WAYNE – Following a special board meeting in late August to approve the next budget, Wayne County Board of Commissioners held their regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday morning.
From the Wayne Country Courthouse courtroom, commissioners heard from Emergency Manager, Nic Kemnitz on several updates.
Kemnitz received a request from the Dixon County Emergency Management for assistance during the Missouri River Outdoor Expo from Friday, September 17 – Sunday, September 19. Wayne County Board of Commissioners approved the request as in year’s past to provide the EOC trailer and portable communications tower to help coordinate on-site communications during the event.
The tentative plan as of last week was to stagger the set-up of each piece of equipment throughout the week of Monday, September 13. Kemnitz said he’ll be with the tower and if the wind picks up, they can lower the roughly 80-foot tall tower that weighs around 9,600 pounds.
The first day of the Expo on September 17 is reserved for the nearly 1,000 elementary school students to attend before being open to the public on September 18 – 19. Equipment will then be packed up and brought back to Wayne on Monday, September 20.
Kemnitz then handed a draft to the commissioners of the Middle Northeast Nebraska Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Each commissioner will let Nic know if they have any changes to make prior to the draft going final after September 30 which will then be brought back for adoption.
Kemnitz is also the President of the Nebraska Association of Emergency Managers and has been asked by NACO to attend the legislative conference on October 14 in Holdrege. Discussion of upcoming legislation will be addressed.
Commissioners then received Distress Warrant Returns from the county treasurers office and if there are any questions to reach out to Tammy Paustian.
After approving the county officials’ personal property inventories for the 2020-21 fiscal year, board members re-set the minimum rate for the 2021-22 fiscal year. Previously this amount was set at $200 but with the cost of living on the rise, the amount was increased to $300.
Highway Superintendent, Mark Casey also reminded commissioners about the one and six-year road plan to keep it fresh on their mind. A handful of projects were highlighted to make sure they are started soon.
County Bridge Match Program #4 in Wayne County will pertain to eliminating two bridges and turning one into a box culvert in District #1 (Sievers) on 579th Avenue just north of 847th road. A bid opening has been set for the September 21 board meeting where Wayne County will receive 55% reimbursement through this CBMP project.
From the scrap tire collection in Wayne County, 408 tons of tires were collected from the 400-ton limit. The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy will cover the extra eight tons which brought the total to just over $51,000.
The next regularly scheduled Wayne County Board of Commissioners meeting will be on Tuesday, September 21 at 9 a.m.
