The Wayne County Commissioners discussed paying off bonds, upgrading County equipment and more at the Sept. 17 meeting.
Andrew Forney, with D.A. Davidson met with the commissioners to discuss the current bond payments. Forney said with interest rates at an all-time low, now is the time to possibly payoff or refinance one or more of the three bonds Wayne County is currently paying on. Forney estimated that if the County refinanced the Series 2014 bond that still has $1.4 million yet to be paid, they could save $61,000. The commissioners decided to move forward with that plan and thought they'd be able to pay off the Series 2017 bond in June, as well as possibly paying off a Series 2015 bond.
The commissioners also directed treasurer Tammy Paustian to issue tax sale certificates in favor of Wayne County and authorized the county attorney to foreclose on delinquent real estate tax liens on tax sale.
Paustian and the commissioners also discussed the plan to re-work the counter in the treasurer's office. The State of Nebraska has walked back their mandate that all county treasurer employees have their own cash drawer, though they still recommend it. That means Paustian wouldn't have to re-work the existing counter to accommodate that, she did, however, tell the commissioners she still hoped to implement the plan for her office.
Re-doing the counter also makes the office ADA compliant. Commissioner Terry Sievers voiced his hesitance to give the project a go-ahead despite approving a bid for work previously. Commissioner Dean Burbach disagreed.
"It's going to have to be done sometime and we've already approved a quote and gone forward with it," Burbach said.
Paustian expected work on the counter to begin in early October.
Highway superintendant Mark Casey updated the commissioners about the progress of FEMA work from March flooding. He also said work on dirt roads is being done for the Plum Creek wind project while the Sholes project still has 22 driveways that don't comply with sight specifications and Casey refuses to release NextEra from responsibility until that's cleared up.
Doug Elting, of Berggren Architects brought the commissioners a document from Kingery Construction outlining the specifics about what work will be done on the courthouse and how it will be done. The commissioners will look it over before approving it.
Also discussed was upgrading district no. 1's skidloader. The current skidloader was purchased in 2010 and Sievers said it's probably due to be traded in. The commissioners also discussed and decided against paying for part of the noxious weed superintendant's cell phone. Commissioner Jim Rabe said they've never paid a stipend for county employees' phones before and preferred county phones and personal phones to be kept separate.
The next Wayne County Commissioners meeting will be Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 9 a.m. in the district courtroom.
