Commissioners Debate County Rodent Control

The annual report of the county's Wildlife Specialist got a little heated when the discussion turned to prairie dogs.

Wildlife Specialist Matt Anderson was on the Cheyenne County Commissioners agenda Monday to present his annual report.

In his report, Anderson addressed the concern of prairie dogs, noting a lawsuit in Colorado against the federal government.

“Right now, Nebraska is the only state where the USDA is working on prairie dogs,” Anderson said.

Commissioner Randy Miller said the agency doesn't want to proceed until August. Meanwhile, commissioners are frequently contacted about prairie dog problems.

“We have people literally screaming at us,” he said.

Miller said there are areas in the county that are approaching a health hazard because of prairie dogs.

“The Village of Lodgepole, in my opinion, is a health hazard, if the prairie dogs approach town,” he said.

Anderson said his agency is limited also. He said if he doesn't have permission from the landowner, he can't record the number of prairie dogs in the area, or take action to control them.

The commissioners said counties are obligated to take care of predators.

“We're throwing away money,” Commissioner Philip Sanders said. “We're paying you to do a job you can't perform. We're wasting $9,000 (the cost of the contract with Anderson).”

Anderson said he monitors five counties: Cheyenne, Scottsbluff, Kimball, Morril, and Banner.

The commissioners voted not to renew the agreement for a Wildlife Specialist, until the board can meet with Anderson's supervisors.

“Your bosses need to recognize they failed you,” Miller said.

In other business, the commissioners received a quarterly report from Sidney Economic Development Director Melissa Norgard. She said UST Global has a staff of 113 employees, and expects to add 80 more. They were recently awarded a state contract. NelNet has a staff of 14 in Sidney since its job fair early this year. Presently all of the employees work from home. However, the company plans on opening an office in Sidney.

She also briefed the commissioners on the CDBG grant awarded to the Sidney Elks Lodge, noting that the grant is being administered by PADD (Panhandle Area Development District). The project includes adapting bathrooms to ADA compliance and revitalizing historic significance of the building.

She said the City is working on updating its downtown Master Plan. The project includes listening sessions and representatives of RDG Planning and Design, contracted to update the Master Plan, to meet with area agencies.

She also said there have been a lot of “very good conversations” with businesses considering Sidney for a new location. Many of the conversations occurred before the Directed Health Measures were enacted and so the moves were put on hold. However, Norgard did say she thinks Sidney and Cheyenne County are in a good position with the available buildings and traffic infrastucture.

“We're seeing a lot of positive things,” she said.