Webster County Board of Commissioners Minutes

The Webster County Board of Commissioners met at 8:30am on Tuesday July 7th, 2020 for a regular business meeting at the Courthouse in Red Cloud. The following Board Members were present for roll call: Dan Shipman (District One) , Trevor Karr (District Two), TJ Vance (District Three), Keith Buschow (District Four) and Gary Ratzlaff (District Five). Chairman Buschow gave notice of the Nebraska Open Meetings Act Laws. Motion was made by Ratzlaff, seconded by Karr to approve the minutes of the June 16th, 2020 meeting. Voting in favor: Buschow, Ratzlaff, Vance, Karr and Shipman. Voting no, absent or abstaining: None. Motion carried. Motion was made by Ratzlaff, seconded by Karr to approve the minutes of the last Board Meeting. Voting in favor: Buschow, Ratzlaff, Vance, Karr and Shipman. Voting no, absent or abstaining: None. Motion carried. Motion was made by Shipman, seconded by Vance to pay claims and payroll. All members present voted in favor. Motion carried. At 8:30am, Paul Stoner met with the Board. He presented an Interlocal Agrement with the Village of Cowles for the Board to approve and sign. Motion was made by Karr, seconded by Ratzlaff to approve this Agreement. Voting in favor: Buschow, Ratzlaff, Vance, Karr and Shipman. Voting no, absent or abstaining. None. Motion carried. Paul reported crews are continuing to work on road, ditches, etc. Due to the retirement of Bruce Johnson, he is moving some of the road guys to other areas of the County to complete projects already started. The Board discussed several topics and concerns with Paul pertaining to the roads. Job openings will be coming up soon, so we encourage anyone interested in working in the Road Department to come in and fill out an application. Chairman Buschow presented the Sheriff’s Quarterly Fee Report, District Court Monthly Report and Outstanding Imprest Account for all to review. Keith also read a letter from Tom Krueger about resurfacing the Cowles Spur from Highway 281 to the Village of Cowles by the Nebraska Department of Transportation. He will be working with them and the road department and keep the Board informed. At 9:15am, Treasurer Knehans met on the Audit Engagement Letter from the Auditor’s Office for the Board to approve and sign. She also presented her Letter of Credit for $1,500,000.00 to the Board. Motion was made by Karr, seconded by Ratzlaff to approve and sign this Letter of Credit. Voting in favor: Buschow, Ratzlaff, Vance, Karr and Shipman. Voting no, absent or abstaining. None. Motion carried. Janet also informed the Board of an Inheritance Tax refund and a claim will be submitted at the next meeting. She also discussed a Tax Acceleration. Motion was made by Shipman, seconded by Vance to grant both of these. All presented voted in favor. Motion carried. At 9:30am, Janet presented her new employee Nicole Billinger to the Board and asked that they grant her signature be put on the banking information along with Monica and Shannon. Board approved. At 9:40am, the Board discussed paying 50% of family/spouse health insurance premium. The County is currently paying 25%. The Board made no decision on this subject. At 10:00am, Deputy Clerk Abbey Harig presented quotes on sanitizing products for the Courthouse, medical leave of absence and update on the new postage machine as ours is not working properly. They also discussed purchasing a folding machine for all offices to use. The Board felt it was okay to purchase 4 Sanitizer Machines. One for each floor of the Courthouse and one for the Jail. The other topics were dismissed. The Board approved the USDA/APHIS Wildlife Services funding request for 2020/2021. Motion was made by Vance, seconded by Karr to approve of this yearly amount of $7,198.31. Voting in favor: Buschow, Ratzlaff, Vance, Karr and Shipman. Voting no, absent, or abstaining: None. Motion carried. At 10:30am the Board met with several Officials and Office Managers on their Budgets. At 11:30am, Alexa Pedersen, Office Manager in the Extension Office met with the Board about their floor in their office. It needs to be replaced. Chairman Buschow will check with Carmichael Construction on this matter. The Board also discussed ASAAP funding requested and decided not to do it this year. At 11:45am, Clerk Magistrate Jolene Duffy met with the Board on keeping Cheyenne Knehans on the first floor due to a Jury Trial and more District Court coming up. Clerk Petsch told the Board she was in favor of this also and that District Judge Teri Harder and Co Court Judge Timothy Hoeft felt it was a good idea also due to the fact that the Coronavirus is still unsettling at this time. This will again be reevaluated at the next Board Meeting on July 21. The trim round the Courthouse windows is still being worked on. The HVAC System is still continuing to get the bugs worked out. The Board will hold more Board of Equalization Hearings on Thursday, July 16th, 2020 beginning at 5:00pm. GENERAL FUND: Adams County EMA (Dues)-$100.00; Ameritas Life Insurance Corp (Retire)-$392.34; Anderson, Klein, Brewster & Brandt (Counsel)-$19.00; Bockstadter & Glen Law, LLC (Contract)-$1805.00; Katie Bolte (Expense)-$39.38; Ron Brumbaugh (Contract )-$1766.67; DAS State Accounting/Central Finance (Fees)-$448.00; S.S. (Fica)-$444.64; Eakes Office Solutions (Supply)-$158.67; Gilmore & Bell (Counsel)-$3250.00; Glenwood (Phone)-$10.00; Great Plains Communications (Phones)-$1163.98; Hometown Leasing (Lease)-$1677.00; JDS (Fee)-$2300.00; Kenny’s Lumber & Home Center (Repairs)-$279.98; Cheyenne Knehans (Contract)-$1800.00; LEAF (Lease)-$424.45; Katie Ord (Reimbursement)-$2465.18; Alexa Pedersen (Supply)-$49.06; Protex Central (Repairs)-$100.50; Quadient Finance USA, Inc (Postage)-$1000.00; Red Cloud Chief (Subscription)-$32.50; City of Red Cloud (Utility)-$1305.62; Region 3 Behavioral Health Services (Funding)-$2299.60; Sam’s Club (Supply)-$107.51; Robert Schulz (Repairs)-$175.00; Skalka & Baack Law Firm (Counsel)-$807.00; South Central Pub Power Dist (Utility)-$24.80; Sullivan Shoemaker P.C. L.L.O. (Counsel)-$171.00; Theobald Law Office (Counsel)-$2066.25; Union Bank & Trust Co (Fee)-$1850.00; Ken VanWey (Mowing)-$960.00; Village Pharmacy (Medical)- $36.46; Vision Service Plan (Insurance)-$12.90; Web Co Clerk of Dist Court (Fees)-$72.00; Web Co Sheriff-Petty Cash Fund (Petty Cash)-$122.95; Webster County Court (Court Costs)-$155.00; Webster County Hospital Clinic (Medical)-$600.40; Williams Exterminating, Inc (Pest Control)-$88.00; Woodward’s Disposal Service (fees)-$20.00. ROAD/BRIDGE FUND: Ameritas Life Insurance Corp (Retire)-$126.21; Black Hills Energy (Utility)-$40.86; Bladen Sand & Gravel, Inc (Gravel)-$1452.48; Village of Bladen (Utility)- $56.81; Blue Hill Leader (Publish)-$187.61; City of Blue Hill (Utility)-$93.81; Caterpiller Financial Services (Payment)-$23,858.10; Country Corner (Fuel)-$121.23; S.S. (Fica)-$143.04; Eakes Office Solutions (Supply)-$224.72; First National Bank Omaha (Repairs)- $56.16; Glenwood Telecommunications (Phone)-$167.46; Great Plains Communications (Phone)-$48.92; Roger Hersh (Repairs)- $200.00; John Deere Financial (Repairs)-$145.22; Krueger Land Surveying (Fees)-$300.00; Kully Pipe & Steel Supply)-$47.33; Lawson Products, Inc (Repairs)-$396.37; LRNRD Rural Water Project (Fee)-$22.21; Nebr Dept of Motor Vehicles (Fee)-$36.00; Nebraska Machinery Company (Repairs)-$1596.84; Olson Enterprises Inc (Fuel)-$4978.42; Pavelka Truck & Trailer Repair (Repairs)-$2185.34; R&K Services, Inc (Repairs)-$49.84; R&M Disposal, Inc (Utility)-$53.50; South Central Pub Power Dist (Utility)-$138.38; Superior Fire Extinguisher Co (Fee)-$49.00; Werner Construction Company (Asphalt)-$3284.90; Windstream (Phone)-$73.65. ROAD/BRIDGE CONST FUND: Blue Hill Leader (Publish)-$123.76; Red Cloud Chief (Publish)-$81.34; Speece-Lewis Engineers (Fees)-$120.00; VanWey Fencing (Repairs)-$1532.00. SELF-INSURED DENTAL FUND: Bush Family Dentistry (Dental)-$371.20; Pediatric Dental Specialists (Dental)-$720.20; Webster County Dental Clinic (Dental)-$128.00; RC Wilson & SA Wilson D.D.S., PC (Dental)-$540.00. COUNTY MEDICAL/RELIEF FUND: Adams County District Court (Fees)-$1050.00; NE Health & Human Services System (Beatrice/Lincoln)- $192.00. NOXIOUS WEED FUND: Eakes Office Solutions (Supply)-$348.23. AMBULANCE FUND: Bound Tree Medical LLC (Supply)- $3.98; S.S. (Fica)-$201.96; Great Plains Communications (Phone)-$48.37; McKesson Medical-Surgical (Supply)-$1646.64; Petsch Billing (Contract)-$400.00. Total Wages - $10,322.24. Being no further business, Chairman Buschow adjourned the Board meeting at 12:300pm. The next regular meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 21st, 2020 at 8:30am. A current agenda and complete minutes are on file in the County Clerk’s Office and at www.co.webster.ne.us. Dated this 7th day of July, 2020 Webster County Board of Commissioners ATTEST: Louise Petsch Webster County Clerk