Commissioners could contract weed superintendent services

The Kimball County Commissioners discussed the possibility of moving its weed superintendent services to contract services at its Aug. 4 meeting.

Dave Hottell, county highway and weed superintendent, said major changes need to be made in order to control weeds.

“With the conditions of the last few years, I think it’s gotten out of control,” he said. “Unless we do something to make some changes, some place, next year is just going to be worse.”

Hottell said about 50 to 60 inspections were made annually in the past. With re-inspections, that number rose to more than 100. He said he has made about 50 inspections so far this year, but much more have been needed.

“I think the way the conditions are, there should have been twice that many, at least, done before now,” Hottell said.

Hottell brought in Cris Burks of C-Weed Management to discuss potential options. Burks was weed superintendent in Box Butte County years ago and served as a regional weed inspector for the state from 1989 to 2012. Her current company contracts the weed services for both Banner and Deuel counties.

“It just takes one drive along Hwy. 30 to figure out that Dave is overwhelmed,” Burks said. “The bad thing about having the road and weed superintendent being the same person is that both jobs are demanding at the same time. Time becomes very valuable.”

Hottell’s department had a recent retirement, and he told commissioners that money could be used toward contracting weed superintendent services instead of filling the position. Commissioner Tim Nolting said that was something that could be looked at during budget hearing this month.

Burks said the county had several options, including hiring a weed superintendent full or part-time or it could contract the services. There are also options when negotiating a contract for services, she said, which include paying a flat fee to include everything or paying for just specific portions of a company’s service.

Hottell said a drastic change was needed to get things headed in the right direction. He is expected to discuss the issue further with the commissioners during his department’s budget hearing.

The commissioners talked with architect Jerry Berggren of Berggren Architects via phone to discuss which work they would like to look at for the current fiscal year. The commissioners narrowed immediate possible work to lighting fixtures in the district courtroom on the third floor, the building’s boiler and locks and fire escape issues for the second and third floors.

The lights in the courtroom would be replaced with LED lights, and would be made with fixtures similar to the current fixtures in order to keep the historical look. The boiler is currently 30 years old and nearing its life expectancy. Pat Sibal, courthouse maintenance, said the boiler is currently running at 80 to 85 percent.

Berggren said he would have to talk with the state fire marshal on ways to potentially solve the problem of locked doors leading to the fire escape, especially on the third floor in the sheriff’s office. He presented several options, including moving some of the offices around on the third floor. Another option discussed would be to have the locks open automatically during a fire alarm to allow the public to reach the fire escape. Berggren is to let the commissioners know what is feasible after talking with the state fire marshal.

Berggren said all three projects should meet standards for a 20 percent historical tax credit, but he would have to check with the state historical society to verify this. He also said he would get an estimate on the cost of each of the projects to the commissioners so they could have a better idea what might be feasible when forming the budget.

Ken Hunter, chief executive officer of Kimball Health Services, reported the hospital and its clinics are in the best “financial shape that we have been in several years.”

Hunter said that billed revenue has moved from approximately $9 million in fiscal year 2011-12 to an unaudited figure of approximately $11 million in fiscal year 2014-15. Expenses have also increased during that same time period from approximately $7.6 million to approximately $9.8 million.

The CEO also said with talk of changes to the definition and exemptions for critical access hospitals, that KHS is in good shape. He said the hospital meets every criteria without exemption to be a critical access hospital and is also a basic level trauma center.

Hunter also reported that the KHS clinic in Potter is seeing about 100 visits per month. It is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The commissioners also:

- Heard that the county jail recently went through a state inspection and it is in full compliance.

- Heard Jan Sears of the Kimball Public Library request $15,000 from the county for its budget. Sears told about some of the newer programs for the library, including the maker space camp and entrepreneurship camp. She also said about 20 percent of the library’s patrons come from the county and not from inside the city limits.

- Heard Josi Morgan, county budget officer, report that the Ag Society would request $80,000 from the county for its budget. The county provided $60,000 in the last fiscal year after $68,000 was requested.

- Reviewed the budget workshop appointment schedule with various departments. Most budget workshops were held Aug. 11-12. The remainder of the budget workshops will be held Aug. 20-21.