County accepts land bid

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Red Willow County, Nebraska commissioners Monday morning signed the papers that accepted the final bid of $3,850 per acre, or $616,000, for 160 acres of farm land donated to the county by McCook-area farmer-rancher Tom Kiplinger.

Proceeds from the sale will operate, maintain, expand and promote the arenas and livestock handling facilities built on the county fairgrounds by Kiplinger since 2003.

The buyers are Caleb and Joy Trail, who own land adjacent to the Kiplinger quarter-section. The closing date is Feb. 10.

Randy Bauer of Gateway Realty of McCook said he was pleased with the outcome of the public auction Jan. 8. The minimum bid that the county commissioners and the fair board would have accepted was $550,000.

Gateway's selling expenses are estimated at $18,058, which will come off the top of the $616,000 before the check goes to the county treasurer. That leaves $597,942 for an endowment committee appointed by Kiplinger to determine its use on the fairgrounds.

County treasurer Marleen Garcia and deputy county attorney Phil Lyons told commissioners that county attorney Paul Wood recommends a completely separate, new budget fund for the Kiplinger land sale proceeds, so that commissioners, the fair board, the Kiplinger endowment committee and the treasurer can keep track of the money better than if it were merged into the Kiplinger arena budget.

Garcia said that a new budget fund would have to be created by a resolution from commissioners. Commissioners tabled the item until Jan. 27 to take that action.


In other action, commissioners:

* Tabled until after a state workshop for county boards scheduled Feb. 5, 6 and 7 in Lincoln any decision on possible updates, in compliance with IRS rules, of the county's policy on reimbursement of expenses. Commissioners will visit with other county officials to see how they're handling new IRS reimbursement rules in which the IRS taxes fringe benefits and mileage, meal and cell phone expenses that fall outside very specific guidelines.

* Appointed Gary Dicenta of Miller & Associates Engineering Consults PC, McCook, as the county's road superintendent for 2014. Dicenta and Miller & Associates had been ineligible for the county position for several years because the same engineer could not also be superintendent and/or construction inspector on federal aid road projects within the county. Commissioner Earl McNutt explained that changes in Nebraska's roads funding programs all but eliminate the chance of federal aid road projects for small counties such as Red Willow. With fewer/no federal aid projects, Dicenta can again serve as the county's road superintendent. His first assignment will be to investigate access to an isolated quarter-section of land in the southeast corner of the county.

* Received notice from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services that the county will receive a $11,500 yearly child support incentive payment for the federal fiscal year 2011.

* Appointed Fred Shepherd of McCook to the Red Willow County Planning Commission to replace Sue Doak. Shepherd's term will expire April 20, 2016.

* Reappointed Dan Stramel, Doug Vap and Tyler Loop to the Red Willow County Visitors Committee, their terms to expire Dec. 31, 2017.

* Appointed Darcy Eckhardt as county zoning administrator for 2014, and appointed commissioner Steve Downer to sit on the county's planning commission.

* Dissolved the obsolete administrative board of the Red Willow County Regional Economic Development Loan Fund and the defunct jail planning committee.

* Declared a list of Extension office items as surplus property.

* Approved the continuation bond for Dave Johnson, treasurer of the Cambridge Rural Fire Protection District.

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