Commissioners look to relinquish bridge near Ash Fall

Bobbi Riser, Region 11 emergency manager, addressed the Antelope County Commissioners at their Jan. 14 meeting. She said the Region 11 board had voted at their Dec. 12 meeting to cover the insurance cost for the NRIN equipment, leaving electricity to the tower being the only expense to the county. NRIN is a statewide communication system for law enforcement agencies, with cost of equipment and installation covered by the state.

Riser also told the commissioners the county had been awarded a $1,000 grant through Emergency Preparedness program.

A question arose as the commissioners authorized the monthly claims, regarding a $6,500 claim submitted by Schroeder Land Surveying of Norfolk for survey work requested by Olsen and Associates for the windmills. Commissioner Regina Krebs said the claim was not signed and asked who authorized the work. Commissioner Charlie Henery suggested it was for surveying related to recent road closures in Elm Township. However, according to legal descriptions included on the claim, Commissioner Dean Smith said it was not in Elm Township.

“He’s our county surveyor, so if he turns in a bill, it’s something he did for the county,” Henery said.

“We have to pay it,” Commissioner Carolyn Pedersen said. “I think he’s required to set the corner posts no matter who calls it in.”

Lavern Schroeder later appeared to answer questions about the matter. He said he was called to locate corner markers when Olsen and Associates could not find them. He said he found 75% of them and had to “set” the other 25%.

He said, according to the attorney general, the county is required to restore of corners on county roads.

Road department matters considered by the leaders included an agreement with a northern county landowner, Ron Crumly.

Road superintendent Casey Dittrich explained the situation in an area west of the entrance to Ash Fall Fossil Beds State Historical Park. An 11-ton truss bridge was washed out, with the engineer estimating about $110,000 to repair it. Two additional bridges in the area are also damaged. He said traffic had crossed Crumly’s property on an old road site last summer.

An alternate project had been proposed to FEMA to remedy the issues, utilizing the old roadbed and avoiding the bridges. However, the road will have to be upgraded to meet current road standards, including the intersection where it meets Ash Fall Road.

Dittrich proposed relinquishing the existing right of way to Crumley, including the bridge, and purchase of a 2.6 acre easement from Crumly for the new roadway.

“This is a big win for us,” Dittrich said. “We do have some funds into the engineering and mileage and staking…I would say we spent $5,000 to $7,000 on the project so far. But we are going to rebuild an existing roadbed, everything is there, there is not a big canyon we’re building through…Brian (McDonald) is confident it will come in less than the approach to an 11-ton bridge that we would have to deal with and inspect forever, going forward.

Crumly also asked the county to handle fencing.

“I think that sounds very reasonable,” Henery said.

He asked for Crumly’s preferred contractor to submit an estimate. He asked the landowner if he needed a dry culvert installed for cattle crossing. Crumly said no. He was concerned about the timeline, requesting work be done as soon as possible. He also gave the county permission use the abandoned roadway for access to repair the other bridges.

Dittrich will prepare the easement purchase for consideration at the first meeting in February.

Citing budget, Pedersen asked what the project will cost. Dittrich estimated less than $100,000, with the funds to come from the Disaster Fund, with potential reimbursement from FEMA. He said it would not affect the Road and Bridge Fund and explained the FEMA alternate project process.

County treasurer Deb Branstiter provided account balances. She said the Disaster Fund is currently at zero because money is only transferred from the Inheritance Fund as needed. The Inheritance Fund balance was $975,000; General Fund and Road and Bridge Fund combined was $785,000 after claims approved at the meeting were paid. She said there would be a little revenue in January, but pretty much nothing in February and March.

“(In) March, we might be struggling a little bit,” she said.

Crumly also asked for a timeline for repair of a bridge on the county line north of Ash Fall, on 870 Road. He said he and other area landowners had to drive 10 miles around to get to fields.

Dittrich said that project extends 200 feet onto private land and is a cost-share project with Knox County. In addition to FEMA, application was made through the Emergency Watershed Protection Program for additional funding.

“There is no timeline I would be comfortable giving you on that one,” he said. “Our engineers cost estimate was $850,000…It is by far the worst project we have that has not been touched.”

Zoning administrator Liz Doerr shared charts from Michael Kortney that showed wind activity during the ice event on Christmas Day. She said they showed towers 222 and 223 had shut down. However, charts for the towers reported by Smith at the last meeting, showed tower 28 was producing power “intermittently” at the time. Smith asked that a colored copy by filed.

Smith questioned if a new building permit had been issued for replacement of tower 57 northeast of Neligh, which had collapsed last year. Doerr said the permit was issued in October for a slightly different location, and the $500 permit fee paid.

Dittrich also addressed the tower during his report, with questions regarding reopening the road-haul agreement. He said Invenergy didn’t feel it was necessary due to the size of the project. He said McDonald had videoed the road and some construction equipment is on site. The commissioners approved reopening the agreement for six miles of county road, for the two-month duration of the project, using terms of the Upstream agreement, with exception of the bond requirement.

The county assessor and treasurer were given permission to change their software systems, from TeraScan to the Nebraska Association of County Official’s MIPS system, due to a lack of technical support provided to the assessor from TeraScan.

Assessor Kelly Mueller said she had price quotes for MIPS, finding it to be “pretty comparable to TeraScan.” After Branstiter said the program for her office is about $3,000 more, Mueller said hers would be $5,000 more a year, but is broken down into monthly installments. She said installation and training are free and the first six months is free. She said TeraScan will prorate a refund with 60-day notice.

Branstiter said 72 of Nebraska’s 93 county treasurers use MIPS. She said she had a full day of training the previous week and the program does much more than the current system, but anticipated a need to purchase forms and check blanks. She said having the two offices on the same system made sharing information easier.

Branstiter wants to convert soon, to align with her office schedule, and said she would need to use both programs at least through the first month end, while Mueller’s schedule would allow the conversion in April, and she planned double entry for three months.

The commissioners authorized the change on a motion by Pedersen.

The commissioners affirmed the Visitors Committee’s denial of a request from Clearwater TeamMates for a $300 promotional grant. Pedersen explained the request to recognize mentors in an advertisement did not meet promotional grant guidelines.

A proposal by Dittrich and Payne to change paid holiday policy was referred to the Policy Committee. Dittrich proposed paying eight hours for each authorized holiday. He explained that in the past, road employees were not paid for holidays that fell on Fridays, due to working four 10-hour days. However, in the coming year, there are four Friday holidays, including Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Payne proposed paying all employees 7.5 hours per holiday, to match with current courthouse working hours. She said consideration is being given to changing criteria for earning vacation days to hours as well.

No information was presented on how the suggested change affects the sheriff’s department.

In other business, the commissioners:

*Approved a fencing request on county right-of-way on an unused roadway in Elm Township, pursuant to relative state statute;

*Approved underground permit on 526 Avenue;

*Heard update from Dittrich that more than 61% of the road department budget was expended as of Dec. 31, 2019, noting a truck that needs repair and projects that can be delayed until the next fiscal year;

*Approved list of holidays for 2020, per existing policy;

*Set deadline for claims to be approved on the Thursday prior to the second meeting each month; and

*Affirmed standing committee appointments, including: Claims Committee, all commissioners, chaired by Pedersen; Bond Committee, Henery, Smith; Finance (and budget) Committee, Krebs, Pedersen, Dittrich, Payne; Building and Grounds Committee, Henery, Eli Jacob, Ed Schindler; Personnel Policy Committee, Smith, Pedersen, Dittrich, Payne, Mueller, Branstiter; and Safety Committee, Aaron Boggs (chair), Dittrich, Jacob, Mueller, Payne, Tessa Hain, Teri Schade, Ed Schindler, Marlene Schindler, Ray Schlecht, Bob Moore and Bruce Ofe; with the remaining committees comprised of “county at large.” Representatives to various organizations were also assigned.

See additional Jan. 14 commissioner news in the Jan. 23 edition of the Advocate.