Return to Board Meeting Updates
| Nemaha NRD Sept.
2006 Board Meeting Report Tecumseh – Nemaha Natural Resources District directors approved a $2.7 million budget at their regular meeting held Thursday, September 14. Spanning a fiscal year that will end June 30, 2007, this year’s expenditures total almost $500,000 less than the previous year. Though property taxes increased by $46,520 over last year, this year’s tax requirement of $1,292,631.32 results in a tax levy that actually went down. Last year’s levy was 4.217 cents while the new levy sits at 4.04 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. Valuations in the Nemaha NRD’s eight-county area increased a total of just over eight percent. Making up the balance of revenues needed will be grants from the Nebraska Environmental Trust Fund, EPA Section 319 Funds, and various other state and federal grants and funds. Expenditures for FY2007 are largely targeted to watershed development, maintenance, or repair, conservation programs and land treatment. With the land treatment work in the Kirkman’s Cove watershed drawing to a close, emphasis is shifting to the Iron Horse Trail Lake watershed project. Expenditures for land treatment and associated engineering fees will top $600,000 with much of the costs covered by the Nebraska Environmental Trust and EPA 319 funds. Work is expected to move forward on two flood control projects in the Duck and Buck Creek Watersheds near Peru, and the District will continue efforts in the Muddy Creek Watershed near Johnson to address severe erosion and grade stabilization issues. Other items in the budget include funds for data collection to be used in updating and revising the District’s groundwater management plan. At the District’s recreation areas, plans for additional electrical camping hookups at Kirkman’s Cove and a new, concrete restroom at Iron Horse Trail Lake are included in the budget. In other action, Art White from Art White & Associates accounting firm presented the audit report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006. After briefly reviewing the document, White reported that no discrepancies were discovered and that the District is in sound financial condition. The board approved the audit report as presented. Two bids were approved for rip rap placement on dams in the South Fork and Winnebago-Bean Watersheds. Kuhl Trenching & Excavating, Tecumseh, submitted the low bid of $25.30/ton for the South Fork job located in Pawnee County near DuBois; and Thomas Construction, Falls City, was the successful bidder on the Winnebago Bean project north of Falls City with a bid of $28.70/ton. Due to this summer’s dry weather, a new policy was adopted for allowing landowners to water livestock from NRD cost-shared ponds. Recent projects required that livestock be excluded from watering directly from these ponds and instead provided a gravity flow hydrant downstream. Some structures saw water levels drop below the intakes for the hydrants thus cutting off their downstream water supply. The new policy sets forth procedures for NRD staff to authorize emergency watering from the ponds following written request of the landowner. Applications for small dam cost-share assistance were prioritized with two projects selected for construction and funding in FY 07-08. Based on the project rankings, the board approved the flood control projects on property owned by Arlen Grotrian in Nemaha County and Klaus Hartmann in Johnson County totaling about $80,000. Two requests for variances to allow issuance of well permits were reviewed by the board’s Programs & Projects Committee. Earlier this year the NRD set a two-year moratorium on the issuance of permits for wells that pump greater than 50 gallons per minute. With the variance provision, however, the board was able to approve the request from Kechely Farms to increase the capacity of an existing well near Shubert from 40 gpm to 100 gpm since it was determined this increase would not have any detrimental effect on surrounding well owners or the aquifer. A second variance request from the City of Auburn for a public water supply well near Nemaha was also reviewed. However, the board postponed action on this request pending receipt of additional information. As part of the District’s ongoing efforts to update and improve facilities at its public recreation areas, the board approved the purchase of a replacement restroom for Iron Horse Trail Lake near DuBois. The new restroom will be a prefabricated, concrete structure similar to one installed at the park in 2003 and will replace another aging, wooden outhouse. Estimated cost of the restroom and its underground, concrete vault is between $13,000 and $14,000; installed, and it is expected to be in place later this fall. In addition to decreased maintenance, these structures also provide handicapped accessibility. Orval Gigstad and Dan Watermeier, both NRD board members from Syracuse, will represent the Nemaha NRD as its delegate and alternate at the annual conference of Natural Resources Districts in Kearney September 25-26. Two resolutions up for discussion at the conference were also reviewed by the board with direction provided to the representatives on the Nemaha NRD’s position on the resolutions. The next regular meeting of the Nemaha Natural Resources District board of directors will be Thursday, October 12, 2006, at 8:00 p.m. at the NRD office east of Tecumseh. Agenda item requests must be submitted at least 24 hours prior to the meeting, and a draft agenda will be posted at the NRD office and on the NRD’s website, nemahanrd.org, approximately 5-7 days prior to the meeting. |