Commissioners clear way for truck purchase

Red Willow County Commissioners worked through the details needed to purchase a semi-trailer and tractor for the roads department while following proper accounting procedures.

With auditor Donald D. Wilson, CPA on hand, commissioners unanimously approved the annual audit, which included three questioned claims previously discussed, which will have been corrected or not repeated.

They included the trade-in of a truck that exceeded the $50,000 threshold requiring formal bidding, the purchase of a computer server exceeding the $10,000 requiring three informal bids, and the classification of a Veterans Service Officer employee as a contractor when that person should have been classified as a county employee.

The audit showed receipts from property taxes, motor vehicle taxes, intergovernmental receipts, inheritance tax, interest and miscellaneous of $7.543 million, spending of $5.6 million, and a change in net position of $1.9 million for a total $8.7 million budget.

Receipts from inheritance taxes, which are generally used as a contingency fund, were unusually high this year, at $614,174.

The commissioners’ knowledge of the required purchasing procedures was put to immediate use when the board voted unanimously to purchase a new semi-trailer from Brazos Trailers in Texas for $40,500, and advertising for a semi-truck with less than 500,000 miles, 450 horsepower minimum and a 3.70 gear ratio.

Commission Chairman Ted Gans, who inspects trucks as part of his duties as a Nebraska State Patrolman, noted that the used truck market doesn’t allow time for the conventional bidding process.

And, while he received three informal bids for the trailer, one had already been sold by the time of Monday’s meeting, and a used trailer for $29,900 was a repossessed unit and had damage that could be expensive.

Auditor Wilson advised that the truck purchases could be classified as special circumstances allowed under the law.

He also explained that the vehicle, used to apply gravel to county roads, could be purchased directly out of the county’s inheritance fund, to avoid reopening the annual budget.

Commissioners also plan to hire one full-time and one part-time driver to haul gravel for the roads department.

The county has some 600 miles of road to maintain, Gans said and will require a lot of gravel to improve and maintain.

In other business:

— Dale Cotton of the McCook Airbase Historical Society said he would like to see a “tiny house” on a trailer serving as a visitors center for the air base and other activities. Commissioner Randy Dean said he would mention the idea at today’s meeting of the Rewards grant committee meeting, and suggested Cotton work with the Visitor’s Bureau.

Cotton said tours of the air base are available by appointment only, by calling (308) 737-1377.

— McCook Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Charlie McPherson requested continued support for the Early Childcare Program. A three-year grant for the program ends this year. Monday’s consent agenda also included approval of $15,000 for the MEDC’s rural housing efforts.

— Commissioners reviewed notification that court-appointed attorneys would be reimbursed at $125 an hour for more complex cases such as murders, as well as the regular rate of $100 for routine cases.

— Commissioners made a bet that diesel prices will increase, voting 3-0 to accept a bid of $3.39 per gallon from Farmers Co-Op and grain Supply of Trenton, delivered to McCook.

Another bid from Frenchman Valley Co-Op was $3.74.

— Commissioners set 9:30 a.m. May 1 for the opening of health insurance bids.

— Commissioners approved a roadway occupancy agreement for Moorhous Inc. for an irrigation pipe across a roadway and approved a special designated liquor license for HoJo’s Hideaway.