March 25, 2025-6:00pm
700 Box Butte Ave. Hemingford, NE. 69348
Zoom Virtual Meeting information
Meeting ID 896 4196 5300 Passcode 870649
Pledge of Allegiance
Opening prayer by – Jake Frost
Public Open Meeting Act poster location was pointed out on the north wall of Council Chambers located at the Village office.
Meeting called to order at 6:00 p.m.
Present: Frost, Hunter, Mahony, Wacker
Absent: Smith
Motion by Mahony, Second by Hunter to excuse Trustee Smith
Voting Aye: Frost, Hunter, Mahony, Wacker.
Absent: Smith
Consent Calendar items included the Minutes of the February 18, 2025 Regular meeting. Claims against the Village of $68,227.10, Claims against the Utilities of $135,315.27. February 2025 Village Financial Statements and Bank Reconciliations reports. February 2025 Library Report. Appointment of Ellen Fester to the Hemingford Housing Authority Board.
Motion by Frost, second by Mahony to approve the consent calendar as read.
Voting Aye: Frost, Hunter, Mahony, Wacker
Absent: Smith
Discussion and Possible action: Presentation of the Fiscal Year 2024 audit was made by Jim Gardner, Mr. Gardner reviewed the audit in its entirety, answered few questions by the Board, and reported that there were no “non- compliance” deficiencies, however, as with many small communities in rural Nebraska there are always the issues with segregation of duties and preparations of financial statements, which is nothing new for the Village. The accounting firm issued a Qualified and Unmodified Opinions. – Jim Gardner.
Motion by Frost, Second by Mahony to accept the Fiscal Year 2024 audit as presented.
Voting Aye: Frost, Hunter, Mahony, Wacker.
Absent: Smith
Discussion and possible action: Addendum to Interlocal Agreement for Law Enforcement with Box Butte County Sheriffs Office. The only addendum change is to the amount paid to Box Butte County monthly. The new payment for services will increase by $730.63 making total monthly payments $11,730.63, to begin on October 1, 2025.
Motion by Hunter, Second by Frost to approve the addendum to the Interlocal Agreement for Law Enforcement with Box Butte County Sheriffs Office with the increase of $730.63 to monthly payments for services beginning October 1, 2025.
Voting Aye: Frost, Hunter, Mahony, Wacker.
Absent: Smith
Discussion and possible action: Future Nebraska at Hemingford, LLC is open to discussions regarding the early termination of their lease for the Hemingford Care Center property and return of the ownership and management of the Hemingford Care Center to the Village. Barb, Jake, and Kyle will meet with Mitch Friedman on April 2, 2025 to discuss potential details and timelines. Barb and Village attorney Stobel hope to review a potential agreement in advance of the April meeting. NO ACTION TO BE TAKEN AT THIS TIME.
Administrators Report: Box Butte County Sheriffs Office reports 11 calls for service and 9 traffic stops, additional patrols for building checks and school speed patrols have been added. Clerk School was held in South Sioux City, NE. March 17- the 21st, Kyle did not attend, it was decided that it would be best if he wait and attend next year (2026). Barb was awarded Village Outstanding Clerk of the Year, and expressed her sincere gratitude to the Board and the Village employees. Hemingford also was awarded Project of the Year in the Village Class from ACE energy for the Splash Pad. There has been some interest in the Library Director position with one application returned and one as yet unreturned. There has been only one application returned for the summer help position. AMI billing for water service is ready and will end the need to estimate water usage.
Utilities Department Report: AMI update, water meters are up and running, and will be working on installing the new electric meters as they come in, right now the electric meters are delayed because they are adjusting the meters to read power factor on the poly phase meters, which we have had issues with in the past. Residential should be installed soon. Snow removal happened twice this year. Looking for summer help, candidates must be 18 to use the weed eaters. Scrap metal was sold for $1,800 that was deposited into the utilities sinking fund. A bucket truck was purchased from Lonestar Bucket Trucks Fort Worth Tx. This purchase was approved in November 2024 up to $70,000. This truck has been inspected, total cost including inspection and shipping is $50,000. Street Project started on March 24, 2025 on Ogallala from Fremont to Sheridan Street.
Code Enforcement Report: Working on 31 cases 15 of which are new, and have closed 3 cases that were all animal related.
Public Comment: No comments
Motion to adjourn at 6:47pm by Mahony, Second by Hunter.
Voting Aye: Frost, Hunter, Mahony, Wacker.
Absent: Smith
ATTEST: Richard Wacker, Chairman
Barb Straub, Village Clerk
Publish: July 2, 2025
ZNEZ