County proceeds on quiet title, declines funding for airport

At the meeting on Tuesday, April 2, the Eddy County Commission listened to Eddy County State’s Attorney Ashley Lies as she informed them about a process called a quiet title action, which may be advantageous regarding the former Mill Pump and Cheers property. A quiet title suit can be called to remove the cloud of any claim or potential claim to ownership of the property. The cloud can be a claim of full ownership of the property or a claim of partial ownership, such as a lien in an amount that does not exceed the value of the property. Quiet title can be defined as a proceeding to establish an individual’s right to ownership of real property against one or more adverse claimants, and is essentially a lawsuit that is filed in order to establish true ownership of a property.

In the case of the Mill Pump and Cheers property, the cloud was created when a former lien holder was not given notice, other than the public notice published in the newspaper, that the property was being sold for unpaid taxes.

The desired result of a quiet title is either for the county to establish ownership of the property, or for the lien holder to establish ownership. Either of those options would be considered advantageous for the county as they are currently unable to move forward with any sale options.

No Funding for Airport

The Eddy County Commission will send a letter to the airport authority informing them that the commission will not be taking any action regarding taxation changes for the airport at this time. Eddy County State’s Attorney, Ashley Lies told the commission that either the city or the county could levy taxes for the airport as long as there was no double taxation. Since the commissioners agree that the feedback that they’ve received from county residents has been mostly in opposition to any change, they would not make a recommendation for a change.

Road Dept. Update

Eddy County Road Superintendent Todd Weber reported to the commissioners about several Eddy County paved roads that are breaking up. He showed the commissioners pictures and told them that, in some places, the breaks are so severe that the road crew is not able to patch them with their normal procedure. He showed pictures of the Brantford road, which the commission agreed was in need of repair. He also said there were problems on Eddy County 1, west of Highway 281. Weber told the commissioners that he is in the process of determining how much culvert the county should keep in inventory so that they have what they need, without tying up too much money in inventory.

Other items that Weber reported include the following:

• He would like to be able to add some clay to the aggregate on some of the county roads, especially at some of the intersections that would help solidify the roadway and help them to set up better. He said there are places where a few loads of material could make a real difference to the roadway.

• The county received an estimate from Taverna Electric that would complete the change from fluorescent to LED lights in the New Rockford shop. The county had previously replaced some of them in the first and second bay of the shop. Weber said that he was told the changeover could be completed in stages. The commissioners agreed that they should finish the lighting in the first and second bay and also replace the fluorescent lights in the office for now, with the goal being to finish the project in stages.

• Weber told the commissioners that he has been very pleased with the amount of help that he has been getting from the members of the road crew in getting himself acclimated to the job.

• Weber said the City of New Rockford had approached the county about purchasing a plow that the county is no longer using. He recommended that the plow be sold to the city for $1,000, and the commissioners agreed.

• There was discussion on haul road agreements and Weber told the commissioners that he would like to be aware of what kinds of materials are being put down when the companies complete their hauling and they move to finalize the road and restore it to its former state.

• Weber said that road restrictions went into place on Monday, April 1. The restrictions were posted the Friday before.

Sick Leave Donation

Eddy County Auditor Patty Williams presented the Sick Leave Donation policy, which was approved by the commissioners. Now county employees can donate unused sick time to the bank, which in turn would be available to employees who have used up their own sick leave due to an illness of their own or of a direct family member.

Elevator and lift replacement

The commissioners reviewed a $74,974 estimate for the replacement of both the elevator and lift system in the courthouse. The replacement of both is necessary because it is no longer possible to repair them, and the county needs them to be in compliance with the stipulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. It will be August or September before the elevator and lift are ready to be installed. Commissioners also looked into the possibility of installing an elevator that would go to all floors of the courthouse. In this case, that elevator would have to run along the outside of the courthouse and would cost between $400,000-$500,000. In light of that information, the commissioners approved the estimate for the replacement of the elevator and lift.

New Business

New business covered by the commission included the approval of three fairground lease agreements. Larry Herman from RDO Equipment presented training for the commissioners, Williams and Weber for the JD Link system installed on the new road graders. The JD Link system is designed to remotely connect owners and managers to their equipment, providing alerts and machine information including location, utilization, performance and maintenance data to manage where and how equipment is being used.

Upon completion of the training, Weber and the commissioners went to the county shop in Hamar to see what kinds of repairs are necessary to the building there. They agreed to have Randy Linderman make a recommendation regarding the repairs needed.