For the second time in their new meeting space in the Wayne County courtroom, the Wayne County commissioners met on Tuesday, Oct. 16. During the meeting the commissioners heard from the county roads department and approved a series of requests from the Wayne County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Mark Casey, highway superintendent, spoke before the commissioners about multiple topics during the meeting. First of which was an update on Federal Aid Bridge Project no. BRO-7090(20), otherwise known as the Temme bridge. A bid was submitted by Herbst Construction for $880,093.15. The commissioners approved the bid.
Casey also gave an update on the roads in regard to the Sholes energy project. Casey express to the commissioners his concern that NextEra has not been as forthcoming with their road work plans as the roads department would like. He told the commissioners that there has been road work done over weekends without notice, creating potential problems, especially with harvest in full swing.
"No matter what you do, the very first thing you have to think about is safety and everyone's safety," Casey said.
Casey presented correspondence he'd like to send NextEra in regards to the situation. Commissioner Randy Larson asked that Casey have Wayne County Attorney Michael Pieper look it over before sending.
Casey reported on the FEMA recovery meeting that he and commissioners Dean Burbach and Jim Rabe attended. The meeting was to handle June's flooding issues. There will be six different grant applications available.
The commissioners discussed the Courthouse Exterior Restoration Project bid. There was no set insurance requirement on the project. There was some talk of requiring contractors to have catastrophic coverage. The commissioners, following the recommendation of project architects Berggren Architect, decided to only require the amount that the company had seen on other similiar projects. This should keep bids lower and make contractors more likely to bid.
Lodging tax grant applications from the Wayne County Convention & Visitors Bureau were approved for the following:
-$650 for Bressler-Fest
-$1,000 for Our Savior Senior Ministry for Christmas with the Isaacs
-$500 for Carroll Fire Department for the Fall Comedian Fundraiser
-$1,000 to Wayne Area Economic Development (WAED) for Christmas on Main
-$500 for Hoskins Woodland Park Rescue for the Omelet-Pancake Feed
-$500 for Winside Public Schools Foundation for Craft Show and Tour of Homes
-$1,000 for advertising in Nebraska Traveler for WAED
-$250 for Northeast Housing Initiative for Taste of Home Show
-$250 for Wayne Bark Park for Halloween Hounds Pet Parade
-$500 for Christmas-N-Carroll Craft Show sponsored by the Carroll Fire Department
-$1,500 for Wayne Blue Devils Booster Club for Holiday Basketball Tournament
The next Wayne County Commissioners meeting will be on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 9 a.m. in the Wayne County courtroom.
