Logan County Board briefs: Logan County Courthouse renovations and other matters

 

[June 04, 2021] 

At the Logan County Board’s Regular meeting Tuesday, May 18, the board voted on action items from several committees and heard a report on the recent audit of the county budget.

Board members present were Board Chairman Emily Davenport, Vice Chairman Scott Schaffenacker, David Blankenship, Janet Estill, Cameron Halpin, David Hepler, Steve Jenness, Keenan Leesman, Bob Sanders, Annette Welch and Jim Wessbecher. Bob Farmer was absent.

Auditor’s report

At the Logan County Board’s Regular meeting Tuesday, May 18, Adam Pulley from Clifton-Larson-Allen (CLA) shared the auditor’s report.

Pulley said CLA gave an unmodified, or clean, opinion on results on the audit for the county budget. The single audit related to grants was given an unmodified, or clean, opinion. These are the best opinions the auditors can give.

The audit had a few findings, two of which are repeats from previous years. Pulley said CLA helps the county put together the financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, which involves significant adjustments. However, because Pulley and others are external auditors, they cannot be considered part of the internal control structure of the county. By that virtue, Pulley said not being part of the internal controls is a finding.

One finding for the single audit was a significant deficiency finding. Pulley said when they did payroll testing, they found a mistake. The Covid grant showed payroll expenses paid in March, which covered February pay. Since the grant started in March, Pulley said they should have used a later payroll. The county has corrected it by sending more recent payroll information.

The cash balance at the end of 2020 was larger. Pulley said that was due to the bond proceeds for the courthouse restoration [which were approximately $11 million]. As of November 30, 2020, the net position with assets minus liabilities was $20.6 M. Of that amount, Pulley said $9.5 M is net investments and capital assets, around $4 M is restricted funds and $7 M is unrestricted fund.

The total expenditures for the county were down slightly from the previous year. Pulley said at year’s end, the total fund balance of all county funds put together was $25 M. The general fund/unassigned fund balance not restricted increased from $1.6 M in 2019 to $1.9 M in 2020 [or approximately $300,000]. Pulley said general fund expenditures were at $8.35 M.

The general fund can cover 2.75 months’ worth of general fund expenditures, which Pulley said is an uptick from the prior year. He said it is nice to maintain a level of 25 percent of yearly expenditures in the unassigned fund balance amounts. The county is right there.

Of the $1.9 M, Logan County Treasurer Penny Thomas said approximately $1.2 M was carried forward to the 2021 budget.

The management letter sent by CLA offered some additional recommendations. Pulley said CLA recommends the county improve its tracking of capital asset activity. The county should look at how to improve tracking various equipment and infrastructure, which has gotten more complicated.

Pulley said grant activity, highway projects, airport projects and 911 equipment are more complex from an accounting perspective. These grants and projects lasting multiple years can be hard to track, so CLA spends a lot of time looking to make sure they are accounted for properly.

The letter of governance showed no issues in the county budget. A CLA specialist spent more time looking at IT and there were some recommendations. Pulley said the county probably needs to update some policies going forward to strengthen controls over IT. He thanked everyone at the county for patiently working with CLA especially when it was done remotely.

Planning and Zoning/Economic Development Committee update

The board approved a resolution for Opposition to Senate Bill 1602. This bill could restrict how the county handles enterprise zone. It also gives specific setback requirements and blade tip height limitations for wind farms. Leesman said these restrictions could tie the county’s hands.

Logan County Zoning Officer Will D’Andrea said the state is trying to standardize regulations for wind and solar farms. He has gathered information about tower sizes to see whether the county’s existing ordinance is more restrictive or less restrictive than the state ordinance.

Using an existing wind farm, D’Andrea calculated the tower height and setbacks. He said the county’s ordinance is relatively close to what the state is asking for.

With some requirements, such as the setbacks, D’Andrea said it is what the county already does now.

To D’Andrea, this bill could handcuff counties trying to restrict some areas. Fortunately, he said we are not that county. He said most counties have voted in support of having local control.

The board also approved a motion stating the Logan County Board agrees to defer any action and discussion regarding future decertification of the Mulligan Solar Farm and gives over authority for decertification to the Lincoln City Council.

Last Friday Davenport and D’Andrea had a discussion with Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch, a couple alderman and the city attorney. After the discussion, Davenport said the council agreed 18 months after Mulligan Solar Farm is done with construction, the city or county could ask for the project to be decertified. Either the city or county—whichever one was not requesting decertification--would then have 180 days to act on the decertification.

Previously, the city was asking that Mulligan Solar start the decertification process 180 days after construction is finished, so Davenport said they came up with a good compromise.

Logan County Zoning Officer Will D’Andrea said the state is getting many requests for enterprise zones for solar farms. Soon, D’Andrea said solar farms will likely be declared high impact businesses. If or when that happens, they would not need enterprise zone designation.

Building & Grounds Committee

Building and Grounds Committee Chairman David Blankenship brought forward the following motions:

- A geothermal test bore at the courthouse to be conducted by CTS for $11,200. They will be going through stone to see how many bore holes need to be put in. Fewer holes would mean lower costs for the HVAC system.

Walter met with the engineers and a company who will be boring the hole. They will monitor the hole and it will tell how the heat will dissipated.

Once they get the results, it will tell how many bores they will need to create, whether 30, 40 or 50. A pattern will be laid out on the courthouse grounds to show where to bore the holes. Walter said they will inspect for fiber optics, electricity and pipes to make sure they will not interfere with an eight-inch hole. There is some flexibility for moving the bore holes, but Walter said there needs to be some kind of pattern. They hope to begin drilling the test bore soon.

The board also voted to streamline the restoration process and amend MRTS Contract Article 2 Owners Responsibilities Section 2.3. This change will enable Bill Walter to make minor decisions without constant approval of the board to help maintain the flow of the project. These would be of no consequence except from a technical standpoint and would not be costly changes. The contract will be subject to the State’s Attorney’s approval.

Both motions were approved

Other renovation updates

Walter said the scaffolding would be going up to the cupola at the top of the dome. The crane is currently lifting more materials up to the roof. The engineers are doing interior space observations to double check the accuracy and dimensions of their drawings and plans as they convert it to CAD. There would be a meeting to review the document preparation for the actual construction.

Animal Control

The board approved Animal Control Chairman Cameron Halpin’s motion to terminate 2020 City of Lincoln Animal Control Contract effective May 31, 2021. The contract language had said it would automatically renew unless terminated. The temporary service plan was that during June animal control would receive $200 per call.

Halpin then motioned for a one (1) month Animal Control Contract with the city of Lincoln to begin on July 1, 2021. Halpin said the contract would start in July because there is not enough time to get it done before June. By taking the $42,000 for the annual contract, adding in a 4.9 Consumer Price Index and dividing the amount by 12 months, Halpin said the monthly charge for the contract would be $3,667.

Because Welch was concerned about adding in the CPI, she amended the motion to stick with the 2019 contract rate ($42,000 annually). Without the CPI added, the monthly amount would be $3,500.

The amendment for Animal Control Contract with the city of Lincoln at a rate of $3,500 per month passed 6-5.

Scott Schaffenacker, Janet Estill, David Hepler, Steve Jenness, Keenan Leesman and Annette Welch voted yes.

Emily Davenport, David Blankenship, Cameron Halpin, Bob Sanders and Jim Wessbecher voted no.

The main motion as amended for one (1) month Animal Control Contract with the city of Lincoln to begin on July 1, 2021 at a rate of $3,500 per month then passed unanimously.

At the board workshop, Halpin said there was quite a bit of the discussion at the Animal Control Committee meeting about how to proceed.

The committee opted to not renew contracts with most municipalities, but Lincoln wanted assurance Animal Control would be available. They decided on a one-month contract that will auto renew. If things change soon, Halpin said they may do a longer-term contract.

The new contract also removes barking dogs and city citations.

Animal Control has had low staffing recently. Once staffing issues subside, Halpin said they can do a full contract.

Welch asked about whether the staffing issues had improved in the past few weeks.

There are some applications for the committee to review, but Halpin said they need to find someone who will stay. Halpin said they will be interviewing four or five applicants soon.

Airport/Farm Committee updates

The Board approved Airport and Farm Committee Chairman Jim Wessbecher’s motion to spend up to $2,500 to complete the tile work at the poor farm.

Road and Bridge

The board approved the following motions brought forward from the Road and Bridge Committee:

- A resolution to award contracts for Bituminous Materials from County Motor Fuel Tax.

- An engineering agreement with Hutchinson Engineering, Inc. for $77,432 to design a resurfacing project on County Highway 15 between New Holland and Middletown.

- An engineering agreement with Veenstra & Kimm, Inc. for $5,060 to design repairs to a bridge over Clear Creek on County Highway 28 near Atlanta.

- A collective bargaining agreement with Teamsters Local 916 for the highway maintenance employees.

The next Regular Board meeting is Tuesday, June 15 at 6 p.m. on the second floor of the Orr Building on 628 Broadway.

[Angela Reiners]