Bonuses, grader blades approved

McCOOK, Neb. — Employee bonuses and grader blades were two large ticket items on Monday’s Red Willow County Commissioners agenda.

The board approved accounts payable of $436,071.50, which included $101,903 in employee bonuses funded by American Rescue Plan Act. Elected officials were not eligible for the bonuses, and Commission Chairman Earl McNutt, also a county employee, did not accept the bonus. Full-time employees received $2,000 bonuses and part-time employees $1,000 in recognition for their efforts during the pandemic.

The board accepted a bid of $36,528.45 from NMC Cat in North Platte for a truckload of maintainer blades of two different sizes. Midwest Sales & Service of Schuyler was the only other bidder, with $42,356.18. While the bid listed a delivery time of 6-8 weeks, Brett Brown of NMC told the board that could easily stretch to three months because of supply chain issues.

The bids were approximately $2 per foot higher than the winning bids last year.