Presentations from the county library directors and the Wayne County Emergency Director, along with the accepting of quotes for two culvert projects, were on the agenda when the Wayne County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Aug. 5.
Heather Headley, Wayne Public Library Director, and Lara Lanphear, Lied Winside Library Director, were at Tuesday's meeting to thank the board for the support they have received in the past and share information on both how financial support has been used and numbers of patrons being served. They noted that the number of those using the various library services is up in the past year.
Commissioner Dean Burbach thanked the directors and said, "we appreciate what you do for the public."
Nic Kemnitz, Emergency Management Director, shared information on the renewal of the Nebraska Regional Interoperability Network interlocal agreement. He said the county has been a member since 2025 and talked about the equipment that is located in Wayne County.
He also gave an update on the purchase of supplies for tower radio repeaters, including two battery back-ups. He explained the value of having these in case of an emergency.
Commissioners also gave approval for Kemnitz to move forward with determining whether or not a piece of coax and two antennas will be replaced on the communications tower located on Highway 98 west of Wayne.
"We won't know what the cost will be until we get up on the tower. I feel the majority of the cost will be for labor for someone to climb the tower," Kemnitz said.
Commissioner Terry Sievers said "I will rely on Nic to make these decisions as we move forward."
Commissioners approved the quotes for culverts for two projects in District 2.
B's Enterprises, Inc. had the lowest quotes for both of these with one being $40,560.50 and the other $45,000. Other quotes were has high as $61,633.88 and $64,540 respectively.
Two utility applications were approved during the meeting. These include a culvert to be installed near Aschoff Dairy and for the directional bore of a utility line for John's Welding.
Approval was given for the renewal of the county's group health insurance from Agri City Insurance. This includes an 11% increase from last year's rates.
The commissioners took the recommendations on Lodging Tax Grant Applications of the Wayne County Convention & Visitors Bureau Committee on the following requests:
Approved $2,000 for Fall Brawl Clean Up on Sept. 27 at the Wayne County Fairgrounds;
Denied Winside P.R.I.D.E. Old Settlers event due to late application;
Approved $2,000 for Wayne County Historical Society presentation by Sue McClain on Sept. 27;
Approved $2,000 for Wayne County Historical Society presentation by Cherrie Beam-Callaway on Dec. 6; and
Approved $1,000 for Wayne Community Theatre presentation of 'Birthday Candles' on July 17-18.
Commissioners will continue to work on the next fiscal year's budget but noted that "things are at a standstill until valuations come in."
The Wayne County Board of Commissioners will next meet in regular session at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 19 in the Wayne County courtroom.
