Kimball County will search for a new VSO

The Kimball County Board of Commissioners held their first meeting of 2017 at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 5. Re-organization of the board is a routine event the first of the year, however the commissioners unanimously agreed to retain all seats and policies that had been in place for the previous year.

The issue of the new no smoking rules for all county properties was quickly discussed. Nolting reported that signs would be placed soon. Commissioner Daria Faden commented about the confusion about how the non-smoking rule applies to the recreational area and golf course.

The board agreed that there is a lot of confusion and that it would be best to just remove the sentence from the policy regarding the recreational area entirely. That issue will be addressed and possibly approved during the next board meeting.

County Highway Superintendent, Dave Hottell, gave his bi-monthly report with more information about the county’s recent purchase of a used tar pot. Although they purchased it at a huge discount, there are still some parts needed and a bit of work before it is usable.

Even with the extra expense of fixing it, the county saved several thousand dollars by purchasing the equipment used.

Harry Gillway, County Emergency Manager and Kimball County Sheriff, addressed the board concerning whether or not Kimball County should join one of the two regional emergency management associations.

Following some discussion, the board decided to review information from both Ron Leal, Coordinator of Region 21 Emergency Management of Cheyenne County and Tim Newman, Director of Region 22 of Scotts Bluff County before making a decision.

The item will be on the next meeting’s agenda.

The remainder of the board’s meeting consisted of addressing appointed Kimball County officials. As Austin Garner recently resigned his post as the Kimball County Veteran’s Service Officer, there was no official appointment at that time. All other appointed officials that held office from 2017 will retain those positions for 2017.

The next meeting of the Kimball County Commissioner’s is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Jan. 17.