Budget talks continue for county commission as deadline nears

The Eddy County Commission and County Auditor Patty Williams, are working diligently to complete the preliminary budget. They held their regular meeting on Aug. 6 and have had two special meetings in as many weeks, specifically for budget preparation.

Eddy County Road Superintendent, Todd Weber reported to the commissioners that he had spoken with an area landowner about a county road where trees have encroached the right of way and have historically caught and held snow. The trees will be removed by the county, and as young trees come up, they will either be sprayed or taken out while they are still small. The commission approved this project.

Weber also introduced a program that Bobcat that he believes would work well for Eddy County, in ultimately reducing the cost of purchasing a skid-steer. Weber said that the county has spent $23,000 for tree removal in the last two years alone, and there is another $10,000 budgeted for the 2020 budget. The skid-steer would allow county employees to take care of the small trees. The commission will continue to look into the program and Weber will look to see if other companies have the same type of program, for comparison.

Road crews have been adding clay to Eddy County 1. They spent a day adding clay to about a mile of roadway and then distributing it, which Weber says will make the road set up better.

Weber said he received a request from a truck driver to use the county road coming in off of Hwy. 15 during the road construction on Hwy. 281, as it is difficult to make the turns on the frontage roads. Weber will contact him for more information.

Budget talks continued with Allen McKay presenting the District Public Health Budget. McKay said there were only small changes made to the budget. They will hold their annual district conference call on Oct. 1.

The commissioners also looked at the budget for the General Fund. They noted that the largest increases in the total budget this year are for the E911 program, the ten mills that taxpayers approved for the ambulance service, the 2020 election and changes the state is making with the Social Services budget. The state had taken over the Social Service budget, however they are now making the counties responsible for certain indirect costs. The commissioners will meet with the director to obtain more information. Williams told the commissioners that she anticipates the change will cost the county $25,000.

Librarian Susie Sharp presented the Eddy-New Rockford Library’s annual report, as is required by the Century Code. As the library serves both the city and the county, Sharp was required to report to both entities. The full report from the library can be found in the City Commission article.

Eddy County State’s Attorney Ashley Lies reported to the commissioners that she had heard back from the state regarding the scanning of old files to make them digital files. She has received the program and scanner and they will start scanning files in the state approved format, which will reduce the number of paper files they will need to store.

She reported that all interested parties in the former Mill Pump and Cheers property have been served and she said she expects there to be a hearing within the next month. Hopefully, there will be a resolution to that property.

Lies told the commissioner that the National District Attorney conference was one of the best legal conference she has ever attended. She said she learned much about new technologies and procedures that will make her office more efficient and productive and learned about social media apps being used in sex trafficking of kids. The way that these technologies can be used was eye opening. Lies has already approached NR-S Superintendent Jill Louters about ways that this information can be disseminated to parents and students. It’s important for everyone to understand the ramifications of their actions and to learn ways to be safer.

The next meeting of the Eddy County Commission will be on Aug. 20 at 8:30 a.m.