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HARTINGTON – Cedar County has a new clerk.
Jessica Schmit was unanimously appointed as the new county clerk on Jan. 9 during the board of commissioners’ first meeting of 2024.
Schmit officially took over the position on Jan. 10. “Everything is going well so far,” she said on Jan. 11 in a followup interview. “It’s been a crazy week since it started with sick kids and then all this (winter) weather. I have to remind myself several times a day what day it is.”
The appointment of Schmit to replace longtime County Clerk Dave Dowling, who retired from the role after a 37-year career, was a part of the commissioners’ annual reorganizational meeting.
The commissioners also appointed Dave McGregor as the board chairman and Craig Bartels as the vice chairman for the calendar year.
They also approved the following board appointments: -District 1 (Dick Donner): Region IV NorthStar Disabilities, Missouri River Advisory Group and National Scenic River District.
-District 2 (Bartels): Region IV Mental Health and Northeast Nebraska Public Health Board.
-District 3 (McGregor): Landfill and Solid Waste, Transit – Bus, Goldenrod Hills – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Northeast Nebraska Area on Aging.
In addition, the commissioners approved retaining the following appointments: -Carla Schmidt, highway superintendent and county road overseer.
-Kevin Garvin, emergency management and communications director.
-Bob Hamilton, part-time emergency manager under the direction and supervision of Garvin.
-Tim Gobel, zoning administrator. -Justin Heikes, part-time weed superintendent. The commissioners also approved: -Designating the Cedar County News, Laurel Advocate and Randolph Times as the legal newspapers for the county for this year, as well as designating the county website as official notice.
-Using the following depositories: Bank of Hartington; Citizens State Bank, Laurel; First State Bank, Randolph; Security Bank, Laurel, Hartington and Coleridge; Farmers & Merchants State Bank, Hartington; and Cedar Security Bank, Hartington, Fordyce and Wynot.
-Retaining the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month as regular meeting days and retaining 8:30 a.m. as the meeting start time inside the commissioners’ room at the county courthouse.
The commissioners also approved the following legal holidays the county will observe and close the courthouse for in 2024: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday (one half day), Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
