2015 in review part 2

In the second half of our two-part Year in Review, we will revisit a successful All-Class Reunion, a winning design for the new look of the historic underpass and a new water well for the Village of Dix.

The City said goodbye to City Clerk Rosie Russell, but welcomed her home shortly after.

We welcomed two new school board members and also brought a fresh face to the community and the Veteran's Service Office as relations between Shaun Evertson and the Kimball County Commissioners became irreparable.

Interest increased in the Western Nebraska Economic Development cooperative; the relationship between the City of Kimball and Keep Kimball Beautiful continued to erode, and the Village of Dix ended the year losing their local post office.

July

Trouble brewed at the Kimball Recycle Center when the organization received a nuisance notice from the City of Kimball, which also happens to own the property and the building the center uses. Although the Board of Public Works does not oversee nuisance violations, and despite the fact that the issue was not on the agenda, that board spent more than half an hour during its July meeting discussing Kimball Recycle Center's nuisance notice.

"Because of the large financial support the City provides to Keep Kimball Beautiful and request for quarterly updates, that is the reason the nuisance issues was brought up to the Board of Public Works," Ortiz said.

More than 560 KHS graduates were in town for the All-Class Reunion over the independence Day weekend. Events included individual class get-togethers, cruise night, a 5K, a golf tournament, fireworks and a picnic and concert in the park. The crowning event, though, was Saturday's musical affair in the auditorium named for the longtime KHS band director who was instrumental in the reunion's beginnings over two decades ago.

The Kimball County Commissioners called an emergency meeting after receiving notice of a meeting notice put out by the Kimball County Veterans Service Officer Shaun Evertson which included inflammatory wording.

The original notice sent by Evertson called for an "emergency" meeting of the county's veteran service committee to be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 16. The notice said the meeting was to "discuss and take action regarding the ongoing disruptive and damaging activities of the Kimball County Clerk and the Kimball County Board of Commissioners which are severely impacting the ability of the Veterans Service Committee and Veterans Service Office to execute their statutory mission." The notice was sent to The Observer, put on the bulletin board outside the VSO office in the courthouse and was also posted at the post office.

Three new design options for Kimball's historic underpass were showcased for more than 20 citizens at an open house Tuesday, July 14, at the Kimball Event Center.

More than a dozen engineers, designers and historical resource professionals gathered to answer questions beside Nebraska Department of Roads representatives as well as city council members and Mayor Keith Prunty.

"It was about what we expected," city administrator Daniel Ortiz stated. "Overall the tone was positive. The overwhelming consensus and feeling from those that stopped by was that they are just glad to see it moving forward and have some conceptual renderings and options to show people."

Ortiz said it was interesting to hear which features people enjoyed though nothing specific stuck out as something that should or should not be incorporated into the final design.

The process is expected to take up to two more years before construction begins.

August

More than 6 inches of rain in about half an hour wreaked havoc in Kimball County, according to Kimball County Sheriff Deputy Brandon Loy.

Kimball City Administrator Daniel Ortiz added that more than 5 inches of rain in such a short amount of time overwhelmed the drainage systems at the underpass, causing rising waters.

Though barricades were placed on each side of the underpass, one person driving a Wyoming vehicle circumvented those barriers and it became inoperable in the flooded underpass.

When longtime Kimballite Jim Robinson passed away last winter, his family asked that all memorial donations be given to the Kimball School Foundation. That money is now being used to update the island on the west side of Kimball High School in memory of Robinson.

The Kimball County Commissioners fired Veterans Service Officer Shaun Evertson after an almost hour-long closed session with members of the county's veterans service committee.

Evertson, who was invited to but did not attend the meeting with the commissioners and the VSC, was informed of his dismissal by VSC chairman Bob Abramson during an emergency meeting of the VSC at 4 p.m., that afternoon. When asked if he wanted to say anything or had anything to discuss, Evertson replied, "Nope."

September

The City of Kimball Board of Public Works considered a facility use agreement between the City and Keep Kimball Beautiful, the organization that addresses local recycling needs, at its regular board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 25. The agreement was drafted by City Administrator Daniel Ortiz along with one member from the City Council and one member of the Board of Public Works with input from city attorney Kent Hadenfeldt, who further reviewed the agreement.

Board Chairman Jim Cederburg invited City Administrator Daniel Ortiz to take the lead for the discussion.

"If you recall, the June Board of Public Works meeting, we had briefly touched on the nuisance issues and property concerns with regards to the condition of the property," Ortiz said.

Though the board did hear the nuisance concerns at that earlier meeting, they are not responsible for the recycling center, Keep Kimball Beautiful or nuisance and abatement issues. The board is designed to oversee the public works of Kimball, such as all the utility departments.

Ortiz said that while reviewing the complaints from citizens, council members and city staff realized there was never a formal agreement between the city and KKB.

It was a tough season opener for the Banner County football team last Friday.

The Wildcats lost a pair of players to injury and had to forfeit the second half after falling behind 25-0 at halftime in a road contest against Maywood/Hayes Center.

"We had two kids hurt or injured, so we had to forfeit," coach Brady Cross said.

Cross said his team had only six players eligible for Friday's game, prior to the two injuries, and did not want to risk further injury in the second half. The coach said Garrett Grubbs was lost to a concussion while Austin Dolberg pulled his hamstring early in the first half and continued to play.

For nearly a year the Village of Dix has been operating without one of its three water wells. The village's back-up water well, drilled in 1954, succumbed to erosion sometime last fall. Village Clerk Sharon Villareal said the community went through the entire summer without it.

The main well, drilled in 1964 and relocated in 1971, has been keeping up with demand to date. However, Villareal is unsure how much longer that will be the case.

"We have to re-drill the number two well because one won't keep up, though winter is coming so we won't have any watering issues," Villareal said. "So our water project is to drill a new well and then replace some of the valves that are old."

The village is currently waiting for word from its engineering firm, Baker and Associates of Scottsbluff, before the bidding process progresses.

October

A local livestock judging team, comprised of Tyler Shaw of Kimball, Payton Flower of Scottsbluff and Rowdy and Clay Keller, formerly of Kimball, won district by a landslide and took second place in the Nebraska 4-H competition held in July. Additionally, they won different species contests and they placed sixth, ninth, 10th and 15th individually at the competition.

The win qualified the team for the Ak-Sar-Ben contest last weekend and the team performed well, according to Tessa Shaw, a 2013 KHS graduate who coaches the team. They will compete at a national competition in January as well.

Kimball High School can boast another award-winning educator in Spanish teacher Patricia Sulú, who was named the "Spanish Teacher of the Year" by the Nebraska Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese during the Nebraska State World Language Conference in Omaha last Saturday.

The Kimball Board of Education debated options for snow removal as Superintendent Marshall Lewis outlined several options, including the potential purchase of new or used equipment such as a pickup truck and snow blade, contracting the service out, fixing current equipment.

Ultimately, the board decided that the blade currently owned by the district, which is attached to an unsafe Bronco, could be attached to the district's pickup and used with modifications and repair, but tabled the issue until more information became available.

The City of Kimball froze contributions to Keep Kimball Beautiful until a working agreement between the two entities can be reached.

The Lady Longhorns played a good solid week of volleyball and topped that with a runner-up finish at the SPVA Tournament held at Ogallala.

The week started off with a trip to Imperial to face the Chase County girls where fans were treated to some exciting volleyball with the host school winning in five sets. Chase County won the first two sets 25-16, 25-21, but Kimball battled back to win the next two sets 25-19, 26-24, forcing the fifth and deciding set that the hosts won 16-14.

The Kimball County Ambulance Service and Kimball Health Services now have additional equipment to better help save lives. The ambulance service received two LUCAS chest compression systems, while KHS received one. The devices provide automatic chest compressions during CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitations).

November

Connecting the county's veterans to military and on-military services they require is an honor for Austin Garner, Kimball County's new Veteran's Service Officer. Garner, a 2004 Kimball graduate, served in the Army as a flight paramedic stationed in Germany for the majority of his active duty except for his training time.

A Kimball grand jury, convened on Nov. 9, found no criminal conduct in the death of Jesus Estrada-Perez, who was found hanging in a Kimball jail cell Aug. 1 and died days after.

On July 31 Estrada-Perez became the subject of a search of southern Kimball County when his traveling companion, Eve Connelley, reported to law enforcement that he exited their rental vehicle and had not returned after more than an hour and a half. Connelley further informed law enforcement that Estrada-Perez suffered from depression and anxiety and may have been suicidal.

When found, more than three hours later, Estrada-Perez had ingested a large amount of marijuana and was arrested on charges of possession of hash oil. After being medically cleared by Kimball Health Services he was jailed on those possession charges.

Designers continue to refine the initial design to cut costs and come within a reasonable budget for the Kimball Event Center renovation project, this the Kimball City Council heard from City Administrator Daniel Ortiz at their regular meeting on Nov. 17.

Necessary updates include restrooms that meet the standards set by the American's with Disabilities Act, however, additional improvements will likely be postponed.

The 2015 Kimball High Volleyball Season will go into the books as one of the most successful in the history of the sport for the Lady Longhorns with an overall win-loss record of 17-10. The junior varsity finished 9-6 and the freshman team was 4-5.

December

Members of the community are working together to bring others family-friendly entertainment at the now closed Goodhand Theater.

"Items under Reports are informational only and are not subject to discussion." That line, seen in the Nov. 17 City Council agenda, caught the attention of the Kimball County Commissioner's and prompted an invite for City Administrator Daniel Ortiz to attend the following meeting.

Ortiz was subsequently placed on the agenda but declined the request via email, stating a scheduling conflict.

Consideration of purchasing a new rescue vehicle for the Kimball County ambulance service has been ongoing for four years, according to director Carla Goranson. The issue was moved to the front burner when the Kimball County Board of Commissioners placed a state-wide ad, the week of Oct. 29 through Nov. 5, requesting bids on the ambulance sought.

Interest in the Western Nebraska Economic Development Inter-local Cooperation Agreement (WNED) is increasing, according to Kimball City Administrator Daniel Ortiz. Though Scotts Bluff County was the only county involved, 10 Panhandle communities are now interested and that number could increase, Ortiz said.

Ortiz further reported that changes to the terms in the agreement were made during the last cooperative meeting as the core group attempt to define the entity's role, function and regional scope.

Wildcat wrestlers competed well in the Crawford Invitational, a round robin tournament, on Friday, Dec. 4 with freshman Trenten Eskew and senior Garrett Grubbs finishing second in their weight brackets.

Kimball County Sheriff Harry Gillway and Linda Williams, Kimball County Jail Administrator, sought approval from the Kimball County Board of Commissioners to purchase security equipment for the Kimball County jail and courthouse.

Purchase of the equipment would be almost entirely reimbursed with funding through the Nebraska Intergovernmental Risk Management Association, or NIRMA, which recognizes the safety/risk management efforts of members and offers ASSIST program grants and additional resources annually for such funding.

Though dog at large and impound calls did not increase, citizens reach out for help locating lost pets on social media frequently. Amid the increase of lost pet posts on a local garage sale Facebook page, Kimball man Tom O'Brien set in motion a new page, Kimball Area Pet Search and Doggy Database.

Kimball County Commissioners questioned the $2 fee charged to county residents on their utility bills under the itemization of landfill fees and further considered the an interlocal agreement made with the City of Kimball concerning the landfill and disposal services.

The budgeted cost to close the local landfill cell, originally estimated to be $492,000 did not fully cover the work done by local contractor Z & S Construction said Kimball City Administrator Daniel Ortiz, in a report given to the Kimball Board of Public Works. An additional undetermined amount may be needed once Ortiz meets with representatives from Z & S Construction and Golder Associates.

Prior to adjourning, the board heard an update on the agreement presented to Keep Kimball Beautiful (KKB). Ortiz reported that several City Council members attended the most recent County Commissioner's meeting to discuss the interlocal agreement the entities had entered into in 2014 for landfill services.

According to Ortiz the allocation to KKB is not specified in the agreement between the City of Kimball and Kimball County. He added that the proposed agreement presented to KKB was approved in public meeting by City Council on Nov. 3 over objections by the organization. He stated that he understood KKB would not sign the agreement as it was written and that the matter would be addressed again at the upcoming City Council meeting, scheduled for Jan. 5, 2016.

He added that Keep Kimball Beautiful may be expected to find an alternate location for operations, though no decision had yet been made. According to Ortiz, if the organization is unable to to fulfill the obligations set forth in the contract presented to them the City has to consider other options, up to and including a request that KKB find another location for its operations.

Dix residents lost their post office, with services temporarily suspended effective Wednesday, Dec. 30, and with just days notice. According to Dix Postmaster, Kay Atkins, she did not receive enough time to pass on the written notice to customers in a more timely manner. In fact, the only written notice was dated Dec. 23, 2015, however, printed notices were posted in the community prior to the notice received by mail.

Thank you for revisiting this exciting year with us, we look forward to observing and keeping our readers informed of local events in the coming year – facts, fun or friction.