Commissioners seek public input on proposed landfill expansion

By Becky Uehling

Grant Tribune Correspondent

Attorneys for both Perkins County and Waste Connections, which owns the J Bar J landfill in the north central part of Perkins County, were present at the Perkins County Commissioners meeting on Monday, Feb. 3 by video communications to discuss adopting an agreement for the expansion of the landfill. All three commissioners were present for the meeting.

 Waste Connections desires to expand the J Bar J landfill into a 67 acre section west of the current landfill at Roads 770 and 323. They currently own and operate an approximate 80 acre landfill east of the proposed site.

 Both the attorneys and the Commissioners agreed they were pleased with the final host agreement drawn up between the two parties. However, the commissioners, at an earlier meeting, stated their intention to publicize the proposed agreement on the county’s website to allow the public to read it. They then wanted to follow the publication of the proposed agreement with a public hearing to allow any interested parties to comment before the Host agreement is agreed upon. A public hearing was set for the next meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 9 a.m. The proposed agreement can be accessed at www.perkinscounty.ne.gov under the Public Notices button on the upper right portion of the website.

 Richter-Tate Proposes Green Space

 In a related issue concerning the landfill, Perkins County resident Caleb Richter-Tate was at the meeting to recommend a proposal to turn the landfill back into a green space once it is closed as a landfill.

 Some suggestions Richter-Tate suggested were to build a bird watching space, a mountain-bike track, a sledding space, or any type of space to make the area useful and more attractive.

 “We have this hill of trash in our county, and it would be nice to have it benefit us,” Richter-Tate said. “Perkins County has very little tourism, and it would be beneficial for the community, and the public image for J Bar J, to try to beautify this area and make is useful. I think there would be definite interest in the community for this.”

 Richter-Tate also suggested potential sources of community-betterment money that could be available for the development of the green space.

 J Bar J’s attorney Stephen D. Mossman was receptive of the suggestions, and indicated that there is a similar project in Grand Island that might be a pattern for the parties to follow at the time when the landfill is closed. Mossman also suggested other potential funding sources for the idea. Richter-Tate was thankful for Mossman’s and the commissioner’s interest, and said he would continue to remain in touch with them over a potential project.

 Veterans Service Officer Position

 Discussion was held on the continued vacant Veterans Service Office position. Former VS Officer Stephanie Larsen continues to help out on an add-needed basis, which she is paid for, until the county fills the position. Larsen left the position because of disagreement  with the county over pay. Commissioner Mark Bottom has been in contact with Larsen to try to negotiate an agreeable wage. However, that has not happened yet, but it may still, he said. Currently the county has two applicants for the position to consider as well.

 District Court Question

 County Court Clerk Magistrate Kathy Woodmancy was present at the meeting to give information to the commissioners on the option of combining the duties of the District Court, which is now handled by the Perkins County Clerk, with the County Court, which is handled by the State of Nebraska. Woodmany was approached by a former employee of the Clerk’s office to look into the possibility of combining the court duties. This is the second time Woodmancy has presented information for the commissioners to consider the proposal.

 Woodmancy presented a cost analysis she compiled on the combining of the two offices, which would, in her estimations, save the county money. She also qualified during her presentation that she has nothing to gain if the offices were merged, but wanted to alert the commissioners to the potential savings for the county.

 Chairman Steve Tucker indicated that the legislature may consider a bill to address the question of how counties should handle and run their courts, and he suggested that the county wait to see what comes out of the legislature. The commissioners took no action during the meeting on the information presented by Woodmancy.

 Next Meeting

 The next meeting of the Perkins County Commissioners will be Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 8:30 a.m. The meeting was set on Tuesday because the courthouse will be closed on Monday, Feb. 17 in observance of President’s Day.