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Holdrege man to be Red Willow County surveyor
McCOOK, Neb. — For lack of a licensed land surveyor in the county, Red Willow County commissioners signed an agreement Monday morning with a licensed surveyor from Holdrege to fill the vacancy created by the resignation two weeks ago of county surveyor Gary Dicenta.
The agreement that commissioners approved with Brian Langenberg of Holdrege will run through Dec. 31, 2018.
Dicenta was elected most recently to the surveyor's position in November 2014; his term would have expired Dec. 31, 2018. He told commissioners Feb. 12 he is moving to Colorado. His last day on the job will be Feb. 28.
Commission chairman Earl McNutt said during the commissioners' weekly meeting Monday that he conferred with county attorney Paul Wood who determined it is legal to appoint Langenberg to the surveyor's position because there is not a licensed land surveyor in Red Willow County, at least not one that indicated any interest to commissioners in the open position.
Langenberg is employed as a licensed land surveyor with Miller & Associates of Kearney, which has an office in McCook. Calling himself "one man with GPS equipment," Langenberg will be paid $85 an hour and 50 cents per mile. Langenberg said the job-by-job contract saves the county money by not having to pay a salary and benefits.
Langenberg said he has also been appointed by Hayes, Hitchcock and Dundy county commissioners to fill Dicenta's terms as surveyor in those counties. Langenberg is appointed county surveyor in Frontier, Furnas and Franklin counties, each providing a year-to-year agreement at an hourly rate plus mileage. He has been elected surveyor in Phelps County, which pays a salary.
Tyson Bardsley, Red Willow County's new roads superintendent and also a Miller & Associates employee in the McCook office as Dicenta is until Feb. 28, will be Langenberg's contact in Miller & Associates' McCook office.
With his move to Colorado, Dicenta also leaves the position of flood plain administrator, which requires a special certification. That position will be filled in Red Willow County by Miller & Associates, which has a certified flood plain administrator within its employees.
In a related matter, commissioners authorized McNutt to sign an agreement with the State of Nebraska Department of Transportation to proceed with a bridge match project for which Red Willow County was approved in January.
Replacing a Beaver Creek bridge northwest of Danbury with twin corrugated metal pipes will cost approximately $55,000. Bardsley told commissioners that the state will pay 55 percent of the total construction cost, or $30,250, in two installments of 70 percent upfront and 30 percent at completion.
The project must be completed by Dec. 31, 2020.
In other action:
— Commissioners accepted a thank you from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality for photographs of the county's household hazardous waste collections that were described in the NDEQ's state-wide land management annual report. The NDEQ oversees waste reduction and recycling incentive grants, and is the main source of funding for Red Willow County's household hazardous waste collection program.
— Commissioners appointed Andrew Ambriz of McCook to the Red Willow County Extension Board, to fill the remainder of Kali Nelms' term that will expire Dec. 31, 2018.
— Set Monday, March 19, at 10 a.m., to open bids for a new patrol vehicle for the sheriff's office, and at 10:30 a.m. to open bids for a new 10-foot pull-behind mower for commissioner Steve Downer's Second District.