Supervisors set conservation easement hearing

Holt County Supervisors will hold a public hearing, regarding a perpetual conservation easement will be held, Feb. 28, at 1:30 p.m., at the courthouse in O'Neill.

Chairman Bill Tielke set the date during the board's Jan. 31 meeting after Les Graham, of Graham Crowe Ranch, LLC, told supervisors he would like a public hearing scheduled as soon as possible.

"It's been going on for awhile. It's been a month since you've had a chance to look at the easement," Graham said.

Supervisor Doug Frahm said has examined the application and still has questions, noting he is waiting for information from the Internal Revenue Service and conversations with the NRD "went well."

Based on research which included two court cases from other states, Frahm expressed concerns about the holder of the easement potentially being named as a beneficiary.

"With the Nebraska Land Trust being the owner of the easement along with NRCS, and a couple other states saying they are beneficiaries, that's kind of concerning to me," Frahm said.

Graham said, Nebraska Land Trust promotes itself as being ag-related.

According to the organization's website, the mission of the NLT is "to foster the protection of agricultural, historial and natural resources on land in Nebraska, through education, partnering and permanent conservation. The Nebraska Land Trust uses voluntary land preservation agreements known as conservation easements which enable landowners to leave a permanent legacy of protected wildlife habitat, scenic views, clean water, historic sites, and working agriculture on their land."

In other business, supervisors:

• approved the Highway 20 interlocal agreement for law enforcement agencies;

• heard an update about early learning activities by extension educator LaDonna Werth; and

• discussed a potential addition to the county shop in O'Neill. According to road superintendent Gary Connot, the possible addition is included in the road department's budget.