013 that opposed any tar sands crude oil pipeline.

Adams told the supervisors, “You as a board can just say, ‘Stop, we have this resolution, you can find a different county to go through.’”

In addition, Adams alleged, “I am extremely, extremely, extremely disappointed that they, TransCanada or TC Energy or whoever you want to call them, has offered our elected officials a bribe.”

One supervisor took offense at the allegation.

“Are you saying somebody tried to bribe me?” an obviously upset Snyder asked Adams. “I don’t like that, I don’t take bribes…I don’t know if anybody else sitting at this table was ever offered a bribe, but I haven’t, I wouldn’t take (it) anyway…Don’t ever bring that up again while I am sitting here.”

He then left the room briefly.

Boshart directed Adams to present her information to the attorneys.

Latimer and Ronald Comes, a company attorney, also presented information to the supervisors. Latimer said Comes had shared nine of 12 Nebraska county road-haul agreement templates with Kelly, with agreements yet to be reached with Holt, Boyd and Antelope counties.

Regarding Kelly’s timing question, Latimer said, “We intend to put in place construction in 2020 in a variety of areas, including some work in Nebraska, schedule exactly to be determined, and what those activities look like to be determined. But we intend to get going in 2020, once we have the required permits for the different scopes of work.”

He said Holt County roads had been assessed in order to narrow down a previously submitted road-haul map. He indicated a video review of roads, a geotechnical review and recommendations on road upgrades should be in Connot’s hands in January. In addition, he said the company had reached out to 12 townships that are impacted by the haul route and personally talked to officials of about half of them.

Comes also spoke, indicating an opinion that a suggestion from Kelly to start from scratch for the agreement, rather that using a previous document as a template, is a waste of time and legal fees.

Butterfield reminded the TC Energy officials that the county has numerous soil types, compared to the much smaller route used by Grand Prairie Wind.

Comes recognized Butterfield’s point and cited the geotechnical and video details that will be shared, but maintained his opinion that the Grand Prairie document be a starting place for many terms.

“Please don’t start from scratch,” he said.

A Holt County resident, Terry Frisch, handed out copies of a letter to the editor published in the Gainesville, Texas, Daily Register earlier this month. The letter alleges mechanic’s liens had been filed in Allen County, Kansas, district court, placing liens on properties that were leased by EDP’s Prairie Queen wind project near there. The letter further alleged an Iola, Kansas, business that was contracted to build roads for the project, took the action Nov. 27, after it was not paid nearly $1.8 million.