Banner County Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting

Banner County Board of Commissioner Proceedings

                The Banner County Board of Commissioners met in regular session, Tuesday, October 1, 2024, at 8:45 A.M. in the courtroom of the Banner County Courthouse. Notice of the meeting was given by publication in the Western Nebraska Observer.  A copy of the proof of publication is on file in the office of the County Clerk.  Notices were also posted in the Harrisburg, Nebraska Post Office; the Banner County Public School; the office of the County Clerk; and the front window of the Banner County courthouse.

                The agenda of the meeting is kept current and is available during the regular business hours in the office of the County Clerk.  A copy of the agenda was sent to the Commissioners on Monday, September 30, 2024.

                Chairperson Darnall called the meeting to order at 8:53 A.M. Chairperson Darnall stated the Nebraska Open Meetings Act is posted by the back door of the courtroom.  Clerk Katie West took roll call showing: Don Lease, Absent; Robin Darnall, present; Laif Anderson, present.

                Anderson led prayer.

                The Pledge of Allegiance was said.

                The agenda was examined.  Anderson moved to approve the agenda.  Darnall seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Lease, absent; Darnall, yes; Anderson, yes. Motion carried. 

                The minutes of the September 16, 2024, Joint Public Hearing meeting were examined.  Anderson moved to table the September 16, 2024, Joint Public Hearing minutes until October 15, 2024.  Darnall seconded the motion.  Roll call vote: Lease, absent; Darnall, yes; Anderson, yes.  Motion carried. 

                Correspondence:

                There was no correspondence.

                Public Comments:

There were no public comments.

Reports:

• Highway/Weed Department – Jay Dove said the dry weather is making it complicated to fix the roads.  Dove said they met with Laramie County on County Road 1 and discussed an interlocal agreement with them. There was a third-party engineering group that came in and did the bridge inspections.  They inspected the bridges and said everything is good.  Dove said there are six bridges that will need to be inspected, and Tom Neal said he would be available to inspect again. Dove said they have found some issues with the semi that hauls water.  Tim Grubbs said weed spraying has ended for the year and he is currently working on end of the year reports.  John Munn is willing to help the weed department next year. 
• Sheriff – Sheriff Hopkins said it has been a busy month with fall sports traffic and hunting.  Hopkins said that he has purchased two learning simulators, one for drunk driving and one for distracted driving, out of the safety budget fund.  He can take these to the school for red ribbon week and help with area law enforcement with these simulators.  Hopkins said there are reports of people just walking down the road. Just walking is not illegal, but nice to know where people are.  If people wanted to report anything suspicious the number to call is 308-436-5271, that line is answered 24 hours. 
• County Attorney – Attorney Mark Kovarik said he has county court tomorrow, district court on Thursday, and traffic numbers are up.  Other than that business as usual.
• Treasurer – Treasurer Kathy Natale said she went to the NACO (National Association of County Officials) district meeting last week and learned a lot about LB34. Natale also gave the delinquent tax collection report for the personal property and real estate to the Board. 
• Clerk – Clerk West said she has been busy with elections.  Elections are five weeks away.
• Assessor – Assessor Kacy Krakow has been busy making the corrections in the system after Cardinal Assessment reviews property.  Josh with Cardinal Assessment will be out again the week of October 21, 2024.  He should be finishing the physical property review.  
• Surveyor – Surveyor Carl Gilbert was not present.
• Commissioners – 
  1. Don Lease – Not present.
  2. Robin Darnall – Chairperson Darnall said that Region 22 is moving meeting to the different entities to try to get more people to come to them.  The next meeting is in Banner County at the courthouse on October 10, 2024, at 9:30 A.M.
  3. Laif Anderson – Vice Chairperson Anderson said Darnall attended the Office of Aging and Region 1 OHD as an alternate so she could see what to expect and know what is going on.  Anderson said the next meetings are this week.

Items of Business Before the Board:

• Declaration of Surplus – Commissioners – Krakow made a list of courthouse inventory that is no longer in use and included the county’s car.  The Board said that they would be interested in doing a live auction.  Kovarik said that they can set reserves and that an auction company will get a percentage of the sales.  The Board said that they will need to do some research on doing a live community auction. The areas to investigate is where, an auction company, and who pays the bill. Kovarik said he will have to check to see if they can legally do a community auction with the surplus items. 
• NACO & NIRMA Registration – Jay Dove – Dove said that he would be interested in attending the NACO and NIRMA conferences to learn more about Highway Superintendent duties and management, but he is not sure if he could sign up because he is not an official.  Anderson said he thinks it is great that Dove wants to learn but he is unsure that the funds for that should be used since he is not the highway superintendent. Anderson would like to have those funds available for when a highway superintendent is hired. Natale told Dove there is a conference in Valentine in the spring for highway superintendents and that could be more beneficial.  Natale also said the road department used to get reimbursed of all expenses for training if the right paperwork is submitted.  The Board agreed that it would be okay for Dove and Grubbs to attend the NIRMA meeting in October if they would like. 
• Road Department Discussion – Anderson said that earlier in the year the Board discussed pay increases for the Road employees and that they have not adopted the step program that has been presented by Lease.  Anderson said he feels that this needs to be finalized and then the handbook would have to be updated.  Anderson is not positive when the mowing will be started because the tractor used for mowing is broke down and they are waiting on parts.  There has been some discussion on trading in the tractor and mower next year.  When mowing begins, they will start at the Northwest corner by Stegal Road. The gravel project on road 57 is almost complete.  Darnall said that she has received calls for road 53 on getting maintained and mowed. Anderson stated that all the minimum maintenance roads need to have some attention, but the problem is with no moisture it is hard to maintain.  Leanne Trompke said that Wright’s Gap is bad and asked if the speed limit could be lowered. The Board informed Trompke that the state sets the speed limit on gravel roads. 
• Move meeting date, November 5, 2024 – West said that the Board needs to move the November 5, 2024, meeting date because that is election day.  The Board moved the first meeting date in November to November 12, 2024, at 8:45 A.M.
• Darnall read resolution 24-18 Banner County Declaration as a Rule of Law Community. Anderson moves to approve Resolution 24-18 Declaration as a Rule of Law Community.  Darnall seconded the motion.  Roll call vote: Lease, absent; Darnall, yes; Anderson, yes.  Motion carried. See attached. 
• Drought Declaration – Darnall read the declaration from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and explained that there could be short term FSA (Farm Services of America) loans available.  Residents will need to call the USDA for assistance. See attached.
• Amend 2023-2024 Budget – Darnall wants West to contact Candace Meredith from NACO to get the budget corrected. No action taken

Claims:

                Claims cannot be approved until the 2024-2025 budget is approved and finalized. 

                Anderson moved to adjourn the meeting.  Darnall seconded the motion.  Roll call vote: Lease, absent; Darnall, yes; Anderson, yes.  Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 10:28 A.M.

                The next regular scheduled meeting will be held October 15, 2024, at 4:45 P.M. or at the call of the clerk.  The Property Tax Meeting is October 7, 2024, at 2:00 P.M. and the Budget Meeting is on October 7, 2024, at 3:00 P.M. An agenda of the matters to be considered at such date and time is kept continually and is available for public inspection during the normal business hours at Banner County in the courthouse in Harrisburg, Nebraska.

Attest: ________________________________

                Katie West, Banner County Clerk