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HARTINGTON — Changes to a state matching fund program to replace bridges will make it more difficult for Cedar County to benefit.
Only $4 million will be available across the state this year from the Nebraska Department of Transportation’s Bridge Match Program. The program will match up to $500,000 per project funded, or about eight bridge projects. Each county can only submit one proposal for consideration.
“It looks like the state should’ve put in $40 million, instead of four. Four doesn’t go anywhere,” said Dave McGregor, chairman of Cedar County’s Board of Commissioners. “Wow, they really changed that program.”
The chances that Cedar County will be funded will be much slimmer, especially with new application procedures that include a narrative which must list the traffic patterns and impacts to the population, said Roads Superintendent Carla Schmidt.
“If you’re going to submit a bridge or a project, to make it significant, you don’t want to submit a project that’s out in middle of nowhere, close to a town, maybe, that a lot of people are openly affected by it,” she said.
In essence, Bridge Match Program funds will be funneled to higher population areas, said Commissioner Craig Bartels.
“We’re going to end up paying for a lot more of our bridges and culverts,” McGregor agreed.
Since 2016, Cedar County has “done well” with the Bridge Match Program, receiving funding to help pay for three bridges and three box culverts. One of the more significant bridge improvements was on the Fairgrounds Road, Schmidt said.
Currently, of the 248 bridges which are 20 foot or longer, 34 are eligible for the Bridge Match Program because their quality is rated poor or they have a low load rating.
But every year, that number changes as time leads more county bridges to deteriorate into poor condition.
“It’s two steps forward and three back sometimes,” Schmidt said. “We’ve got a lot of old ones out there.”
Under new criteria for the Bridge Match, box-culvert projects or those on minimum maintenance roads will not be considered. Any project that has been advertised for bids previously will not be eligible.
This year’s funding application is due Nov. 22. Schmidt recommended that moving forward, the county submit larger projects for the Bridge Match Fund.
Commissioners decided to submit a proposal to replace the bridge in Menominee since it would have a higher traffic count.
“It depends on what you compare it with,” Bartels said.
Conditional use permit essentially denied In what is typically routine business, one conditional use permit presented for approval by the commissioners was denied.
The Cedar County zoning board had recommended the approval of a permit for Commissioner Dick Donner to develop natural resources on property about one mile west and about one mile south of Hartington with the potential for extraction of raw material such as rock, gravel or sand.
“I sent out notices to landowners adjacent to 1,000 feet and no one was there for public comment,” said Tim Gobel, the county’s zoning administrator.
A nearby gravel provider - who does not sell gravel to the county - did not provide an objection, he said.
Since it was Donner’s permit, he abstained. Chairman David McGregor made the motion to approve Donner’s permit but the motion failed to get a second by Bartels, resulting in the motion dying and no further action taken.
Donner said he wants to pursue excavation to potentially become a local source of gravel.
The county spends $1.5 million every year “chasing” material by going into Iowa and South Dakota, he said.
“This is a no-brainer,” he said. “Someone has to prove to me this doesn’t make sense.”
Donner said he’s been exploring the option on that land for about 20 years.
“This isn’t like I woke up last week and thought of this,” he said. “That is a permitted use in Cedar County. It’s not like I want to dump nuclear waste out here. In our zoning laws, it’s a permitted use. I went through the zoning board and got their approval.”
Donner said Bartels let their personal differences come between a project that would ultimately benefit the county.
“He had a chance to poke me with a stick so he did,” Donner said. “If you take the personalities out of the picture, this would’ve been something to consider.”
Bartels did not respond to efforts by the Cedar County News to comment further on the project.
Donner said he’s not sure how he will proceed - whether he will try again next year when Bartels is no longer in office or if he will consider selling it so someone else can develop it.
“I’d just as soon it stay somewhat locally owned if I’m not the owner,” he said. “I’m not getting any younger, I’m not going to see the end of this thing.”
In other discussion at its regular meeting, the commissioners agreed to install wi-fi capabilities at the Wynot and Menominee county shops.
Schmidt said the upgrades are necessary for employees to communicate locations with utilities and ordering parts. While employees could call in utility locates, it’s not as efficient as doing it online, she said.
Currently, employees are utilizing their own personal computers at home and personal email to perform county work, she said.
“In my head, we’re asking them to do a job but we’re not giving them the equipment to do it,” Schmidt said.
Great Plains Communications already has the infrastructure in place and can upgrade the shops to wi-fi capabilities for an extra $90 per month each.
