By Morgan Cardenas
editor@wayneherald.com
At Tuesday's meeting, the Wayne County Commissioners discussed different proposals presented to them.
First, David Levy of Baird & Holm brought up his proposal for service regarding finalization and monetization of Nebraska Historic Tax Credits. He informed the Commissioners that Wayne County would be eligible to receive roughly $640,000 back through their work. The renovation project that was done to the Wayne County Courthouse was capped at two million dollars and these funds could go back towards paying for the project. The Commissioners took action and approved of hiring Baird & Holm with assisting the Department of Revenue.
Next, Ashley Siebrandt, Clerk Magistrate, discussed her proposal for courtroom upgrades from Conference Technologies, Inc. All counties in Nebraska are going to receive some type of upgrades and Wayne County will be receiving around $61,000 to update their courtroom. The only cost to the county would be any electrical work or items that would be permanent. The Commissioners approved the upgrades and are asking to be kept updated about the changes and prices.
Nic Kemnitz, Emergency Manager, also gave updates about recent training he went through. He participated in the Winter Storm EOC Funcitional Exercise with many other counties.
Sandra Hansen gave more information pertaining to fund usage for the money from the ARPA. The conversation focused on premium pay and the Commissioners will have to figure out who is eligible for premium pay as there will be no extra bonuses for employees through ARPA. To earn payment on their extra overtime hours (COVID-19 pay), they would have to be an eligible employee, an essential worker for Wayne County and be doing work pertaining to COVID-19. Elected officials would not be eligible for these pay premiums.
Finally, the Highway Superintendent, Mark Casey, held the public hearing for the One and Six Year Proposed Highway Improvement Program. He informed everyone that there were some delays on a couple of projects and that four projects had been completed in 2021. The Commissioners approved Form 8 Summary of One-Year Plan for 18 projects along with the 28 projects on the Form 9 Summary of Six-Year Plan. Casey will be holding another public hearing at the next meeting.
The Wayne County Board of Commissioners will next meet in regular session on Tuesday, Feb. 15 at 9 a.m. in the Wayne County Courthouse.
