Courts, Roads, Electricity On Commissioners' Agenda

Clerk of the District Court Deb Diemoz presented information on LB 102 to the commissioners. LB 102 would force the court system’s consolidation in more rural areas. Diemoz opposes LB 102, which would affect District 12. The Board of Commissioners made a motion and voted to oppose LB 102 and authorize staff to draft a letter to send to the committee. Proponents say it will save taxpayer money, although it may lead to a possible reduction of staff.

Diemoz also talked about the security of the district courtroom and requested approval of a security partition between the judge and witnesses, not only for COVID-19 purposes but for the judge’s safety. A motion was made for her to proceed with this project.

Road Superintendent Randy Bymer reported that the road crew is blading and doing repairs. The upcoming One/Six Year Road Plan and bids for a new vehicle are advertised.

The road department summer scheduling incurred a rather lengthy discussion among the commissioners. Bymer favored switching from April to November to four 10-hour days; several options were discussed. Finally, it was approved for the road department to work 10 hour days Monday through Thursday from April to November.

City Electric Superintendent Bill Hinton met with the commissioners to discuss the planned power outage on March 12 and 15 and the possible impact. WAPA will be working on the substation south of town, and the power from that source will be shut off. He said the city’s generators will start up, but they “will not be parallel with the mainline.”

On those two days, city power will be relying solely on the generator. The power could fluctuate. Hinton encourages everyone to conserve energy by running only essential items, unplugging other things, and trying to limit the town’s usage. The outages will occur from 7 am to 5 p.m. on the 12th, and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the 15th.

County Attorney David Wilson discussed the Juvenile Diversion program and asked for approval to continue to operate the program with Cheyenne County.