At its June 18 meeting, the Seward County Board of Commissioners:
• approved a motion to request quotes with a specific time frame from SA Davidson and Ameritas for the potential refinancing of the Detention Center bonds so both companies use the same rate to present their quotes. The board will discuss this again at its July 2 meeting.
• approved payment of $208.50 to Russ Stutzman of Beaver Crossing for taking care of stray cattle.
County Clerk Sherry Schweitzer said Stutzman notified the county sheriff when this happened, but the owner could not be located.
“He incurred costs by that and the law says the livestock is taken to a sale barn. Mr. Stutzman agreed to do that and he took them to the sale barn and the sale barn gave us the money and made the check out to us. It’s in the county treasurer’s fund,” Schweitzer said.
The cattle were sold for $1,765.45. After giving Stutzman payment for his work, the rest of the money will stay in the treasurer’s fund. After a year, if nobody claims the stray cattle as their own, County Treasurer Bob Dahms will distribute the money equally among all the county schools, according to Schweitzer.
• heard from Carmen Hinman, director of Hope Crisis Center, which helps people affected by domestic and sexual assault.
Hinman said that because of the loss of a grant, the organization, which serves seven counties, is asking all county boards for additional monetary support for the upcoming fiscal year.
• held a public hearing for Mary Poe’s request to rezone part of her property northwest of Garland from A-1 (agricultural) to TA-1 (transitional agriculture).
Poe’s intention was to get her land rezoned in order to build three additional homes in comparison the one additional home allowed by A-1 zoning.
Poe’s request had already been presented to the planning committee May 20, which denied it.
Poe’s property is located in the county’s water conservation district, which makes it difficult to rezone, according to Planning and Zoning Superintendent Becky Paulsen, who also serves as a commissioner.
“Water concerns in that area are very high,” Paulsen said.
During the hearing, Tom Guild, a resident close to Poe’s property spoke against the approval of the request and said his concerns revolved around water supply in that area.
“Adding homes in that area impacts other residences’ water flows. If the well cannot sustain the need, it starts draining other people’s wells,” he said.
Although the request was denied, Paulsen said during a phone call that Poe filed for a permit June 19 to build one additional home instead of the desired three.
• held a public hearing for a conditional use permit requested by the Luebbe family to operate a livestock feeding operation, a chicken barn, north of Utica.
Jessica Kolterman, who works for Lincoln Premium Poultry, a company that is raising chickens for Costco, spoke in favor of the request, as did area residents Roger Richters, Gordon Luebbe, Dean Settje, Jim Schultz, Jon Eberspacher and Adam Hladky, and Jonathan Jank of the Seward County Chamber and Development Partnership.
Seward County Roads Superintendent Casey Keim addressed questions about the width of driveways in the area.
The board approved a resolution for the permit.
