County contracting for zoning administration duties

McCOOK, Neb. — Red Willow County's new zoning administrator will be in Kearney.

After the resignation of county assessor Kristi Korell as the county's zoning administrator effective April 15, commission chairman Earl McNutt went looking for a replacement who could provide services within the courthouse or at least within the county.

He said at the commissioners' meeting Monday morning that he was turned down by the City of McCook, by two architectural firms and by one member of the county's zoning board.

McNutt said he had one offer from a staff member in the West Central Development Corp. office in Ogallala and another from the Miller & Associates office in Kearney. As far as distance is concerned, McNutt said, one is about as far away as the other.

Miller & Associates already provides an administrator for the county's flood plain program through its Kearney office and for the county surveyor and the county's road superintendent through its McCook office.

So commissioners signed a one-year agreement, from May 1, 2019, through April 30, 2020, for the services of Craig Bennett, a land development planner with Miller & Associates's office in Kearney, for a flat fee of $500 a month.

"The only downside to this is that it's not in the courthouse," McNutt said, adding that he'll keep looking for someone closer.

Commissioners have really liked the idea of the county's zoning administrator within the courthouse, someone able to answer questions and handle the paperwork conveniently for county residents. Korell was appointed zoning administrator in January 2017, while she was deputy assessor.

She was appointed county assessor in December 2017 and was elected assessor in November 2018.

McNutt said he knows that Korell and her staff member Patricia Eilenberger have been overwhelmed by the addition of zoning responsibilities within Korell's office.

"It's not enough for full time," Korell said, "but it's too much to be part-time."

County residents will still be able to get zoning permits in the assessor's office, and Korell and Eilenberger will refer questions to Bennett.