**This is a condensed version of the Banner County Board of Commissioners meeting minutes. These minutes are not the official approved version. For a complete and/or approved version of the Banner County Board of Commissioner meeting minutes, please contact Katie West, Banner County Clerk” during regular business hours.**
BANNER COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS PROCEEDINGS
The Banner County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, June 6, 2023 at 8:45 a.m. in the courtroom of the Banner County Courthouse.
Notice of the meeting was published in the Western Nebraska Observer. Meeting notices posted in Harrisburg, Nebraska at: Post Office, Banner County School, and the Banner County Courthouse.
The agenda for the meeting was kept current and was available during the regular business hours at the office of the Banner County Clerk. A copy was emailed to each board member on June 5, 2023.
Chairperson Darnall called the meeting to order at 8:49 a.m. Roll call showed all members present. Also present: County Clerk Katie West; County Treasurer Kathy Natale; Sheriff Zane Hopkins; Road Superintendent Tom Neal and Weed Superintendent Tim Grubbs.
Chairperson Darnall stated that the open meetings act is posted in the back of this courtroom by the entrance.
Gifford said prayer.
Pledge of Allegiance was said.
Agenda was examined. Motion by Gifford to approve agenda. Second by Anderson. Roll call vote: Anderson yes; Darnall yes; Gifford yes. Motion carried.
The minutes of the May 16, 2023 meeting were examined. Discussion regarding the amended minutes. Minutes were tabled until end of meeting.
Correspondence: United States Census Bureau: Letter from US Census Bureau requesting a response to survey. Chairperson Darnall will investigate this further and complete the survey requested. Panhandle Public Health District: PPHD is going to fund communities with $250 to help with the prevention of West Nile virus spread. The $250 can be put towards preventative measures or by the purchase of wipes, bug spray, brochures, and mosquito dunks. Commission agreed to use the funding for the wipes, bug spray, brochures, and the mosquito dunks as in the past.
Public Comments: None
Reports:
Highway Superintendent: Tom Neal reported the roads are holding up well considering the amount of moisture we have received. Chelsea and Tom spoke about the FEMA contract and Chelsea is going to be pulling old time sheets for the annual report, and will compile data for the FEMA project at that time. Tom is planning on attending the Road Superintendent’s summer meeting in Valentine for the remainder of the week.
Sheriff Hopkins: Sheriff Hopkins reported the last few weeks were busy and tourist travels are picking up. He is currently working on the budget as much as he can to get that ready.
County Attorney: Mark Kovarik reported it has been business as usual in County Attorney’s office. He touched base on tourist traffic and the high speed citations.
County Treasurer: Kathy Natale reported she is preparing for the end of the fiscal year. NPAIT investments have been paying back well. In May, collected $7,839.68 on the Money Market account, up by over $6,000 from previous interest revenue. Interest rates are up from $4.88% to 5.62%.
County Clerk: Katie West reported that she had been in contact with Don Wilson, County accountant. Still issues balancing due to not having a running check ledger amount for checks that have cleared, and checks that have not. Don will be sending directions on how to reclaim checks not processed after three years. West is also looking into getting Quickbooks to help in the future with balancing. West finished the retirement audit. Notice of meetings must be posted in three locations. During the summer months, the school is not open to post notices. Discussion regarding posting notices. Gifford suggested contacting Dr. Browne at the school to see how to get notices up at the school. West would also like to renew the contract with Deb Diemoz for District Court. West recommended renewing Diemoz’s contract for an additional six months. Diemoz contract will be on the agenda for the June 20, 2023 meeting. West is also identifying unprocessed checks for Register of Deeds, imprest, and payroll accounts that are outstanding and working with MIPS to get all errors from previous year(s) corrected before the new budget year. The annual audit for Banner County will be moved up to July. After this year, Banner County will need to find an auditor as Don Wilson will no longer be traveling. Discussion on previous years balancing.
County Assessor: Kacy Krakow absent.
County Surveyor: Carl Gilbert absent.
Weed Superintendent: Tim Grubbs reported he has done 38 weed surveys this year, which is the total number surveys last year. Tim has covered a lot of the county and is noticing thistle com back heavy. Next week the State will be flying over Pumpkin Creek. They are not spraying, just observing.
Commissioner Committee Reports:
Gifford; Panhandle Area Development District (PADD); Office of Human Development (OHD); Panhandle Public Health District (PPHD) no meetings were held.
Anderson: Office of Aging and Region 1 Behavioral Health no meetings held. Laif met with the United States Air Force to go over setbacks and roads. Laif was instructed to write a letter with questions and the Air Force would give the letter to the proper people to get answers.
Darnall: Region 22 Emergency Management - next meeting is July 20.
Items of business before the board:
NACO Update: Elaine Menzel explained NACO is trying to go to all 93 counties to inform the public and County Officials about new and upcoming events in the state. NACO’s new facility in Ogallala is expected to be operational in the next 12 - 18 months. Discussed legislative issues such as the inheritance tax repeal was not successful this year. Menzel also stated that there is a new county board member certification class. She stated in the next week, she will be giving educational meetings in Kearney. Overall, she wanted to let the elected Officials know about the training opportunities available. If anyone has any questions or needs information, they can go to the NACO website.
Legislative Update: Valerio Jansante stated Congressmen Smith has been making good ties with Mexico for corn under the USMCA (United States - Mexico - Canada Agreement) and in April he led a delegation to Switzerland to promote agriculture trades. He has also been dealing with healthcare for our senior citizens. Congressman Smith promoted a bipartisan bill to promote people who are on dialysis to receive dialysis care at home. He has been ensuring Medicare meets the needs of the elderly. He introduced a bill, quality cardiac petition dealing with cardiac or pulmonary rehabilitation. This would be for anyone who has cardiac/pulmonary issues to get in with a physician and/or physician assistant to order cardiac screenings. Congressman Smith has been trying to clear out some of the red tape to keep small communities happy.
USDA: Matt Anderson stated he works with Cheyenne, Scottsbluff, Kimball, Morrill, and Banner counties. He mentioned that Nebraska has missed a lot of opportunities with USDA funding. Matt mentioned throughout the years, he has been in network with the counties; his main job has been controlling population of coyotes and prairie dogs. Matt proposed to the Commission to continue with this funding even with the 5% increase on the financial plan. The USDA is one of the most used government programs, but with the least amount of funding. Motion by Gifford to renew the property service agreement and work a financial plan with the United States Department of Agriculture, authorizing Chairperson to sign. Second by Anderson. Roll call vote: Gifford yes; Darnall yes; Anderson yes. Motion carried.
DR4420 Authorizing Representative for FEMA/NEMA Project: Chairperson Darnall stated looking back on the projects in 2019, there has been changes to the county. The appointed authorized representative will oversee the project paperwork, contact with FEMA/NEMA, etc. Darnall suggested Chelsea Mossberg, Banner County Road Dept. Secretary be the authorized representative, giving Chelsea authorization to get information on the project that Tom and the Commission may need. Motion by Anderson to authorize Chelsea Mossberg as the authorized representative for the FEMA/NEMA project, authorizing Chairperson to sign letter stating such. Second by Gifford. Roll call vote: Gifford yes; Darnall yes; Anderson yes. Motion carried.
Set Comprehensive Plan Hearing Date: Comprehensive Planning Commission meeting and hearing were cancelled and will be rescheduled. Tabled.
Balancing /90 Day Time on Checks: Katie West stated balancing to within one dollar is very difficult because the County has six outstanding checks in the imprest account that need to go through the unclaimed property process and returned to the County. West is waitng for instructions from Don Wilson to start that process. Adding “void after 90 days” on checks is not beneficial as the only way to reclaim the outstanding checks is through the unclaimed property process. The Register of Deeds account has been balanced. The District Court account is currently balanced, and some bonds have been found and returned to the District Court funds.
Surplus Office Furniture: Kathy Natale presented the Board with the list of office furniture no longer needed. West mentioned donating a desk to the Fire Department and the card holder to the museum. County Attorney Kovarik advised that the County cannot “donate” these items, because Banner County acquired the now surplus property with taxpayer funds and as a result donations are not permissible. Motion by Anderson declaring Natale’s listed items as county surplus and authorizing the County Clerk to list the items for sale in the paper and other appropriate media. Sealed bids for surplus items will be accepted at the Banner County Clerk’s office until Monday, June 19, 2023 at 4:30 p.m. Second by Gifford. Roll call vote: Gifford yes; Darnall yes; Anderson yes. Motion carried.
Laptop and Docking Station: Katie West presented a letter from Assessor Krakow stating she would like to purchase a laptop and docking station from Amazon for $1295.98 with Bytes installing the same for $250.00 for the Assessor’s office, using ARPA funds. Motion by Gifford to approve the purchase of the laptop and docking station for the Assessor’s office from Amazon for $1295.98 with Bytes installing the same for $250.00, using ARPA funds. Second by Anderson. Roll call vote: Gifford yes; Darnall yes; Anderson yes. Motion carried.
New Printer: Katie West stated the only printer that can print checks no longer works. West presented a quote from Staple’s for a new printer. Discussion. Motion by Anderson to approve Clerk West to buy a printer for the Clerk’s office from Staple’s for $279.00 and to use funds out of the general fund line item 5-0500 office equipment. Second by Gifford. Discussion. Roll call vote: Gifford yes; Darnall yes; Anderson yes. Motion carried.
Office Chair: Kathy Natale provided the Commission with a quote from Staple’s for a new office chair of $329.00 plus $20 set up fee. Motion by Gifford to approve the purchase of a new office chair for the Treasurer’s office for approximately $350.00 under the next fiscal year budget. Second by Anderson. Roll call vote: Gifford yes; Darnall yes; Anderson yes. Motion carried.
ARPA Funds: Katie West stated the ARPA funds remaining for the County are $96,878.57 - less what was allocated for the laptop and docking station. The beginning budget amount at the beginning of the fiscal year was $109.062.75. West mentioned after speaking with Elaine Menzel and Candace Meredith from NACO, the best description for what ARPA funds can be used for is “any general government service”. NACO website explains ARPA funds. Anderson mentioned he would like to pick the top three issues that the County needs to have replaced or upgraded, and then make a decision from there. These funds must be allocated by December 31, 2024. If not allocated and/or used by that time, the County loses that money.
Minutes: Additional discussion regarding the minutes of May 6, 2023 meeting. Motion by Anderson to approve the amended version of the minutes. Second by Gifford. Roll call vote: Gifford yes; Darnall yes; Anderson yes. Motion carried.
Closed Session: Statute 84 - 1410 (1) Motion by Darnall to go into closed session for the protection of the public interest and for the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual(s) where such individual(s) have not requested a public meeting for the stated purpose of the evaluating of the job performance of road department personnel to include Chairperson Darnall, Member Robert Gifford, Vice Chairman Laif Anderson, County Attorney Mark Kovarik, and from time to time, Tom Neal at 12:11 p.m. Second by Gifford. Roll call vote: Gifford yes; Darnall yes; Anderson yes. Motion carried at 12:11 p.m. Chairperson Darnall restated the subject matter of Anderson’s motion. Motion by Anderson to exit closed session at 1:55 p.m. with no action taken. Second by Gifford. Roll call vote: Gifford yes; Darnall yes; Anderson yes. Motion carried at 1:55 p.m.
The following claims for June 6, 2023 were audited. Motion by Gifford to approve claims and warrants ordered drawn on respective funds. Second by Anderson. Roll call vote: Gifford yes; Darnall yes; Anderson yes. Motion carried.
CLAIMS
General: A. Elliot Office PC $80.00 - district court; Banner County District Court $71.00 - district court costs; Cobblestone $95.00 - Assessor Lodging; DAS State Accounting $41.64 - data processing; Tim Grubbs $10,000.00 - Weed Superintendent; High West Energy $170.00 - generator repairs; Ideal Linen $243.50 - janitor supplies; MCI $96.98 - fax; Menards $171.00 - bathroom light repair; MIPS $336.60 - data processing; Mobile Binders $47.83 - office equipment ROD; Nebraska Association of Treasurers $175.00 - continuing education; Nebraska Department of Labor $89.45 - unemployment; North Platte NRD $49.82 - water; Pack Rat Disposal $45.00 - trash; Sandberg Implement $104.14 - mower repairs; Staples $155.99 - office supplies; Vistabeam $186.90 - internet; WizNerds $97.50 - computer repair; VSP $302.48 - vision insurance; Blue Cross Blue Shield $18,843.94 - health insurance; Colonial Life $55.37 - dental insurance; Banner Capitol Bank $3433.36 - (?); Aflac $927.91 - benefits.
Roads: Gary Diffendaffer $50.00 - gravel; Eakes $13.50 - office; John Robert Faden $360.00 - gravel; Karyn Holt - Olsen $1060.00 - gravel; Kimball Auto Parts $982.28 - shop supplies; Nebraska Machinery $1098.08 - repairs/shop supplies; North Platte NRD $33.72 - water; Pack Rat Disposal $2452.16 - trash; Pomp’s Tire Service $2462.16 - recap trailer tires; Verizon Connect $32.38 - trackers.
Sheriff: Nebraska Sheriff’s Association & Police Officers Association of Nebraska $135.00 - conference; Nebraska State Patrol $53.25 - equipment; MCI $53.09 - fax.
Motion by Gifford to adjourn meeting at 2:10 pm. Second by Anderson. Roll call vote: Anderson yes; Darnall yes; Gifford yes. Motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 2:10 pm.
The next meeting will be held June 20, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. or at the call of the clerk. An agenda of the matters to be considered at such date and time is kept continually current and is available for public inspection during normal business hours at the office of the Banner County Clerk in the Courthouse in Harrisburg.
