Building repairs crowd commissioners agenda

Judy Lucas
Posted 3/15/23

LUSK - First person to give their report was Fred Thomas with the Road and Bridge Dept. He said that everything is pretty much open except for Kaultenhauser and Quigley although they have part of Quigley open for traffic. Alvie is back to work as of Wednesday so Fred laid off the temporary help, Cassidy Bruegger until such time as they need him. At this time he is "on call" until an opening shows up or until the budget shows they can hire another person.

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Building repairs crowd commissioners agenda

Posted

LUSK - First person to give their report was Fred Thomas with the Road and Bridge Dept. He said that everything is pretty much open except for Kaultenhauser and Quigley although they have part of Quigley open for traffic. Alvie is back to work as of Wednesday so Fred laid off the temporary help, Cassidy Bruegger until such time as they need him. At this time he is "on call" until an opening shows up or until the budget shows they can hire another person. 

Fred said there will be a few repairs from this winter such as fencing and auto gate wings. They generally go slow enough to miss these areas, but this winter they have had to plow as carefully and as fast as possible. 

Fred also brought up the fact that the doors on the shop and quonset freeze shut from runoff and snow drifts. One of the quotes is for $1016 to fix all four doors at the shop. The business is Frontier Garage Doors.

There will be a soup and sandwich lunch delivery to the county, city, state and emergency services spearheaded by Donna Hansen as a thank you to all for making this winter a bit better than it would have been.

Sheriff Starkey asked if anyone had looked into the price of old bricks in case the building is dismantled. It was suggested that if the building was torn down, the bricks might sell locally for the history. 

Chantry Filener has been fulfilling Mike Mayvile’s contractual obligation for snow removal in Mayville’s medical leave absence.

The last meeting of the Community Juvenile Services Board was cancelled because of the weather and has been tentatively rescheduled for the week of March 13.

The remodel on the Public Heath Building is ready and waiting for an electrician to start the work.

The new National Opioid Settlement item was tabled.

The bid from Wyatt Electric for the Public Heath Building Remodel electrical work was accepted, moved and seconded. This bid was for the electrical work and also a generator that will be needed in case power goes out, so the meds stay at an acceptable temperature.$97.50 is for the general work and $12,200.00 for the generator. 

The retainer agreement with the Budd-Falen Law Offices has been tabled. The full service contract with Copier Connection for the Extension Office copier was approved. The BLM Wildland Fire Agreement was approved as well.

The issue of a curve in Quigley road that has been a curve for several years, but since the sale of different lands, the present owners would like to have that corner redone so it is an actual corner and not a curve. This will be addressed later in the spring/summer.

The MOU between the WY Co. Commissioners Association and counties service as cooperating agencies to the BLM's effort to revise the Greater Sage Grouse Plan was approved and signed.

Sheriff Starkey told the commissioners about the flood in the jail. There were several things that got wet and need replaced plus the drain access is not big enough so Jerry Miller gave his opinion on opening up the drains. The roof needs fixed before the drains can be done so there have been three people who have reviewed the damage to see what needs fixed. Additionally, two doors on the back of the building freeze shut from poor drainage and this needs addressed.

The county has obtained three vehicles from Douglas that are in great shape. There was a pickup, an Expedition and an Explorer. Most of the necessary upgrades would be decals and so far one set of tires. The county vehicles being replaced will go on the auction block. The county has several vehicles ready for an auction and they will be discussing this at a later date. Notice of auction will run in the newspaper and on social media.

The Sheriff’s department is looking into ways to rearrange the booking area to improve safety and security.

Clerk of Court Chrisanna Lund said it has been business as usual with an increase in passport applications. Treasurer Keri Thompson said her department is calm and no news this meeting.

County Assessor Teri Stevens was showing how costs have gone up and taxes would be higher but nothing else for her department.

Extension educator Kellie Chichester didn't have anything new to report for her department. She was wondering how the progress was going on the fairgrounds roof. She also said she can get a donated water fountain similar to the ones at the school and install it in the courthouse if they want it. 

Emergency manager James Santisteven said that he is working on two grants with a deadline of April 10 and April 3. One is EMPG grant and is a 50/50 grant. It is for equipment or wages and the other grant which is 100% cash can be used for equipment. 

Sheriff Starkey asked if the cash grant could be used for a side by side since they have to use the police side by side in emergencies. James said, yes the grant could be used for that so he and the sheriff should get together and talk about it. Homeland Security has a new website to keep track of the weather which James has to log into daily with our reports, and this goes to the Governor to assist him in any decisions he needs to make. 

County clerk Becky Freeman has nothing to report and Elaine said she is waiting for the paperwork to be signed so they can start on the Public Health Building remodel. 

Benchmark will put out several hard copies in addition to a digital copy of the Planning and Zoning rewrite draft. After it is made public, there will be 45 days until any decision is made and probably will entail a public meeting. 

County attorney Anne Wasserburger did not have anything specific to report at this time.

The winter road project as proposed was approved. If easements can be proven to be there before 1971 it is $10 an acre, but if it can't be proven on the easement it will be a charge of $2200. They are waiting for an answer from the department at the state level and have been having issues getting an answer about the easements and county roads. Indian Creek and Cheyenne River road are the areas in question.

Sheriff Starkey requested a review of the county’s vacation hours policy. Since the jail is a 24 hour building this may need different application than the rest of the departments. No action was taken at this time.

The phone conference with the Congressional Tour group was held at 12:00. Right now, Niobrara County will be first on their tour.

The consent agenda was moved and seconded and approved. Meeting was adjourned.