By Morgan Cardenas
editor@wayneherald.com
At Tuesday's meeting, the Wayne County Commissioners discussed a database and representatives for the board.
The meeting started by talking about the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Nebraska Department of Veterans’ Affairs. They have a web based “VetraSpec” database. This is a program that allows the county to view and add certain information to the web based program in order to assist veterans and or their eligible dependent(s) to access benefits. This will be in effect from Jan. 1, 2022 through Dec. 31, 2023. The county has voted to sign a contract and can be extended up to six years.
Next, the Highway Superintendent, Mark Casey, gave some updates on the roads and bridges. He notified the Commissioners that the 911 address signs for the Haystack Wind Energy project are in as they’ll need to be posted on the tower number posts. Wayne County submitted three applications for the next round of County Bridge Match Program projects and should be finding out Jan. 14 which ones were accepted or denied.
The meeting recessed until Wednesday at 9 a.m. They discussed and elected for positions on the second day. The Commissioners voted to have Jim Rabe as Chairman of the Board of Commissioners with Dean Burbach as his Vice-Chairman. Terry Sievers was voted as the Chairman of the Board of Equalization with Burbach as his Vice-Chairman as well. The Commissioners also voted to appoint the same representatives for positions as before. They are as followed: County Highway Superintendent, Mark Casey; County Coroner's Physician, Dr. Mark McCorkindale; Northeast NE Area Agency on Aging, Burbach; Northeast NE Economic Development District, Burbach; Northeast NE Joint Housing Agency, Burbach; Northeast NE Juvenile Services, Inc., Sievers; Northeast NE Public Health Department, Rabe; Northeast NE RC&D, Rabe; NorthStar Services, Rabe; Region IV Mental Health Services, Rabe; Wayne Area Economic Development Board, Burbach; Wayne Area Business & Industry Committee, Sievers; Wayne Community Redevelopment Authority, Sievers; Wayne County Safety Committee, Burbach; Wayne County Security Committee, Dwinell, Knutson, Sievers.
Finally, the Commissioners took action on employee raises for 2022. They decided on a 5.9 percent increase for the pay raise in order to keep up with the cost of living.
The Wayne County Board of Commissioners will next meet in regular session on Tuesday, Jan. 18 at 9 a.m. in the Wayne County Courthouse.
