Commissioners visit road repair sites

    The Chase County Commissioners stretched their legs and visited three sites across the county following their meeting June 11.
    Two sites sat along Old Highway 6.
    Just off Old Highway 6 north of Wauneta, the commissioners, several employees and highway superintendent Jeff Tidyman examined the cracks in the dam.
    At the other spot, water is eroding the ditch next to the pavement. The group’s final stop was on a road on the Hayes/Chase County line where they could look at a culvert that is similar to what will likely be needed to fix the erosion along the highway.
    At the May 28 commissioners’ meeting, representatives of the Sheriff’s Office requested changing from GIS Workshop to Geo-Comm, Inc.
    The commissioners returned to the subject June 11.
    The county receives a discount for maintaining four geographic information system tabs on the county’s website. There are currently five tabs listed: assessor, roads, planning/zoning, emergency and weeds.
    The weeds department uses a different website, but County Clerk Debbie Clark said the county could switch out the weeds tab for an election tab, leaving four tabs even if the Sheriff’s Office begins using a different company.
    The contract with GIS Workshop comes up next year.
    The commissioners then discussed the Chase County Community Hospital Board. Commissioners Jacci Brown and Dennis Kunnemann said they know people interested in joining the hospital board and discussion turned to increasing the number of board members to how many there used to be or adding associates like the fair board does. No action was taken.
    The Chase County Fair Board was also a subject of the meeting. While still at the courthouse for their regular meeting, the commissioners were visited by Chad Oxford and Alex McNair to review the fair board budget, while rehashing concert attendance and rentals.
    The pair updated the board on improvements at the fairgrounds, such as a new stage at the Open Air Pavilion and the new information booth.
    As the commissioners moved on to discussing road employees and their respective duties, including hauling trash, the Southwest Nebraska Solid Waste Agency came up.
    Last year, commissioners Don Weiss, Jr., Dave Hogsett and Chuck Vette were interested in getting the county out of the agency. With Vette the only remaining member of that group, the discussion came up once more.
    When asked why the previous commissioners wanted out Vette said. They got tired of the arguments and could never get anything done.
    Brown said she gets the feeling the board for SWA has lost its direction. But she doesn’t necessarily want to see the county walk away, especially in consideration of the money the county has spent on equipment.
    “I’m fearful of giving away taxpayer money because we don’t want to argue,” Brown said. “But if it really is in the best interest of both parties, I want to think about it.”
    Kunnemann is all for getting out, but County Attorney Arlan Wine said despite trying to exit the SWA agreement, the county has been unable to do so.
    The commissioners removed a cap on gravel prices en route to signing a contract with Dennis and Colleen Goings at a rate of $4.50/yard, 50 cents more than its other contracts.
    The next commissioners’ meeting will be June 25 at 8 a.m.