County continues to fine tune SW Nebraska Juvenile Services

    Chase County Commissioners Jacci Brown, Duane Dinnel and Dennis Kunnemann heard from Southwest Nebraska Juvenile Service team member Karen Baker during their regular commissioners’ meeting June 14.
    Serving Chase, Dundy, Furnas, Hayes, Hitchcock and Red Willow counties, the program will be turning back part of its grant money from the past year.
    Grant money is to go in part toward mental health counseling, county truancy programs and tutors. Baker said some counties stopped using the grant money because they thought it was for something else. Change in staffing at one county contributed to the confusion.
    Programs that turn back $5,000 to $15,000 face penalties. Southwest Nebraska Juvenile Services was able to reallocate $24,000 to Cuming County to help avoid paying a penalty.
    Southwest Nebraska Juvenile Services has received $119,000 in the past and Baker said $93,000 should work for the upcoming year if all counties use it correctly.
    The position of county road foreman continues to be on the commissioners’ minds.
    The board agreed it will probably need to offer a higher salary than it has in the past. In past meetings, the commissioners have said they would lower their salaries to help pay for the foreman position, but with those salaries locked in for two years, they acknowledged there isn’t much they can do in that area in the immediate future.
    Dinnel said he doesn’t have the time or energy to keep an eye on employees and felt his shop was more productive when former road foreman Mark Balderston was around.
    Blackshirt Feeders conditional use permit approval by the Dundy County Commissioners was also discussed.
    The CUP was approved with a list of stipulations. One of the original stipulations, suggested by consultant Keith Marvin and passed on by Dundy County Zoning and Planning, required Blackshirt Feeders have a road maintenance agreement with Chase and Dundy counties. The Dundy County commissioners said they can’t govern another county and removed Chase County from the stipulation.
    The Chase County Commissioners have several reservations about the proposed 100,000-head feedlot and Dinnel said he has some ideas of options the county has.
    Amy Gittlein attended the open forum with concerns about 747 Road, east of Avenue 344. Abandoning the road was on the meeting’s agenda and Gittlein discussed the process, especially having the road surveyed to make sure property lines are marked correctly. A petition, public hearing and notices will precede any vote by the commissioners.
    Dinnel led discussion on applying for federal infrastructure funds. Dinnel would like to see funds go to improvements on 12 miles of Old Highway 6. Adding pavement onto Avenue 331, also called Junk Yard Road, was also suggested.
    The board will begin accepting bids on old surplus oil found in the Wauneta shop. The bidding process will be shared on the Chase County Facebook page.
    Kunnemann and Dinnel approved a liquor license application for The Corner Store in Champion. The business will be owned and operated by Commissioner Brown’s family so she abstained from the vote.
    The next meeting of the commissioners will be June 28 at 8 a.m.