By Morgan Cardenas
editor@wayneherald.com
At Tuesday's meeting, the Wayne County Commissioners approved many grant applications and discussed different topics.
The meeting started off with county office updates and reports. Commissioner Dean Burbach of District Two went first by telling everyone they are cleaning up the roads used during the Wind Farm project. Commissioner Terry Sievers of District One was next, reporting that the bridges are gone and cleaned up. Commissioner Jim Rabe of District Three informed the other Commissioners that they are taking out some trees at the moment but have no current projects.
Weed Superintendent Doug Deck gave the board an update of what he does during the year. Deck has had a successful program of controlling weeds better during the fall. He notified the board that he will need two new board members from the city or village that have to be urban and that he is looking for someone to fill the vacant spots. Deck will also be doing a couple of public educational seminars.
"We give speeches on three of the state noxious weeds to probably 700 junior high and high school kids in a rotating basis so you give the same speech for five minutes for three hours," Deck said.
County Attorney Amy Miller finished the office updates with her report. She let the Commissioners know they are still prosecuting some reports. Miller said the Juvenile Divergent Program is going great and the Child Support Office has received many compliments on the convenience of the office. Many people have said the office has made it a lot easier than having to travel to a different town for help.
The Commissioners approved 20 different Lodging Tax Grant Applications. The total comes out to a little over $21,000 and there is currently $45,000 in the bank. The applications are as followed: $1,000 for Boomerfest; $1,500 for Cruise Main in Wayne; $500 for Girls High School National Championship Rugby; $2,000 for Wayne County Fair radio advertising; $2,000 for printing Wayne County Fair Book; $400 for Jr. Area 5 Legion Tournament; $2,000 for Mayday Stol Drag Races; $500 for 1st Annual Garden Walk; $1,500 for Winside Old Settlers; $1,500 for Wooden Bat Tournament; $1,000 for Wakefest 2022; Juneteenth Celebration/Freedom Run/Walk at Bressler Park; $250 for The Wakefield Market; $375 for Drama Camp; $375 for A Little Red Hen Christmas; $500 for Disney’s The Little Mermaid; $2,000 for Henoween; $2,000 for Wayne Chicken Show; $1,000 for The Backroads Passport Program; and $500 for PopUps and Popcorn.
Then, County Assessor Dawn Duffy gave an overview of valuations and their increases. Every parcel owner, if valuation goes up or down, will receive a valuation notice. Notices will be sent out by June 1. Duffy stated valuations are 100% driven by market base as Ag, commercial and residential are determined by what people are paying for the land. Prices paid for residential properties have increased dramatically over the last couple of years. Recent Ag sales are showing large increases to price paid per acre from a year ago
Next, Sandra Hansen informed the Commissioners about the ARPA Funds update. Hansen has put a committee together with five other people. She is hoping to have their first meeting in June and will try to meet quarterly. They have requested the second half of their $1.8 million in ARPA Funds and are expecting in sometime this summer.
Finally, Wayne County Emergency Manager Nic Kemnitz talked about information that he received about wildfires at a recent conference he attended. Kemnitz explained that Nebraska is in a drought and the long-term weather models are not showing much in terms of measurable moisture for the next couple of weeks. They also purchased a fire weather meter to help with updates on current conditions when a fire occurs to be more prepared. Kemnitz explained that if a large wildfire were to occur, Wayne County would need to file a local disaster declaration with NEMA to utilize resources beyond the local level.
The Wayne County Board of Commissioners will next meet in regular session on Tuesday, May 3 at 9 a.m. in the Wayne County Courthouse.
