2009: Courthouse staff moves into new facility
July 8, 2009
HARTINGTON — An oil pipeline stretching from Canada to U.S. refineries is now winding its way through Cedar County.
The buried pipeline will carry crude oil from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada, to U.S. oil refineries.
Crews have been working in Cedar County since late Spring. Besides installing the pipeline, a pumping station is being constructed for the pipeline just west of Hartington.
The pipeline will extend across 10 counties in Nebraska and reach the Nebraska-Kansas state line where it splits into a two-legged delivery system.
One leg will go on south to Cushing, Okla., while the other leg goes east to Patoka, Ill.
The project, which is expected to cost $85.2 billion, is expected to carry 435,000 barrels of crude oil across Nebraska per day at the beginning.
“That will increase to 590,000 barrels per day after the project is completed” said company spokesman Jeff Rauh.
TransCanada Corp. officials said work started last September on the Missouri River crossing.
The pipeline was installed under the river by boring a 3,065 foot tunnel beneath the river bottom.
It is big enough to accommodate a 30 inch diameter petroleum pipe.
The drilling started on the South Dakota side with the tungsten drill bit finally poking through into Cedar County.
July 8, 2009
HARTINGTON — Moving day is almost here for the county offices at the Cedar County Courthouse.
The finishing touches are being put on the new addition, and the county offices, which are located in the Courthouse, will be moving to the new location next week.
The Cedar County offices will be closed and the phone service will be shut down from Tuesday, July 14 through July 17 in order to make the move.
During the four-day move computers, printers, copiers, file cabinets, roller racks and other equipment, along with the permanent records that have been gathered for over 100 years, will be moved.
The County Clerk’s Office will be making one of the biggest moves with records that include deeds, mortgages, surveys, community records, minutes from Commissioner meetings, marriage licenses and motor vehicle titles.
“We found records that date back to 1857. This was known as the Dakota Territory at that time,” said Cedar County Clerk Dave Dowling. “We became a state in 1867.”
The motor vehicle titles from the last five years will be moved to the County Treasurer’s Office as the duties of issuing titles and liens will transfer from the Clerk’s Office to the Treasurer’s Office at the time of the move.
Currently a stop is made at the Clerk’s office for a title and other related duties while the license, registration and sales tax are paid at the Treasurer’s office. The transfer of duties will provide a one-stop convenience for taxpayers.
According to Dowling each office has a retention schedule which is issued by the State and shows how long county records are to be kept.
“We went through the vaults and storage areas in the basement and hauled seven pick-up loads out to the recycling center,” Dowling said.
The most time consuming aspect of the move includes the computer system and hook-ups Dowling said.