Dear Editor,
Do you know that the Antelope County Zoning Board will continue a Public Hearing at 7 p.m. on Monday, July 24 at the courthouse to get public opinion on changes to the Zoning Regulations. At this time there are 2 big changes to the regulations that county residents may be interested in. They are proposing that no more than 2 homes can be built per quarter section of land and it was my understanding that there would be no exceptions for new homes applied for. They are proposing new wind turbines that have NO NOISE REGULATIONS on them. There are changes to the livestock regulations and other sections as well. The proposed regulations are available at the courthouse or the County web page at https://antelopecounty.nebraska.gov/zoning-administrator go there and then scroll down and click on “Draft Updated Zoning Regulations” (151 pages) Further up the page are the current regulations that can be accessed by clicking on “Antelope County Zoning Regulations (as of 09/06/2016)” (85 pages). Almost doubled in size. If you have concerns or questions please attend the hearing on the 24th (check the county website for any changes to date, time and location). Also watch for when the Public Hearing will be with the County Commissioners. Speak up if you have concerns about the new zoning. Judy Wilcox Neligh *** Reminder: Letters To The Editor are not the opinion of Pitzer Digital, Antelope County News, The Orchard News or its staff. Dear Editor,
What does an old farmer do when it is too hot to work outside? Move inside to enjoy the air-conditioning powered by a solar spill and continue research on the “public interest” of the Keystone XL Pipeline. Last week, I spent some time with the NE Dept. of Revenue’s response to the Public Service Commission. Following is a summary of that response. Property tax: It would be difficult to gauge the impact to counties… Sales and use tax: The amount of sales and use tax liabilities that would be expected and is unknown and cannot be determined accurately.. Income tax: The income tax liability is unknown and cannot be determined… Nebraska Advantage Act: Transportation of tangible personal property is a qualified business under the Advantage Act. These tax incentives could include a refund of sales taxes paid and investment and employment credits against income taxes. At this time Trans Canada has not applied for the Advantage Act. I examined the Department of Revenue’s information about the Advantage Act. I soon discovered that personal property taxes can also be exempt under the higher tiers. A very helpful employee from the Dept. of Revenue provided information about the Nebraska Advantage Act. Before giving answers to all my questions, he consulted with others in the Department and called me back. His response, “If Trans Canada applies for Tier 6 of the Advantage Act, their personal property taxes would be exempt for 10 years.” Besides all the other arguments for not placing a tar sands in Nebraska, the “taxes argument” for KXL just went down the drain. There is no “public interest” in KXL. Art Tanderup Neligh *** Reminder: Letters To The Editor are not the opinion of Pitzer Digital, Antelope County News, The Orchard News or its staff. Dear Editor,
This is a response to David Wright’s comment on the need to hurry up and combine schools or NOHS will miss out on a once in a lifetime offer. Quality education only comes once is a very poor comment by NOHS David Wright. Clearwater is in a mess trying to get their schools to agree on anything. Neligh-Oakdale should not merge with these schools at this time. David is trying to get NOHS into the mix as quickly as he can. His emotions are running too high to get this accomplished. He is playing the cards of a somewhat politician. He uses words like “emotion” and “once in a lifetime.” Also, his numbers on cost is not correct because they are only preliminary costs. I am sure they will go up and up. Someone once said that “If you want to know what is in a health bill, you first have to pass it.” We do not need to merger with other schools just because of the money angle. There are a lot of other things to consider. Other chances will come along. Mr. Reinke and Mr. Gilg are correct in that the board is moving too fast. The board needs to answer all the concerns of a merger and not just money. There is no need to be in a big hurry to jump into this mix of schools only because of money and a short time to think about it. It may take a year to work things out — so be it. Better to be right than sorry. Don Weinmann Neligh *** Reminder: Letters To The Editor are not the opinion of Pitzer Digital, Antelope County News, The Orchard News or its staff. Dear Editor,
I'm just reading your latest edition of the Antelope County News that we get delivered to Idaho and I wanted to tell you how much I enjoy it! Love that it combines the news of more than just Neligh, that's good for community relations and all of us have friends in several towns! Love the color photos and there are so many of them! Everybody likes to see especially their kid's picture in the paper! Keep up the great work! We may have moved from Antelope County but we will always care about what goes on there and love our hometown and it's people! Cindy Wanek Idaho *** Reminder: Letters To The Editor are not the opinion of Pitzer Digital, Antelope County News, The Orchard News or its staff. The great citizens of Neligh and surrounding area:
The Old Mill Days 4th of July celebration will have a couple less events on the schedule. There will no longer be the July 3rd street dance, or the stoplight drags at the airport. After several spectacular years, the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) has said “NO MORE!”Despite paperwork submissions, begging and pleading, and citing the economic impact it brings to our small, wonderful community; the answer was still “NO!” The NYMC would like to thank everybody that was involved with the drags over the years. Unfortunately, these events continue to get more and more complicated to organize and get approved. Regulations, cost, and liability concerns become too involved for a volunteer organization to comply. The Neligh Young Men’s Club looks forward to your participation and support during the Old Mill Days 4th of July celebration and future endeavors. Again, thank you for your support; past, present, and future. The Neligh Young Men’s Club *** Reminder: Letters To The Editor are not the opinion of Pitzer Digital, Antelope County News, The Orchard News or its staff. Dear Editor,
Disclaimer: The words that follow do not necessarily reflect the views of my parents or other family members. They only represent my perspective. Members of the Orchard community received a survey to ask about the future of our district. As an alumnus who no longer lives in Orchard, I wanted to give some thoughts as community members fill out their surveys. I don’t want to focus on the past conflict. I want to focus on the future. One of the options floating around is for Orchard to go it alone. The argument is we contribute the most money to the Unified District, and we will soon have more kids. Alone, we might even bring back the Orchard Orioles, something I’m sure many would like to see. Here’s my concern: Too often, these arguments focus on the short term and ignore the “big picture.” When I was a senior at Orchard, we had 19 kids and were the biggest class. The average class size after us was 10. The academic and athletic opportunities were severely limited. We couldn’t go alone, so we found an equal partner in Clearwater. We didn’t worry about who paid more or got more practices. In fact, students were more upset our high schools would not combine before we graduated. As we look ahead for Orchard, our best future is not one where we go alone. That future maybe lasts 10-20 years, and then we’re back to my senior year. Only this time, there won’t be a school in a similar situation who’ll join us as equal partners. We’ll be in a weaker position, praying someone will take us on. A future where Orchard is strong is a future where we work with others. Does that mean we unify, coop, consolidate? I don’t live here anymore. That’s not my choice. I pray that, when filling out their surveys, the Orchard community will take a moment. Think about where we’re going. Do we want a town or school that looks strong now, but is isolated and weak in 20 years? Or do we want Orchard and our students to have the opportunities to thrive, and for our school to be secure and stable for decades to come? Jordan Martin Orchard High School, Class of 2010 *** Reminder: Letters To The Editor are not the opinion of Pitzer Digital, Antelope County News, The Orchard News or its staff. Dear Carrie,
Congratulations on being honored as the outstanding Main Street Project by the Nebraska Main Street Network. Your exceptional service to the community and commitment to the revitalization of your downtown are worthy of praise. Thank you for your service to the business community. I join your family, friends and colleagues in acknowledging your accomplishments and commending your efforts. Sincerely, Adrian Smith Member of Congress *** Reminder: Letters To The Editor are not the opinion of Pitzer Digital, Antelope County News, The Orchard News or its staff. Dear Ms. Pitzer:
I happened to stop in Neligh last week to pick up an item at the drug store. As I was checking out, I spotted local newspapers, so I bought them. Considering prevailing conditions in the newspaper industry and small-town farm communities, I never expected Orchard to still have an operating newspaper. As a veteran newspaperman of seven generations and owner-operator of four papers, I must commend and congratulate you and your staff. You are doing an outstanding job for the people of your area. I just hope they are aware of it and realize the value to the surrounding community. I am a native of Nebraska. I grew up in Bloomfield (Knox County). I graduated from the NU School of Journalism in 1949, and then worked in Washington, D.C. for ten years. I saved enough money to buy my own newspaper, so after that I had the job of producing a paper every Wednesday. So I know what it takes. Cheers for you and your staff. You are doing an amazing job. Keep up the good work. Ramon D. (Ray) Hansen Carthage, NY *** Reminder: Letters To The Editor are not the opinion of Pitzer Digital, Antelope County News, The Orchard News or its staff. Hillary Clinton is always bringing up Trump's bankrupts, but she never wants you to think about when federal, state, or county government workers make misjudgments, they say—“Hand the bill to the tax payers and, by the way, we deserve a raise.”
It's fine to spend money and hand the bill to the tax payers. Ask County Attorney Joe Abler if he and Patti Good could put in a few extra hours. If they shared those extra 16-20 hours a week that would be no more than an hour and thirty-six minutes to two hours a day. Planning/zoning budget—would we see this increase in salary if the old employee was still there? The jail budget—was Sheriff Moore present in supervisor meetings when the new jail was asked for and was he one of the planners of the jail? If so, is everything that was promised about the jail coming true? I didn't go to the jail open house but talked to someone who did and they told me it was a state of the art jail. Is this true? Could've the county done with less? His deputies are making less than the road crew—do they want to switch jobs? Koinzan cost of living increase—we can tell you're not on social security. Please explain to me why do government workers think they deserve a raise every year and more benefits? Elected officials maybe you should be an example and forgo raises this year. How many of you voted for the jail? Henry said, “Think about how this looks to the tax payers.” I think you should've been thinking about the tax payers five years ago. Will the Antelope County Supervisors bypass the voters when it comes to a bond issue for road equipment like they did the jail? I'll give this advise to the supervisors—when you go to assess farm land, drop it five percent less than you did last year and than you let people who live in town know what's going to happen to them if you don't learn to stop spending! Lois Mosel, Clearwater *** Reminder: Letters To The Editor are not the opinion of Pitzer Digital, Antelope County News, The Orchard News or its staff. I would like to thank Natalie and the Orchard News for the nice article about my father, Bruce Fletcher. He would not have been happy about the attention and would have been furious about being called a “Hero”, although I think all who served are heroes. He never talked much about his time in the service and if asked his reply was, “I just did my job”.
You can’t beat a small town like Orchard. Members of my family lived in or around Orchard for 109 years and although I no longer live there, it will always be “home”. Greg Fletcher, Son of the late Bruce Fletcher from Orchard *** Reminder: Letters To The Editor are not the opinion of Pitzer Digital, Antelope County News, The Orchard News or its staff. |
Letters To The Editor are not the opinion of Pitzer Digital LLC, Antelope County News, The Orchard News or its staff.
|
News That Matters To Antelope County - Your News. Your Way. Every Day!
© Pitzer Digital, LLC