Antelope County road department sees new superintendent

Aaron Boggs of Creighton, who has served as foreman of Antelope County's road department for about a year, was hired to head the department when the county commissioners met at the courthouse in Neligh on March 10.

The commissioners entered closed session to consider applications, after an announcement by chairman Charlie Henery just before 11 a.m.

"I have to leave by noon or so," he said. "So, we need to go into executive session to talk about personal employee stuff. We need a motion to do that and we'll have to deal with the rest of the (agenda business) after we get done with that."

The motion was made by commissioner Eli Jacob and Henery asked for all electronic devices to be removed from the meeting room prior to a second by commissioner Dean Smith and a unanimous vote. Henery asked Casey Dittrich, former road superintendent and a member of the hiring committee, to remain.

Doors to the meeting room were opened an hour and a quarter later and the public meeting resumed.

Henery announced the board's decision to hire Boggs, with a beginning salary of $53,500 for a 45-hour work week.

"He does not have to be certified, but he will take the road superintendent training," Henery said. "His salary will increase to $55,000 at that point in time, which will be into next budget year."

Henery also announced the board had hired Lee Kluthe for Boggs' previous position of road foreman, with a $50,000 annual salary, also for a 45-hour week.

In addition, Dittrich was hired as "part-time foreman," on an as-needed basis at $50 per hour. Boggs will determine the need for his work.

"He will eventually 'fade away,'" Henery said.

County clerk Lisa Payne questioned the 45-hour week, asking if Boggs and Kluthe would get overtime after 45 hours.

"No, they have to work at least 45 hours," Henery replied. "We talked about there would be some Fridays and stuff that they need to go out and do some road checking and stuff."

"It was in the job description," Smith added. "We discussed it with Lee just now on the phone."

Motions to hire the three employees all carried unanimously.

Applications for 63 bore permits submitted by Invenergy, some with four and five bores listed, were approved by the commissioners, with additional depth requirements, due to the proposed distribution of high voltage power through lines bored under county roads and ditches.

"There are five right-of -way crossings requested permission from the board to run their collection lines in our ditch up to or over half mile to get around a nonparticipant," Dittrich told the county leaders. "We can put any minimum depth on that permit to make sure its deep enough...My concern was this is a road that is going to get pulled up some time, anytime in the future and remove four feet of material and put it up on the road, it definitely creates an issue for us...every one of these needs to have (Boggs') signature on it, with any special direction."

He suggested requiring a bore depth of four feet below, not just the roadway, but below the flow line (ditch depth).

Smith suggested a six-foot depth below the flow line. "What if (the ditch) is silted in and we don't know if it's silted in?" he asked. "It's obvious if they are completely silted, but what if they are just silted in a foot?"

Pedersen asked if the requirement would set precedence for future permitting, then agreed with Krebs' assessment, "These are high voltage, this is such a special situation."

The applications were approved with a minimum depth requirement of six feet below the lowest point of roadways and ditches, stipulating driveways are to be bored under, not trenched through, on a 4-0 vote, Henery absent.

Dan Forbes, Robert Latimer and Brittany Brockwell, accompanied by TCE security officer Lisa Litska, brought road-haul agreement and map updates to the board.

Ten or 12 miles of field roads and trail roads were added to the map, "where the pipeline will eventually go," according to Forbes. However, Dittrich and Boggs had identified approximately two and a half additional miles.

Forbes also indicated revisions had been made to the proposed agreement, as suggested by county officials in February.

Latimer presented federal regulations regarding emergency response for onshore pipelines and relayed his personal experiences with spill cleanups.

"We have to comply with that once we go into service or before we go in service with the pipeline...TransCanada has to build our own emergency response plan before the Keystone XL pipeline goes into service. We have one already for the Keystone base pipeline, It's about 450 pages in length. It's quite a comprehensive document and we didn't bring that today, but we don't have an operating pipeline here today either... I can tell you from my own personal experience...within 72 hours, we had a haul-road agreement in place with Marshall County (South Dakota) that I personally worked with the county road superintendent to put that in place, and the county commissioners to be fair, and we adhered to that road-use agreement until the competition of our cleanup and the county through negotiations, we essentially paid them $350,000 to conduct their own rehabilitation of the roads that we used, to their satisfaction."

He then asked the commissioners to approve the agreement.

"I don't think we need a road-use agreement in Antelope County until you figure out how you are getting through Holt County," Smith said.

Jacob contended, "There's always going to be issues as you go on that we're going to have to address. The only thing we need to do is just okay the route agreement."

However, Smith persisted.

"It's possible that may not be the route. I have no idea how this legal thing is going to play out in Holt County. If it (doesn't) come through Holt County, where's it going to come through Antelope at? Maybe not at all. I don't know, it probably will, but I mean I don't see any need in us granting a road-use agreement. I feel, as much as anything, it's for them to be able to go back to the Holt County people and say, 'hey, we've got a road-use agreement from Antelope County, they're ready to go with us,'" he said. "As soon as they get done in Holt County, then they get on the agenda and they come here and they talk to us again, and we go from there."

Latimer said TCE was on Holt County's March 16 agenda.

"Work on the KXL pipeline is starting already in southern Nebraska with tree felling and some mowing operations as well, with construction planning to start in June in southern Nebraska, from Butler County down to Jefferson County. You'll see a variety of different activities that we're planning, to haul pipe to pipe yards and so on. ...But today we're here in Antelope County, after much deliberation with you folks on this haul-road agreement," he said. "The route of the pipeline is not going to change. The Nebraska Public Service Commission shared with us that this route was in the best interest of Nebraskans. And that's the route we're going to adhere to."

As conversation continued, Smith asked, "How will you clean up the aquafer once it's contaminated?"

Brockwell said there is a response plan that addresses it.

"But, none of us here are qualified to answer that," she said. "We're not scientists."

In answer to Smith's questions regarding land acquisition and any pending litigation in the county, Latimer said, "We have all the land rights acquired through voluntary easements or the act of eminent domain."

Dittrich indicated the road department had not yet approved driveway permit applications due to some locations not being flagged by TCE. He also said he has yet to see proposals for road upgrades to be completed prior to construction, adding, "I would expect those to go across the desk of our engineer...Some of those they may not be even aware of yet because we haven't done the line-of-sight test for the driveways. So even if they say we are going to upgrade 15 miles,... we may come back and say in order for you to cross this road at this point, you're going to have to change your vertical curve, it's going to change the standard of the road and there are going to be several upgrades or many upgrades no one in this room are aware of yet."

In addition, Dittrich addressed loose verbiage regarding dust control and proposed a tiered penalty system for violations, to assist with enforcement.

"There needs to be an incentive for them to do the water themselves, that's what we do not have, because we were not aware or expecting the problem. That's what we do not have with Thunderhead," Smith said. "I don't have time to be a dust cop."

After lengthy discussion, agreement was reached for a 30-day probationary period, to begin when TCE is notified, by Boggs, of a dust violation. Upon second notice issued within the 30 days, a $2,500 penalty will be assessed, with third and subsequent violations at the same site resulting in penalties of $7,500 each.

Latimer concluded, "We will continue to engage you as we move forward on this to take your feedback, to adjust the map, to adjust the agreement, to flag the crossings, to answer your questions, were going to continue to visit with you in person on this."

Weed superintendent Bruce Ofe and a member of the county weed authority, Ed Jensen, presented a list of equipment the weed department is looking to sell, including pickups, pickup boxes and tailgates.

Discussion ensued regarding online auction companies and selling by sealed bid. Dittrich said the county has other surplus equipment to sell, as well.

"There is a limit on what you can do on a sealed-bid auction," Dittrich said. "I think its $2,500... I think if you receive a sealed bid over that amount, the sale is not completed and has to go to a different avenue, more public...or we could park everything out on the Neligh barn and put up a big banner if we all went to the same sales firm."

In a related matter, Scott Weis of Omaha, representing an online auction company, Purple Wave, addressed the board. After hearing Weis' presentation, Henery asked Ofe and Jensen to submit the list of equipment, saying the board would make a decision later.

Bids were opened for the county's 2020 gravel, culvert and asphalt purchases.

Road gravel, armor coat gravel and rock bids were received from seven companies, and all were approved. Gravel bids included: Mateo Sand and Gravel, $12.50 per ton; Mitteis Gravel, $7.40/ton; Pollock Redi Mix, $12/ton; Bazile Aggregate, $11/ton; Willow Creek Sand and Gravel, $8.75/ton; Emme Sand and Gravel, $8.65/ton; and Spud Sand and Gravel, $9.25/ton.

B's Enterprises, the low bidder for culverts, with bid amounts varying according to tube size and guage, was awarded that contract. Bids were also received from Midwest Sales and Service.

Four bids were received for armor coating, with the county to provide oil and aggregate. The commissioners unanimously approved Sta-Bilt's bid, although it was not the lowest. The $2,750/mile bid was the same as submitted a year ago. Bids were also received from Road Guy Construction Company, $2,650/mile; Topkote, $3,600/mile; and Figgins Construction Company, $5,808.15/mile.

When questioned by commissioner Carolyn Pedersen, Henery explained Sta-Bilt had been contracted for the past few years due to the company's ability to lay the entire with of the roadway without a center seam, as well as citing quality of past work.

Although he said it won't be decided until budget time, Dittrich said due to a decrease in the number of asphalt road miles, he anticipated 20 to 25 miles of armor coating during the upcoming season.

Only one bid was submitted for road oil - from Jebro, Inc. of Sioux City, Iowa, with the following prices: MC3000: $2.50/gallon; MC800: $2.64/gal .; MC250: $2.82/gal .; RC250: $3.23/gal; CRS2: $2.10/gal .; and CRS2 polymer: $2.18/gal.

The bid prices were close to ones received a year ago, with a few pennies difference both ways, dependent on product.

Smith and Henery questioned the prices, comparative to the price of crude oil, which had seen large declines.

"What about the oil prices going down in the last seven days, is that going to reflect anything on your bid?" Henery asked a Jebro sales representative present.

The rep responded that the company buys from refineries about 45 days in advance and the bids reflected "current economics" as of the previous day.

Smith suggested rejecting bids and repeating the bid process in a month, asking how it would affect delivery dates.

"You either accept the bid now or you take your chances in a month that things go down, or they may go, something may happen, a refinery blows up," the rep said. "(It) takes just about a month to get things in."

The commissioners discussed product needs and timelines with Boggs, who indicated there could be need of patching oil (CRS2) during the next month, depending on weather.

Henery suggested accepting the bid for the CRS2 and rejecting the balance. Smith so moved and Henery provided the second.

However, during the discussion prior to voting, issues were raised.

"We need to discuss the rebidding of a bid after it's accepted. We need to ask Joe (Abler) about that," Dittrich said. "But, we have shown our hand, we have one vendor, there's nothing's going to stop them from coming back a month from now with a 30% increase... we told them we need a lot of oil this year. It's the only place we can get it. We can't purchase oil without it being on bid, it's going to be way over the $50,000 threshold. If we had competitive bids, if we had seven bids like we did for gravel, I'd be all for it."

Jacob agreed and questioned if Jebro would even rebid. The rep replied the company would rebid, but the bid would reflect "current economics." He said the effect of crude oil price fluctuations on asphalt prices is minimal.

"It has an effect, but not as much as you think, because the asphalt, for want of better terminology, the gunk left over after they take a barrel of oil out, they get your gasoline out of it, your jet fuel out of it, your diesel fuel out of it, what's left at the bottom, that's the asphalt...there's a little more to it than just the price of the barrel of oil."

After further input, Smith reluctantly rescinded his motion and Henery rescinded his second. A motion was made by Jacob to accept Jebro's entire bid. With Pedersen's second, it carried on a 4-1 vote, with Smith voting nay.

Payne asked if the vote was to accept "any and all" bids. "I thought that's how we did bidding, accept any and all bids, not just Jebro's bid."

Dittrich said the terminology isn't necessary with only one bidder.

County treasurer Deb Branstiter addressed the commissioners. She said the annual public tax sale had been completed the first Monday of March with 18 bidders. She said a resolution was adopted in 2018 to deal with foreclosures.

"We don't have a choice, we have to foreclose on them, for the auditors, in one form or another, whether we do county tax sales or just foreclose on the lien," she said. "Total delinquent right now is $24,590.99. Of that we already have presented to (Abler) $9,828 of delinquent that he's in the process of foreclosing on. Some of it is already on county tax sale from previous years...I just want to know, do you still want me to issue county tax sales on the remainder - on this resolution?"

Branstiter was directed to follow the resolution on a unanimous vote.

Boggs presented a sample oversize load permit form and resolution for commissioners' consideration. He said they were "pretty much straight out of the Nebraska Intergovernmental Risk Management Association handbook" and had been reviewed by McDonald and Tim Baxter from NIRMA. He proposed a $100 permit fee, in addition to "any and all" engineering fees.

The commissioners approved the permit form and placing the resolution on the agenda of the next meeting, subject to Abler's approval.

As the commissioners reviewed vendor claims, Smith informed Payne that Invenergy had agreed to pay half of a recent claim from the county surveyor for approximately $6,500, and asked it be billed to Olsson & Associates. He directed Payne to contact Invenergy for clarification.

During discussion after a motion was made and seconded to pay claims, Krebs questioned a claim from the county engineering firm, JEO, which included an invoice for McDonald's time meeting with TC Energy to review the company's roadway and bridge log. After discussion, Latimer and Forbes agreed to pay the $882.50 invoice.

Jacob asked to amend his motion, "with the exception of JEO."

"No," Krebs said. "I think we need to pay JEO, with the exception of this invoice 114751 for 882.50."

Henery asked Smith, who had seconded the original motion, "You know Eli amended his motion to include that claim, right?"

Smith acknowledged the change.

In other business, the commissioners:

~Heard from Payne that ice sling had been reported from towers in the Tilden area; by the time sheriff's personnel contacted Invenergy, the towers had already been shut down;

~Heard Payne had received a $15,000 refund check from Thomson Reuters for overpayments made in August and October for TerraScan software support;

~Voted to renew three-year contract with National Life Insurance Services for life insurance provided to eligible employees;

~Denied application for $300 promotional grant submitted by the Neligh Fire Department for a grain bin safety program, due to not meeting grant conditions for tourism promotion; and

~Approved road-crossing permit application - Scott Beckman, south of Elgin.