Sheriff's Evidence Building Bid Awarded, Zoning Changes Approved

SIDNEY--The Cheyenne County Board of Commissioners and Board of Equalization met on Monday, October 21, and addressed the items on their bi-weekly agenda. After approving the meeting’s agenda, and approving minutes from the October 7, 2024 meeting, the commissioners reviewed correspondence. First was a request received at the October 7 meeting from the Lodgepole Depot Museum for a $2,000 grant for expenses, including a lighting upgrade for the facility. The commissioners had considered the request and noted that the amount of $2,000 had already been included in the annual budget for the expenditure, and approved the request 3-to-0. Another request came in from the Pleasant View Cemetery for a grant of $3,300. The request noted that the same amount had been granted to the cemetery last year and that the facility needed funding for general expenses and upkeep. The request was tabled until the next meeting to allow the commissioners time to review the request. It was noted that $3,300 had been budgeted for the cemetery.

The commissioners switched over to the Board of Equalization, and Cheyenne County Treasurer Shelley Bowlin provided documentation for the commissioners concerning Exemption Applications for Motor Vehicles Owned by Qualifying Nonprofit Organizations. The applications were for Sidney Regional Medical Center, and the specific vehicles were two ambulances. The proper documentation was provided, and the commissioners approved the application 3-to-0.

The Board of Equalization turned it back over to the Board of Commissioners, and a Public Hearing commenced concerning the application of subdivisions and zoning changes, and an application for a Floodplain/Flood Development permit. The first three applications concerned acreage being changed from either Agricultural to Residential or Residential to Agricultural. In all cases, the appropriate Planning and Zoning requirements had been met, and all three applications were approved. The final application for a Floodplain/Floodway Development Permit was requested by the Nebraska Department of Transportation. The project starts just inside of Kimball County on Interstate 80 at mile marker 35.17 and extends east to approximately 2.0 miles west of the grade separation under L-17-C at mile marker 46.80 Highway improvements on this project consist of concrete repairs and joint sealing of the roadway and ramps. The commissioners approved the application 3-to-0.

The commissioners then approved a General Assistance application for burial for Gerold Harrison, followed by Cheyenne County Tourism Director Kendra Mitchell addressing the commissioners concerning a new position proposed by the State of Nebraska for a new staff member at the Visitor’s Center. The staff member would be a state employee, and Cheyenne County would not incur any additional expense. The reason the state wants to add this employee is to give the Cheyenne County Visitor’s Center the ability to be open on weekends, as it is expected that the Sidney location would become more utilized after the closure of the Kimball Visitor’s Center. Mitchell also said that she is working on getting the state to move the Visitor’s Center I-80 sign to Cheyenne County as it is no longer needed for the Kimball Center.

Treasurer Bowlin again addressed the commissioners, this time concerning approving the re-issuance of matured County Tax Sale Certificates for foreclosure. She said the certificates were issued in 2021 for the 2017, 2018, and 2019 tax years. These certificates had to be re-issued again and held for three more years, for a total of six years. Bowlin said among the certificates were two parts of lots. The commissioners approved the certificates for foreclosure 3-to-0.

The commissioners moved on to examining bids for the expansion of the Sheriff’s Evidence Building and Fencing project around the facility. These bids had to be tabled in the last meeting as Cheyenne County Sheriff Adam Frerichs was unavailable for the bid openings. Frerichs said he reviewed the bids for the two projects, and the commissioners went with his recommendation to approve the bid for the Evidence Building expansion submitted by Wieser Construction of Sidney for $147,184. The bids for the fencing project were not approved as questions remained to be answered by both companies submitting bids that needed clarification before a decision could be made. The commissioners tabled the bid award until the questions could be clarified.

Cheyenne County Weed Superintendent Brent Fletcher addressed the commissioners concerning how his first year in the position had gone, and the outlook on improving service for the upcoming year. Fletcher said that weed spraying was finishing up for the year, and he had been working closely with Highway Superintendent Saucedo to identify problem areas and coordinate service at these locations. He asked the commissioners if they preferred fines or enforcement to take care of noxious weeds in areas where residents or landowners had been unresponsive to requests to manage the noxious weeds, and the commissioners agreed they preferred enforcement rather than fines as fines would not guarantee the problem would be resolved. Enforcement means that the Weed Superintendent would take action to kill the noxious weeds rather than just fine the areas not in compliance. Fletcher also said he believed next year would go much smoother keeping weeds minimized as he now has a better understanding of where the problem areas are and will be able to plan for eradication efforts better. Next, Superintendent Saucedo spoke with the commissioners and said that his crew worked on resurfacing and sloping roads in North Potter last week, worked on widening and graveling on Road 6, and started working on crack sealing on Road 8. Commissioner Miller noted that Road 121 needed attention, and Commissioner Sanders said the progress on the roads in North Potter has been good, and that Road 52 from Road 77 to Road 83 needed to be graded. Saucedo also noted that his crew is starting to put up snow fencing in anticipation of the winter weather.