Chase County Commissioners address hospital funding, road concerns and IT contract

The Chase County Commissioners handled a full agenda Tuesday, Oct. 14, addressing road maintenance complaints, hospital funding needs, and county contracts before adjourning just after 10 a.m.
Chairman Jacci Brown called the meeting to order at 8 a.m. Commissioners Billie Muehlenkamp and Kurt Bernhardt were present, along with County Clerk Wendy Moe and Road Secretary Jordan Beard. The meeting was publicly noticed in the Imperial Republican and on the county website.
Road maintenance concerns
During open forum, resident Dave Oxford Jr. reported that ditches along several miles of roadway in his area had not been mowed in years and noted trees growing within five feet of the road. Commissioners said the county would send crews to remove the trees and mow the ditches, thanking Oxford for raising the issue.
Transit software issues
Diane Mathews met with the board to express frustration with new state-required transit software. She said the tablet-based system was making scheduling and reporting unnecessarily difficult. Beard said she would set up a laptop for Mathews and contact state officials to determine minimum reporting requirements and streamline the process.
Hospital infrastructure requests
Interim Chase County Community Hospital CEO Mel McNea presented a list of infrastructure upgrades totaling $509,692.01 and asked to use county-allocated funds. Requested items included parking lot concrete repair, a hot water mixing valve, vacuum pump, operating room dehumidifier, sprinkler system upgrades, and medical equipment. Commissioners said the existing hospital sinking fund, which holds about $470,000, could cover facility-related items, but no new county funding is planned. McNea said he hopes to move the hospital into the black so it can self-finance future needs.
Courthouse steps bid rejected
At 8:30 a.m., the board opened one bid for the courthouse front steps project, submitted by RT Concrete for $278,000. Commissioners unanimously voted to reject the bid.
Before leaving, McNea asked whether hospital purchase invoices should be sent directly to the county. Moe said the hospital should pay invoices first and submit claims for reimbursement.
Meeting recessed and reconvened
The board recessed at 8:45 a.m. for the Board of Equalization and reconvened at 9:10 a.m.
Claims approved
Commissioners unanimously approved claims across multiple county funds totaling $303,725.85.
Other business
The board reviewed correspondence, approved minutes from the Sept. 23 meeting, and signed a perpetual lease agreement with the Southwestern Nebraska Pheasants Forever chapter for the Jaycees Building at the Chase County Fairgrounds.
For the upcoming NACO Convention in December, Bernhardt was named the voting member, with Brown as the alternate.
Commissioners also voted to surplus several nonworking items from county and Wauneta EMS inventories, including old electronics and office equipment.
Annual inventories from all officials were approved as submitted.
Representatives from Allo presented an updated contract for Managed IT Services. The agreement was reduced from three years to one year at a cost of $3,776.97 per month. Commissioners approved the revised contract unanimously.
The board took no action on a consolidated service contract with Vanguard.
With no further business and no one present for open forum, the meeting was adjourned at 10:02 a.m.
— Report compiled from official minutes submitted by the County Clerk