Marion County hires sanitarian, zoning director
Roberta (Bobbi) Strait has been hired as Marion County's sanitarian and planning and zoning director.
The announcement was made Monday at Marion County Commission meeting.
She will begin June 21. Previously she held similar positions at Seward County.
In other business:
— A final pay estimate of $134,557 was approved for an overlay project. Jim Herzet, county road and bridge superintendent, said the total cost was $18,000 below estimates.
The project was for five miles on Old Mill Road and from Lincolnville to K-15 on 290th Road.
— The commission approved 2-1 for county treasurer Jeannine Bateman to be the county's designated delegate at the National Association of Counties conference in Chicago. Commissioner Randy Dallke voted no.
— County clerk Carol Maggard reported legislation for the county's special sales tax for a proposed jail project has been published in the Federal Register. The commission will consider a question on the Nov. 7 ballot regarding the issue.
— If the commission were to approve a 50 percent cut in solid waste charges for apartments owned by local housing authorities, the county would not see a significant decrease in revenue, reported Maggard.
Resolutions will be presented at Monday's meeting.
— Herzet reported crews currently were blade patching on Kanza Road. Work has halted on 370th during harvest. Roads are closed while being patched to make it safer for workers, said road supervisor Steve Hudson, and to allow flagmen to perform other tasks.
— Commission chairman Dan Holub requested and received a 10-minute executive session with Herzet and Hudson. After five minutes, Herzet and Hudson were excused from the session, and the commission continued the executive session for five minutes. The meeting reconvened with no decisions.
— Communications director Michele Abbott-Becker requested and received a 15-minute executive session to discuss personnel. The meeting reconvened with no decisions.
— Holub said there was confusion among city officials and residents regarding the county's budget for roads.
There are 19 mills within the county's budget for county roads, said Holub. Cities contribute to the county for roads. From those funds, the county returns a portion of those funds to cities for county-city links.
"Everybody supports the elderly department, EMS, and others even though they may not directly benefit from them," said Holub. "We've got to think as a county."
— The commission had executive sessions Monday afternoon to conduct department head evaluations.
The next meeting will be at 9 a.m. Monday in the courthouse.
Hein files for commission
Marion County Commissioner Bob Hein has filed for re-election and is the only candidate to do so.
The deadline for candidates to file for the first district commission seat was at noon Monday. Hein was the only candidate to file.
Hein was appointed in 1997 to complete an unexpired term and has been elected and served since that time.
He represents constituents in Hillsboro and the northwest part of the county.
County township clerks and precinct committee members also were to file for the Aug. 2 election.
