Submitted by

Mary Kay Schultejans, County Clerk

The Board of Nemaha County Commissioners met in regular session on Monday, Sept. 14, in the Commissioner’s Room of the Nemaha County Courthouse. The meeting was called to order with Chairman Ben Glace leading the flag salute. Present also were Commissioners Joe Dalinghaus and Jason Koch, County Counselor/County Administrator Austin Parker and County Clerk Mary Kay Schultejans recording the minutes.

Glace led those present in an opening prayer to begin the meeting this morning.

The board set and approved the agenda for the Sept. 14 meeting as presented.

Chairman Glace called for Open Public Forum to begin at 9:12 a.m. No one came before the board to speak during the forum. Chairman Glace ended public forum at 9:22 a.m.

Department Reports

Mary Gatza, new Human Resources Manager, came before the board to let commissioners know that she is beginning work for the county as of Sept 14. She asked commissioners to let her know if they need anything from her at this time.

Road and Bridge/Solid Waste Supervisor Adam Kuckelman advised the board that:

• He needs to order sheet piling at this time. Kuckelman presented quotes from four companies for this purchase for commissioners to review. Following discussion, commissioners approved the bid for sheet piling from Oden Enterprises per Kuckelman’s recommendation at a total cost of $22,713.75. The sheet piling is needed to repair bridges following flooding that occurred this past spring.

• Kuckelman needs to order tires for dump trucks and tractors at this time. He presented quotes from four companies for this purchase for the commissioners to review. Following discussion, commissioners approved the purchase of 16 tires (Road Master 351HD)(11R22.5) from Ag Partners at a cost of $420 per tire. The board approved the purchase of an additional 16 tires (Road Master 351HD) (11R22.5) from Becker Repair at a cost of $420 per tire, and eight tires (Road Master 11R24.5) from Becker Repair at a cost of $445 per tire.

• The bridge crew has been cleaning out boxes and fixing tubes around the county.

• The truck drivers are hauling rock on the Wetmore-Bancroft Road.

• The bridge crew is getting ready to start on a new bridge in Harrison Township south of Kelly. The bridge is between sections 17 and 18.

Also at the meeting:

The board approved the minutes from the Aug. 31 meeting as amended.

The board approved the minutes from the Sept. 4 special meeting presented.

The commission approved the Disaster Relief Determination Order for Ronald and Linda Bloom following a fire that occurred in April 2026. The commissioners signed the order as presented.

Parker requested an executive session with the commissioners. The board held a 10-minute executive session to discuss the pay and performance of non-elected personnel. Present for the executive session were the Board of Commissioners and Parker. The meeting returned to open session with no action taken by the board following the executive session.

The commissioners moved the meeting to the Pioneer Building Meeting Room to work on the county’s 2027 budget. The board specifically looked at the Road and Bridge Fund budget and the General Fund budget, making cuts where possible to lower the total mill levy required for 2027. The total mill levy is now under the Revenue Neutral Rate of 39.721 for the county.

The commissioners will continue to work on the budget at future meetings.

The next regularly scheduled meeting was held on Monday, Sept. 21. These minutes were not available at The Herald’s press time.