County seeking appraisal on old West Ward building

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Red Willow County will pay a North Platte company to appraise the former West Ward Elementary building before negotiating to buy it from the Denver man who owns it.

County commissioners, at their regular meeting Monday, hired James K. Bain and Associates of North Platte to appraise the two-story brick building and the city block on which it sits in the 300 block of West Fourth.

Bain's fee will be $3,000, and he estimates a completion time of 30 to 45 days.

Commissioners would like the appraisal as soon as possible -- quicker than 30 to 45 days -- to keep the ball rolling on the proposed joint city-county public safety center project. The question will be on the Nov. 7 ballot, and the two entities have until the end of August to write and approve resolutions for the ballot language.

The school building, built in the 1920's, and its city block are valued for tax purposes at $104,530.

The property is owned by Peter Coulter of Denver, who purchased it for $130,000 in November 2005 after a deal fell through in which the county was to purchase it for $50,000 from Jon Morrison of Las Vegas.


Commissioners tabled for a week the signing of a contract to allow the City of McCook a permanent easement for a new water line on the county-owned portion of Ravenswood Road.

Commissioners told the city's utilities director Jesse Dutcher and Miller and Associates engineer Chris Miller that they have had concerns with the condition of county property after a couple other recent water main projects, and want to ensure that this contract allows them enough leverage to force a contractor to return property to its original or better condition, even though that language is in the contractor's contract with the city.

Red Willow County Attorney Paul Wood told commissioners that the county can not rely on the city's contract with the contractor. Wood recommended adding language to the city's contract with the county for the easement to require that county and personal property along the easement would be returned to a neat and orderly condition "to the satisfaction of the county."

Commission Chairman Earl McNutt said he is cautious because there are some very, very nice yards that grow up to the county line, and that some homeowners are concerned with the disturbance of their lawns and whether they will be returned to their original conditions.

Fellow commissioner Leigh Hoyt said he is cautious because of concerns with other contractors on other water projects.

Dutcher said the contractor who will do the Ravenswood Road project has worked for the city before, on the West Fifth Street booster station, and for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, on the bureau's new office on West Third. "He's very conscientious," Dutcher said. "I foresee no problems."

Miller said the contractor has a plan that shows how each yard, fence and drive would be returned to original condition. As in other contracts, the contractor has one year during which he will take care of conditions such as dirt settling.

The new water line on Ravenswood Road runs from the east edge of the business park east to the George Randel property. It will service 23 properties and will be laid in the north and south ditches and bored under the road. One-lane traffic will be maintained and driveways will be restored the same day. E911 will be notified that the road is under construction.

Commissioners, Dutcher and Miller agreed to work together to resolve a problem with a culvert in the easement granted for the Nothnagel Addition water project. Miller said if it is determined that the damage was caused by construction, it should be repaired by the contractor.

Miller said the contractor, which is not the same as the Ravenswood Road project, has been good to work with and has fixed some settling and paid for water and water damage caused by a leak.


The county's roads supervisor, Gary Dicenta, and Laury Migchelbrink of Miller and Associates will work with commissioners to create a new record-keeping system for the county's roads department heavy equipment and vehicles.

Migchelbrink, who does the monthly data entries for the current system, questioned whether the system as it is now is actually of any value in determining the performance and efficiency of the county's equipment.

Current reports vary by operator, McNutt admitted. Migchelbrink said that although expenditures of repairs and service are important and can be tracked, it is maybe of more importance to indicate in a report what parts are being replaced.

Hoyt suggested a report that indicates oil changes, hours of use and fuel consumption, tires/tubes and parts replaced -- items that will provide a record of maintenance when the equipment is traded in.

Migchelbrink will create new carbon-copy reports and operators will need some training as to what information will be needed on each piece of equipment. The new reports will be able to indicate only the details provided by the county's operators, Dicenta said.

The new system will start with the new fiscal year July 1.


Red Willow County weed superintendent Bill Elliott has mailed 10-day notices to three landowners who have infestations of untreated musk thistle.

A 10-day notice indicates that the landowner has 10 days in which to spray the weeds, or the county will spray or have them sprayed and the cost of chemicals and labor will be charged to the landowner. If the charge is not paid, it will be added to the landowner's tax liability.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: