Return to Board Meeting Updates
| Nemaha NRD January
2009 Board Meeting Report Tecumseh – Four new directors joined four returning directors in taking their oath of office for the Nemaha Natural Resources District board of directors during their regular meeting Thursday, January 8, 2009. New members Charles Duryea, Humboldt, Lynn Heng, Nebraska City, Steve Sugden, Douglas, and William Umland, Palmyra, were elected to their first terms on the board during the November, 2008, general election. Members who were re-elected to their posts include Rob Bohling, Johnson, Orval Gigstad, Syracuse, Ted Godemann, Falls City, and Tom White, Falls City. Mike Speece, Auburn, was also reelected in November but was not present for the swearing in. With a new year come new officers to elect to lead the board. Scott Kudrna, Auburn, was elected as the board’s chair for 2009. Lisa Beethe, Elk Creek, will be the board’s vice-chair; and Rob Bohling will serve as secretary/treasurer. Orval Gigstad and Don Siske, Table Rock, will represent the Nemaha NRD on the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts board. During their short agenda, the board voted to proceed with the proposed Iron Horse Trail Lake restoration project. Consultants outlined the plans at the December meeting, which include sediment removal and sediment control measures, shoreline stabilization, and fisheries improvements. The NRD’s share of the estimated $3 million project is about $105,000 with the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission and Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality picking up the majority of the costs. Based on the board’s approval, funding agreements will now be initiated for future board approval. No action was taken yet on giving staff the authorization to temporarily elevate areas of the District to a higher groundwater management phase without prior board approval. The purpose of the authority would be to allow staff to act during emergency situations which come up between board meetings such as an increase in well development or threat to public water supplies. Approval was given to include the Peru Drainage District and Peru Dike District as part of the Nemaha NRD’s all-hazard mitigation plan. The NRD has been the lead organization in a plan for a five-county area to include Johnson, Nemaha, Otoe, Pawnee, and Richardson Counties. Including these two small entities in the NRD’s portion of the plan will result in a more compact plan and requires no financial input from the NRD. A directors seminar for new and current board members to provide information on NRD programs, projects, and director responsibilities was scheduled for February 24, 2009. Orval Gigstad and Don Siske were also appointed as voting delegates for the Nebraska Association of Resources District’s upcoming legislative conference in Lincoln. The next meeting of the Nemaha Natural Resources District board of directors will be held Thursday, February 12, 2009, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the NRD headquarters in Tecumseh. Committees will meet prior to the meeting. |