January 17, 2023
North Platte, Nebraska
Meeting of the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners. Present were Commissioners Joe Hewgley, Kent Weems, Micaela Wuehler, Chris Bruns, Jerry Woodruff and County Clerk, Rebecca Rossell. Woodruff offered prayer. Bruns called the meeting to order at 9:00 A.M.
Chairman Bruns announced the Open Meeting Act with amendments is posted for public review and the county board will comply with the open meeting requirements.
Motion by Bruns, seconded by Weems to elect Commissioner Woodruff as Lincoln County Board of Commissioners Chairperson for 2023. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems, Wuehler and Bruns voted “aye”. Nays, none. Woodruff abstained.
Motion by Wuehler, seconded by Bruns to elect Commissioner Weems as Lincoln County Board of Commissioners Vice Chairperson for 2023. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none. Weems abstained.
Motion by Bruns, seconded by Wuehler to approve minutes of Lincoln County Board of Commissioners meeting on January 9, 2023, with the correction that Commissioner Bruns voted “nay” to accept the resignation of Jeff Higgins as Lincoln County Building & Grounds Supervisor. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none.
Motion by Weems, seconded by Bruns to receive and order filed the treasurer’s receipts. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none.
Motion by Wuehler, seconded by Weems to receive and order filed the fee report submitted by the Lincoln County Clerk for $414.00. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none.
Motion by Bruns, seconded by Wuehler to receive and order filed the Condition of the Treasury of Lincoln County, Nebraska from July 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none.
Motion by Weems, seconded by Bruns to appoint Philip Charlton to the Lincoln Logan McPherson Extension Board for a three-year term. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none.
Motion by Wuehler, seconded by Hewgley to appoint The North Platte Telegraph to publish legal notices for 2023 in Lincoln County, Nebraska. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none.
Motion by Bruns, seconded by Weems to adopt Resolution 2023-02 authorizing the County Treasurer to invest funds for Lincoln County for 2023. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none.
The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners recessed at 9:18 A.M. and the Lincoln County Board of Equalization convened.
Chairman Bruns announced the Open Meeting Act with amendments is posted for public review and the county board will comply with the open meeting requirements.
County Assessor, Julie Stenger appeared as well as Deputy County Treasurer, Sheri Newton.
Motion by Bruns, seconded by Weems to elect Commissioner Woodruff as Chairperson for the Lincoln County Board of Equalization for 2023. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems. Wuehler and Bruns voted “aye”. Nays, none. Woodruff abstained.
Motion by Wuehler, seconded by Bruns to elect Commissioner Weems as Vice Chairperson for the Lincoln County Board of Equalization for 2023. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none. Weems abstained.
Motion by Wuehler, seconded by Weems to approve minutes of Lincoln County Board of Equalization meeting on January 9, 2023. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none.
Glenda Feeney and her attorney Wayne Griffin were present for the certificates of correction and refund being presented for Feeney Farms.
County Assessor, Julie Stenger, reported that there was a boundary agreement between Feeney Farms and the adjoining property that was not received in the Assessor’s Office. Therefore, Feeney Farms was taxed for extra acres in tax years 2019, 2020 & 2021 on Parcel # 71930.00 that they did not own. The certificates of correction before the Board of Equalization are to refund taxes to Feeney Farms for those tax years.
Motion by Hewgley, seconded by Weems to approve and authorize the Chairman to sign the Certificates of Correction and Refund as submitted by the County Assessor regarding Feeney Farms. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none.
Motion by Hewgley, seconded by Weems to approve the motor vehicle tax exemption application submitted by the American Red Cross as recommended for approval by the County Treasurer. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none.
The Lincoln County Board of Equalization adjourned at 9:29 A.M. and the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners reconvened.
Motion by Bruns, seconded by Hewgley to authorize the county representative (Region 51 Emergency Management Director) to sign the Memorandum of Understanding and Transfer of Property with Nebraska State Forester and the University of Nebraska concerning acquisition of federal excess property (Mobile Command Center) for Region 51 Emergency Management and North Platte Rural Fire District. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none.
Discussion was held on the two tort claims filed by JNR Adjustment Company Inc. on behalf of Lumen Technologies. Highway Supt., Jason Schultz, commented that both instances occurred while doing regular road maintenance where they hit buried cable. The cable was only buried six inches deep on Watts Road and less than six inches deep on Somerset Road. The third party sent a bill to the Lincoln County Road Dept. This was completed in July and the county was billed after 90 days.
Volkmer stated they were presented to the Lincoln County Road Department and not the Lincoln County Clerk.
Motion by Bruns, seconded by Hewgley to take no action on the tort claim filed by JNR Adjustment Company, Inc. for Lumen Technologies for damages on 3605 W Watts Rd on 02/10/2022. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none.
Motion by Bruns, seconded by Hewgley to take no action on the tort claim filed by JNR Adjustment Company, Inc. for Lumen Technologies for damages on 12268 S Somerset Road on 10/18/2022. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none.
Motion by Bruns, seconded by Hewgley to go into closed session at 9:55 A.M. to discuss pending/imminent litigation. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none.
Chairman Woodruff restated the motion for the closed session.
Motion by Bruns, seconded by Wuehler to go into open session at 10:01 A.M. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none.
Motion by Weems, seconded by Wuehler to approve a settlement agreement with ME Group and authorize Commissioner Hewgley to sign the agreement with the caveat that final approval and completion will be with the approval of legal counsel, Tyler Volkmer. Upon roll call vote Hewgley, Weems, Wuehler, Bruns and Woodruff voted “aye”. Nays, none.
Chairman Woodruff made the following annual appointments to the following boards and committees for 2023:
Commissioner Hewgley
Economic Development Task Force
Region II Human Services
ADA Coordinator
Rules Committee
Law Enforcement/Judiciary Committee
Planning & Zoning Committee
Commissioner Weems
West Central Area on Aging
North Platte Senior Center Advisory Committee
Drug Task Force
Law Enforcement/Judiciary Committee
Safety Committee
Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Management Committee
Sandhills R C & D
Building & Grounds Committee
Commissioner Wuehler
West Central Development District
Sandhills R C & D
County Roads Committee
Building and Grounds Committee
Noxious Weed Committee
Commissioner Bruns
North Platte Area Chamber & Development
West Central District Health Board
West Central Development District
County Extension/Ag Society Committee
Personnel Committee
Planning & Zoning Committee
Commissioner Woodruff
Visit North Platte Board of Directors
Mid Nebraska Community Action Partnership
Personnel Committee
Rules Committee
County Roads Committee
Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Management Committee (Appointed 9-19-2022)
Other appointments:
Appointees to receive drug testing reports (Chairperson & Tyler Volkmer)
Fair Housing Representative (Rebecca Rossell)
South Central Planning & Exercise Training Region (SCPETR) – Region 51
Emergency Management (Brandon Myers and Joanna LeMoine)
Hear concerns from Elected Officials, Department Heads, or their representative.
Approved the following claims as presented for payment. Motion carried.
General:
Ace se 125.97
A Speichert se 410.00
Br Cmrcl Flr se 700.00
B Boyer mi 26.20
Brite se 144.00
M Jackson se 12252.13
Cptl Bsns Sys rt 188.36
DAS se 390.00
Cntry Lnk se 936.51
Chrtr Comm se 155.26
C Durham se 1899.06
Clrk of Dist Crt dues 125.00
Clrk of Dist Crt se 605.00
Cmrcl Invstmt rt 64.71
Cmnty Cncts grant 61933.08
Cnsldtd Mngmnt se 77.50
DAS se 396.00
D Dubry se 450.00
Dwsn Cnty Shrf se 37.65
Dell Mrktng eq 194.00
Dgls Cnty Shrf se 19.14
Dndy Cnty Shrf se 27.50
DXP se 481.33
Eakes su 301.91
Fair Law se 2310.00
Frlnc Crt Rptr se 224.00
FYR-TEK eq 2418.62
Galls su 250.97
C Minshull rt 6402.00
Hmtwn Lsng contr 65.05
Idl Ln se 97.24
Jstc Wrks su 200.00
J Gosnell mi 11.93
J Roberts mi 5.90
K Turnbull se 2261.00
K Weems reb 91.76
Lncstr Cnty Shrf se 67.98
Lexipol se 2784.00
Pty Cash su 187.67
Mlc Nlsn Wndrm se 3490.79
M McKeone se 4915.50
Mnrds su 96.95
Mcrflm Imgng se 170.00
Mdrn Tr Pros se 831.96
Ne Assc Cnty Ofls dues 60.00
Ne Ntry Assoc se 154.00
NP Hrdwr su 69.52
NP Tlgrph se 602.99
O’Reilly Atmtv se 6.58
O’Reilly Auto Prts se 465.62
O’Reilly se 14.99
Penn Emblm ex 68.16
Phtgrphc Imgs su 35.00
Pplr St Cr Wa su 23.75
Prdgy Sltns su 7454.48
Rd Wlw Cnty Shfs se 19.97
Recoil Ofgrd sub 89.95
Rd Wlw Wstrn Rl Fr eq 6000.00
RWMC se 1903.20
Rsnbrg Ins su 70.00
Sln Cnty Shrfs se 18.61
Svrs Auto se 41.50
Stricl se 104.74
Smt Fds contr 5791.44
T Johnson mi 24.89
TO Haas su 25.00
Twn Rvrs Trnsfr se 658.60
Wash Time su 89.00
Wstfld Phrm se 3670.49
Wstrn Pthlgy se 2000.00
US Bank se 5622.84
Nrthwstrn se 8644.21
M Pederson se 2200.00
V Hervey se 871.71
Roads:
AT&T se 54.26
Blk Hls se 1367.69
Blseye Elctrc se 2326.26
Croell su 3841.62
DPPD se 796.62
Garrett se 2329.17
Gthnbrg Tr se 1598.45
GPH Urgnt Cr se 46.00
HiLine Coop se 23.50
Kly Sply se 689.66
MPPD se 198.02
Mdwst Elctrc se 471.82
NSG su 2012.55
NMC se 7675.93
NP Hrdwr su 102.27
Tlgrph se 45.49
O’Reilly se 439.63
RDO se 1013.77
RS Hydrlc se 61.34
Plsn Inc su 1733.00
Trctr Sply su 88.95
Vlg of Hrshy se 136.88
Vlg of Mxwl se 70.00
Vlg of Wlc se 25.00
Self-Fund Ins:
Frst Cncrd Bnfts se 3027.91
P&M Fund:
L Block reb 13.72
Mcrflm Imgng se 45.00
Building Fund:
Hntns Lk Alrm se 120.00
The meeting was adjourned at 10:41 A.M.
Advance notice and the agenda for the January 17, 2023, board meetings were sent to the county board and all others requesting the same. Advance public notice (includes agenda) of the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners meeting and the Lincoln County Board of Equalization meeting was posted at the Lincoln County Courthouse, City Hall, and the Lincoln County website on January 13, 2023; and was also emailed to the media on January 13, 2023.
The agenda for the meetings to be held on Monday, January 23, 2023, will be kept
continually current and open for inspection at the office of the Lincoln County Clerk. The regular meeting of the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners will be at the Lincoln County Courthouse in the Commissioners Room at 9:00 A.M. The regular meeting of the Lincoln County Board of Equalization will be at the Lincoln County Courthouse in the Commissioners Room at 9:15 A.M.
Rebecca J. Rossell
Lincoln County Clerk
