On The Road Again

The Kimball County Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, April 20, with much of their meeting consumed by discussion of road department equipment.

According to Randy Bymer, road superintendent, road grader operators were out on Friday after the last significant snow. They were only out until it got “sloppy,” Bymer said, “and it got sloppy fast.”

Bymer notified the commissioners that fixing the county’s 1982 John Deere loader was getting more difficult because parts are hard to find for that unit. Also, the 1977 belly dump has the same problem. Bymer has looked around for a replacement for the belly dump, and those are in the neighborhood of $18,000 to $30,000. Also, an employee in the road department has resigned, and Bymer will be advertising for a new employee.

Bymer reported that he would order colt patching for the Dix road. The patching will not be applied until the temperatures reach 70 degrees.

The commissioners discussed the informal bids received for a 2018 or newer pickup received from Wolf Auto, Team, Panhandle Auto and Fremont Motors. Discussions centered around bids that had a trade-in price or just an outright price. Commissioner Rich Flores motioned to purchase the vehicle from Panhandle Auto Group, but the motion died for lack of a second.

Due to time restraints, that decision was tabled until later in the meeting. Finally, late in the morning, the commissioners returned to the vehicle decision to purchase a 2020 Ford pickup from Wolf Auto.

Aaron Berger, Extention educator, and Nathan Rice, 4-H Educator, updated the commissioners on the resignation of Extension program assistant Jennifer Blanche. They are accepting applications for a replacement. At the current time, they said they have three to four applicants.

Aaron Berger explained that the area’s Drought Monitor continues to impact the number of drought programs available, and sometime the accuracy of the Drought Monitor is not as accurate as possible. Therefore, a University of Nebraska weather station will be located 12 miles south of Bushnell on a school section, providing a more precise depiction of rainfall for the area. The Extension office is partnering with the South Platte Natural Resource District on upkeep for the weather station.

High Point Welcome Center will welcome AmeriCorps volunteers on May 7 and the visitors center will begin summer hours on May 1.

The Kimball County Transit Service provided an update on their services from July 1 to March 31. Administrator Christy Warner explained they have scheduled 10,822 rides over the past year while driving 184,546 miles.

The commissioners also approved a request for a 14-passenger van to be purchased using no county dollars, adding two full-time drivers to the service and adding one more full-time scheduler.