County Taking On Potholes Near Dix

The Kimball County Commissioners began their regular bi-monthly meeting Tuesday with a lengthy discussion on a seven-mile stretch of blacktop on County Road 59 south of Dix. Even after the road department fixed many of the potholes prior to harvest, the potholes have returned. County Highway Superintendent Randy Bymer said that the road department purchased and put down two more loads of cold mix to try to fix the potholes again.

Looking for a method to fix the road, Bymer obtained a bid for a chip seal project on the seven-mile stretch; the bid was $306,000. Bymer said it might be a waste of money because of the increase in traffic, and the heavy trucks cause issues. Discussion also centered on the fact that it is a missile road with a launch facility located on the road, and the road may not stand up to the increased traffic and weight. No action was taken.

Bymer’s update continued with an explanation of the condition of the county roads. The gravel roads have lots of blowouts and washboards, and they continue to work on them and try to fix these issues.

In other updates for the commissioners, Christy Warner announced that KCTS driver Colby Risseeuw won first place at Nebraska Roadeo. Kimball County Transit Service has won the past three years, and Colby will compete at Nationals.

Warner reported that the Buckley Trust approved a $15,000 or 10% match to help purchase a transit van. The State of Nebraska Compliance office will be in town checking on transit compliance issues on Wednesday. And finally, the transit is seeking bids for four additional transit vans, the motion was made and approved to seek bids.

Moving through the agenda, Sheila Newell, County Zoning Administrator, stated that no new applications were received, although inquiries have been made in reference to minimum lot size, building permits, conditional use permits and setbacks. County inquiries included wind farms, communication towers, septic systems, setbacks, and building permits.

Newell also reported that she will continue to monitor the progress of the transportation and injection of CO2 project by Tallgrass. LB650 passed in 2021, which established the Nebraska Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide Act. According to Newell, there are no regulations for storage site inspections.

In Discussion/Action Items, the county board’s attorney is reaching out to find individuals interested in the Guardian Ad Litem contract. The board approved and adopted a Resolution to direct the county treasurer to place Tax Sale Certificate on all delinquent real estate taxes and special assessments for 2019 and prior years.

In a vote of 2-1, the commissioners approved the appointment of Daria Anderson-Faden as the new community-spirited member to the Panhandle Public Health District board. The position was vacated when Pastor Kenneth Mars resigned and moved out of the county.

The board was forced to renew the Trane service contract for the chiller although it will be replaced soon. The country did not cancel the service contract in the allotted time and has to pay the penalty.