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HARTINGTON – A Tekamah- based aerial application service would like to develop a private landing strip southeast of Laurel.
Nebraska-Iowa Helicopter’s conditional use permit gained approval from the county zoning board.
But the county board of commissioners - and one commissioner in particular - wanted to table the decision until the next meeting to talk to additional adjacent landowners.
Landowners within 1,000 feet of the planned development were notified and no objections raised, said Zoning Administrator Tim Gobel.
Commissioner Mike Meier’s property is just outside the notification area but practically in his backyard, he said.
Meier said he’s particularly concerned about the impact to a neighbor with horses.
“They’re basically going to be buzzing his grove to get up; it’s that close,” he said.
“They do make a lot of racket,” Commissioner Dick Donner agreed.
Not only does the county not have any zoning regulations in place to guide such a development but neither does the state, Gobel said.
The Nebraska Department of Transportation was notified since the new grass landing strip would be near and parallel to Highway 15.
“I’m surprised the state is not concerned about that right next to the highway,” said Carla Schmidt, the county roads superintendent.
Since Nebraska-Iowa Helicopter is a private company, they also aren’t regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration. As long as it’s the only entity using the landing strip, it is a permitted use, Gobel said.
“It’s not a commercial business in the fact that they’re (not) flying people in and out of there. It’s just a commercial business and that is application and that application method is aerial,” he said.
Meier wants to speak personally with some additional landowners before the board’s next meeting on Feb. 11.
If additional concerns exist, representatives from Nebraska- Iowa Helicopter will be invited to the meeting.
The board also granted Donner a conditional use permit to develop natural resources on his property one mile west and one mile south of Hartington.
The county zoning board had recommended the approval of a permit last fall for the development of natural resources with the potential for extraction or raw material such as rock, gravel or sand.
Since it was Donner’s permit, he abstained during the board’s vote to approve the conditional use last fall.
But the motion failed when former commissioner Craig Bartels failed to second it.
At last week’s meeting, with Meier as the new commissioner, the permit was approved, again with Donner abstaining.
Donner said he wants to pursue excavation to potentially become a local source of gravel and has been exploring the option for the last 20 years.
Countywide Keno
In other action, the board approved entering into an interlocal agreement with Nebraska Cooperative Government (NCG) to conduct keno lottery.
Voters approved countywide keno at last fall’s general election.
Entering into the interlocal agreement allows Cedar County to join more than 100 other entities across the state to pool resources and offer larger prizes, said County Clerk Jessica Schmit.
After paying a winner, proceeds are distributed according to sales with the state receciving a 2 percent lottery tax; the local outlet offering keno receives 6-7 percent; NCG receives 6-7 percent for equipment and 1 percent for legal and accounting; and the county receives 10 percent.
The Nebraska constitution requires that any net lottery proceeds must be used for community betterment.
Some counties or municipalities use lottery proceeds in their general funds to help offset property taxes, while others save it for a special project.
How much revenue keno brings into the county is dependent upon how much it is played. Backyard Barbecue, south of Yankton, S.D., plans to offer keno.
Keno is also played at the Hartington Golf Course, with the city benefitting from proceeds.
Randolph and Wynot establishments have offered keno in the past.
Schmit would be the keno’s audit clerk and a separate bank account would hold keno proceeds.
Schmit is allowed to divert a quarter of 1 percent to pay herself for her work in adminstering keno.
However, Schmit said she wouldn’t be accepting any additional money and all proceeds would go to the county.
The commissioners also must select a special bonus keno day with a $7,000 bonus jackpot.
Tire recycling
At the board’s meeting last week, commissioners selected June 11 and 12 for tire recycling.
The county was awarded a $165,000 tire recyling grant from the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy and will accept tires from Dixon and Knox counties with a total limit of 1,000 tons collected.
Nearly all of the grant will be used to haul the tires to Champlin Tire Recycling in Concordia, Kan. for repurposing.
After handling action items, the county board went into executive session to discuss personnel matters.
