Village of Republican City

The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees was held on April 1, 2019, at 5:30 p.m. at the Fire Station with Trustees Eddy, Einspahr, Hammond, Orcutt and Valentine present. Angela Bower, Dave and Linda Duncan, Matt DeFreese, Clerk Waldo and Utility Supervisor Whetstine were also present. Posted notices in three public places within the village. Notice of meeting and agenda was given to Trustees in advance. As required by law Chairman Eddy, pointed out the copy of the Opens Meeting Act posted on the wall for public viewing and called the meeting to order. Proceedings shown were taken while convened meeting was open to the public.

Motion by Hammond, seconded by Einspahr to approve the minutes of the last meeting as published Voting Aye: Eddy, Einspahr, Hammond, Orcutt and Valentine. There were no votes against the motion. Motion carried.

Motion by Hammond, seconded by Valentine to pay the following bills:

GENERAL: State of NE, $602.70; Verizon, $109.70; IRS, $102.96; Harlan County Journal, $103.96; Office Solutions, $48.90; TVPPD, $795.02; CHI Agri Svc, $28.60; Payroll, $436.12; Phelps Memorial Hospital, $100.06; EMS Billing Svc, $279.70; Island, $24.80; Presto X, $55.62; Harlan County Treasurer, $238.02; Trustworthy Hardware, $16.88; South Central Sanitation, $141.00; Black Hills Energy, $342.49.

STREET: UHC, $2697.57; IRS, $866.66; TVPPD, $1371.80; CHI Agri Svc, $277.65; Payroll, $3184.98; Island, $24.80.

WATER: TVPPD, $191.22; CHI Agri Svc, $12.62; NE Public Health Env Lab, $31.00; Island, $24.80; Black Hills Energy, $68.92; Southern Power, $301.66.

WASTEWATER: CHI Agri Svc, $12.62; Island, $24.81.

Voting Aye: Eddy, Einspahr, Hammond, Orcutt and Valentine. There were no votes against the motion. Motion carried.

RECEIPTS: Ambulance Billing Income, $190.76; State of NE, $2870.83; Building Permit, $10.00; State of NE, $3220.74; TVPPD, $4061.77; Harlan County Treasurer, $1139.56; Utility Billing, $12,192.62; Int Inc- CD, $50.86; Int Inc- ckg, $170.25.

Treasurer’s report was read and approved.

Michael McConnell was present to discuss the RCVFD. Ambulance has been repaired. Bypassed def filter on exhaust. Goodyear offers a 50% discount to government entities. Will research further. Bosselman’s offers a 6 cents off per gallon on a fleet card. RCVFD will clean out fire hall and provide fire truck rides for the Easter Egg Hunt on April 20, 2019.

Matt DeFreese with the Harlan County Dam Playhouse was present to discuss their 10 year Anniversary Celebration. Celebration is in the early planning stages, but they would like permission to use the area west of the theater for parking and possible food trucks. Tentative date is June 30th. Peddler permits will not be required for any food trucks/ vendors at this event.

Tentative date is construct playground is April 27th. The playground company will provide two supervisors. Einspahr will contact to arrange. RCVFD will aid with construction. Any community volunteers would be greatly appreciated.

Dave and Linda Duncan were present to make an offer of $4999.00 for SHA, Lot 4 (Tract 2) and Lot 5. Another party is interested in the lot and has placed the 10% down payment to start the bidding process. Minimum bid on the lot has previously been listed at $10,000.00. Motion was made to go into executive session. Per the Open Meetings act, the village board cannot go into executive/closed session to discuss the sale of a property. Dave and Linda Duncan stepped out of the meeting on their own. Board was reminded that the meeting was still an open meeting and all discussion is of public record. Both parties have been advised that they have to build within 18 months or title to the property reverts back to the Village. Discussion was held regarding whether the board is legally obligated to base their decision on the highest potential income for the Village. Motion by Hammond, seconded by Einspahr to table this topic until a special meeting to be held on April 3, 2019 at 4:30 pm. Voting Aye: Eddy, Einspahr, Hammond, Orcutt and Valentine. There were no votes against the motion. Motion carried. Clerk Waldo will contact the Village Attorney to discuss what the Village options are legally. Dave and Linda also presented a bid for Lot 3 on West Avenue, should their bid on the SHA lot be rejected.

Discussion was held regarding Summer Help. Kathy Whetstine has held the summer job for several years and is interested in being rehired. Ron Einspahr also expressed an interest in the position. Motion by Orcutt, seconded by Hammond to rehire Kathy Whetstine as Summer Help at a rate of $11.50/ hour and to hire Ron Einspahr to help Kathy when needed at a rate of $11.50. Voting Aye: Eddy, Hammond, Orcutt and Valentine. There were no votes against the motion. Abstain: Einspahr. Motion carried.

Nuisance at 240 Truman has not been rectified. Property owner has stated that the dump in Holdrege is not accepting trailers currently due to when grounds. He will continue to check with them to see when he can dump the trailer of garbage that is currently in his driveway.

Motion by Einspahr, seconded by Valentine to move the May meeting to May 1, 2019 at 4:30 pm due to a scheduling conflict. Voting Aye: Eddy, Einspahr, Hammond, Orcutt and Valentine. There were no votes against the motion. Motion carried.

Motion by Einspahr, seconded by Hammond to go into Executive Session to discuss applications for the clerk position at 6:12 pm. Voting Aye: Eddy, Einspahr, Hammond, Orcutt and Valentine. There were no votes against the motion. Motion carried. Motion by Einspahr, seconded by Hammond to come out of Executive Session at 6:25 Voting Aye: Eddy, Einspahr, Hammond, Orcutt and Valentine. There were no votes against the motion. Motion carried. The ad for the Clerk/ Treasurer is set to run one more week. Will discuss further at the May 1, 2019 meeting.

Jack Mullins with Tri-State Paving will be preparing a bid for street repairs. Gravel has been ordered for the streets.

Shondra Haussermann has requested to bid the Village’s insurance needs. Insurance renews June 1, 2019. Discussion was held and the board will look into bidding the insurance in January, 2020. Easter Egg Hunt will be April 20th, 2019. There will not be a bouncy house this year, but there will still be fire truck rides, root beer floats and hot dogs.

Motion by Hammond, seconded by Orcutt to adjourn at 6:30 p.m.

The next regular scheduled village board meeting will be held Monday, May 1, 2019 at 4:30 p.m. at the Fire Hall. Meeting is open to the public and the public is encouraged to attend.

Melissa Waldo, Clerk/Treasurer

Village of Republican City