Don Maulding spent all morning cleaning up water around his home in Clearwater. With the water dropping, he didn’t think twice about stopping for a sandwich for lunch.
But in that 20 minutes, a little bit of water turned into a raging river through the south side of Clearwater as a combination of rain and snowmelt flooded the community. “I picked up the dishes and walked over to the sink. It felt like I was on a boat,” Maulding recalled on Saturday afternoon as he shared his story with FEMA representatives. “There was water everywhere. It was like the Colorado River going by my house. It happened in 20 minutes,” Maulding said while standing in his home, which he no longer is living in due to the water damage and fear of mold in the walls. Maulding, who will turn 92 in July, gave the government workers a tour of his home two weeks after the flood, explaining his plans to replace sheet rock and raise the floor several inches. Antelope County, like most in Nebraska, has not been declared a federal disaster for personal property — yet. Representatives from FEMA are encouraging residents to fine claims, no matter how small, to increase the likelihood the county will be moved into the disaster declaration category. The Disaster Survivor Assistance Team (DSAT) spent Saturday in the county helping residents register for help and quickly identify and address immediate and emerging needs. The team also provided application updates and referrals to additional community resources for remaining needs. They toured Antelope County as part of the preliminary damage assessment. Besides the Maulding home in Clearwater, they also toured homes in Royal, Elgin and Oakdale. “We’re trying to help people get what they need to rebuild and repair,” one of DSAT representatives said. “There are a lot of levels of damages, but we’re not here to tell you what to do.” Antelope County Emergency Management Director Bob Moore was also on the tour and said the message he heard time and again was encouragement to file claims because more claims may lead to more assistance. “Whether you have rain water that came through your roof and filled your house with an inch or two of water or more, they still need to contact us,” said one of the DSAT representatives. Among the documentation needed, he said, was denial of insurance coverage. “Get that in writing,” he said. A new disaster fund has been created for Antelope County, and commissioners will hold a hearing next week to amend the budget for up to $4 million for repairs related to last month’s flood.
“We’re not asking taxpayers for more money,” County Treasurer Deb Branstiter told commissioners during Tuesday’s meeting at the courthouse. “It’s giving us authority to move that money from the inheritance (fund) into this new fund and spend it if we need it.” Commissioners will hold a hearing on Tuesday, April 9, at 10 a.m. in the county meeting room of the courthouse for the purpose of hearing support, opposition, criticism, suggestions or observations of taxpayers relating to amending the budget. According to the public notice, “Due to unforeseen circumstances, actual expenditures for the current fiscal year will exceed budgeted expenditures unless the current fiscal year budget of expenditures is revised.” Branstitter and Clerk Lisa Payne said Nebraska assistant deputy auditor Deann Haeffner suggested the county create an account specifically for the flood to not only keep the expenses separate, but also for long term transparency. “I, like Deb, believe that is the most friendly way to do this and keep everybody on the same page,” Payne said. “You can transfer money from the inheritance (fund) and start with a base of $2 million, if we want or even $1.5 (million) if that’s all the expenses we’re going to have.” Branstiter said Antelope County is lucky because it has $3,378,000 in its inheritance fund, “which gives us the cash flow.” She said the new disaster account can state that it’s a loan from the inheritance fund. “As you can see, it’s a good idea not to spend down your inheritance in case of emergencies,” Branstiter said. “It’s been wonderful that we have that $3 million sitting there, otherwise we would have been in trouble.” She said just because the disaster account is advertised at $4 million doesn’t mean that’s what will be spent nor does it mean $4 million will be transferred from the inheritance fund. “For budget purposes to fund it, we’re going to have $2 million from inheritance, which is a fund transfer (on loan) and $2 million other government funds, which will be a FEMA payment also. Nothing is guaranteed we’ll get a FEMA payment, but we worked really hard so far to get that FEMA payment. I know we have some great people working with us to get that done.” During Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners voted to create the fund and transfer $2 million as a loan; however, no expenditures can come from the county prior to the public hearing next week. Road Superintendent Casey Dittrich told commissioners he has $810,000 in bills related to the flood as of April 1, which is 75 to 80 percent of the large expenses. He and engineer Brian McDonald have estimated another $1.83 million on eight structures with $400,000 of that cost shared with Knox County. Commissioner Charlie Henery asked what happens if there isn’t enough money in the inheritance fund to cover the costs, especially considering FEMA funds would take 18 months or even years to receive. Branstiter said the county could register warrants, or IOUs, although that’s not recommended. Dittrich said if the county needs more money for repairs than available in the inheritance fund, he suggested using the road and bridge budget, which has $2 million, to assist. He said other bridges will go out and funds will be needed for those, but he has other avenues to assist with a shortfall. Henery disagreed and said the county must remember that other roads need repaired besides from the flood. “Our normal life has to go on no matter this, so we have to have money for that, too,” he said. “With your road and bridge (fund) having $2 million in it, we were going to use that up trying to get these oiled roads back in place. I don’t think we can even consider that $2 million is there because we already had a plan for it anyway.” Payne said the county could levy for the disaster fund down the road if necessary. Dean Smith made the motion to create the new disaster fund with Henery seconding. It was unanimously approved 5-0. Smith made the motion to loan $2 million from the inheritance fund to the disaster fund with Allan Bentley seconding. It was unanimously approved 5-0. Dittrich detailed eight bridge projects in the county that will require engineer assistance. He reminded commissioners that other bridge and road repairs exist. The top priority for the county, Dittrich said, is the bridge north of Orchard, which is highly traveled. Estimated at $150,000, plans are nearly complete and ready to submit to contractors for quotes. There are several bridges north of Royal near Ashfall Fossil Beds and on the Knox County Line, along with bridges near Oakdale on his list. The Antelope County 4-H Open House drew more than 150 people to the fairgrounds exhibit building in Neligh on Sunday afternoon.
During the event, 38 4-Hers completed enrollment forms, including 21 new members, according to Tessa Hain, 4-H Youth Development Coordinator. Families toured the different booths to learn more about what projects and experiences 4-H has to offer. A wide variety of projects were highlighted, along with activities and enrollment assistance. Goats, bunnies, chickens, a hermit crab, dog and cat were featured among the animal attractions. Also popular was the shooting sports booth where kids had the opportunity to practice archery. Weather permitting, bridge work will begin the week of April 1 on the railroad viaduct located just south of the US-20/N-14 junction, according to the Nebraska Department of Transportation.
Work will include bridge repair and asphalt overlay. Motorists can expect reduced speed, lane closures and flaggers. Anticipated completion is early fall of 2019. Motorists are urged to drive cautiously through construction zones and to expect delays. Antelope County was well-represented at the NVC East Band Clinic at Elgin Public on Thursday.
More than 100 students from Clearwater, Orchard, Elgin, Elkhorn Valley and Neligh-Oakdale attended the clinic before performing a public concert that night. The symphonic band got things started by performing three pieces under the direction of guest clinician Dr. Steve Goldeck, a visiting assistant professor of music at Nebraska Wesleyan University. Individual school performances by Elgin and Elkhorn Valley entertained the crowd before the wind ensemble took over. Husband and wife band directors— Elgin director Eric Heithoff and Orchard director Emily Heithoff—took turns directing the wind ensemble. The deadline to commit to unification has come and gone for Orchard, Clearwater and Verdigre with no decision.
The district’s reunification deadline of March being widely known and discussed, members of the Nebraska Unified #1 District board discussed the possibility at length at last week’s meeting. Superintendent Dale Martin read statements from both Clearwater’s and Orchard’s original boards regarding the reunification, both of which wouldn’t commit nor decline the possibility of continuing unification. The issue, both said, was the uncertainty of their upcoming vote on a bond to build a new facility for a three-school merger with Ewing. “As a result of the recent three school consolidation motion, both Clearwater and Orchard are pursuing other options. At this time, the Clearwater Original Board cannot commit to the unification process for the established deadline of March 18. Pending the outcome of the future bond result, we would not rule out the possibility of unification as an option for Clearwater in the future,” Clearwater’s statement read. Orchard’s statement was similar. “The Orchard Original Board cannot commit to renewing the current seven year unification agreement at this time. In considering a contingency plan, the Orchard Board would consider unification in the future.” The board held a phone conference with legal counsel John Recknor concerning the reunification process in light of the recent vote for Clearwater and Orchard to consolidate with Ewing. “If you don’t think you don’t want to be in business for three years, I would say don’t do a unification,” Recknor said. “Just do a garden variety interlocal coop act because that can be dissolved at any time.” Recknor explained that the only way to dissolve the unification before the three years are up is to go to court. “You’d have to go through a legal process, and if one of the parties said, ‘Well, I don’t want to dissolve it,’ then you’d have a problem,” he said. After discussion, the consensus among the board members was to delay the vote on the unification until after the proposed bond issue regarding the consolidation has been voted on. The board members also discussed making up the days the schools missed due to the recent flooding. Clearwater and Orchard have both missed nine days total and are allowed seven days according to state requirements. The administration decided that they would extend the school days by ten minutes each day and have school the Monday after Easter to make up for two days, as well as possibly extending the school year if needed. “I know it’s not going to be really popular with everybody, but I think, to me, it’s the best course of action right now,” Martin said. Two weeks after Antelope County issued a travel ban and an emergency declaration, more roads are open than closed across the county.
That’s good news since NEMA announced late last week that Antelope County’s maximum funds from the state will be $25,269.30. Federal funds from flood damage are unknown at this time. On Thursday, President Donald J. Trump declared that a major disaster exists in Nebraska and ordered federal aid to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by a severe winter storm, straight-line winds and flooding. Federal funding is available for eligible local governments on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work in Antelope County. FEMA called county officials on Tuesday inquiring about contact information and setting a meeting time and location for Antelope County. Sheriff Bob Moore, who is also the county’s emergency manager, said FEMA officials will set a meeting date soon. Moore said he’s not sure what will be discussed at the first meeting other than going over damage expenses. Estimates provided by the state show Antelope County has about $7 million in public damage. “They want to know what we truly have as damage,” Moore said. Antelope County Road Superintendent Casey Dittrich spent much of Tuesday on roads verifying which ones could be opened to the public. “There’s a lot more blue on our map now than last week,” Dittrich said. “We’re moving in the right direction. County workers also spent time Tuesday removing barricades. Snow fences put across roads were removed from repaired roads while traditional barricades were placed for more permanent closures on other roads. Sheriff Bob Moore said throughout the travel ban, which was lifted at 6 a.m. on Thursday, he was happy with the response from residents in the county. “I’m pleased with the cooperation from people staying out of the way of county trucks and off closed county roads,” Moore said. “We haven’t had complaints of people getting stuck and causing problems, so we really appreciate the public’s support in respecting the signage.” School was allowed to resume in the county on Thursday after three days of no travel on rural roads due to damage from the historic flood. How The Flood Impacts Everyone Nebraska ranks: #1 in the nation for percentage of agricultural land with 91 percent of its land used for either farming or ranching. #2 in the nation for beef production. It is second to Texas, which is 3.5 times larger in square miles. #2 in the nation for ethanol production at 2.3 billion gallons per year. Ethanol is automotive fuel made from grain, primarily corn. #3 in the nation in corn production. #4 in the nation for contributed agricultural exports to the world market, making $7.2 billion in sales of goods to the world market. Nebraska: exports 50 percent of its 46 million harvested bushels of wheat annually. agriculture contributed $104 billion to the United States GDP (gross domestic product) last year, and $25 billion to its own state economy. Orchard and Clearwater will dismiss at 3:55 p.m. every day (10 minutes later than normal). Both will have school Monday, April 22.
Neligh-Oakdale will have a student make-up day on Friday, May 17. The last scheduled teacher work day will be on Monday, May 20. If Neligh-Oakdale has subsequent days to call, officials said they will submit a waiver to the Nebraska Department of Education and consider options at that time. Elgin will have school Monday, April 22. Elkhorn Valley will dismiss at 3:30 p.m. on Fridays, rather than the usual 2:30 p.m. as well as having school on Monday, April 22. Pope John XXIII Central Catholic in Elgin will have school for jr. high/ high school students only on Monday, April 22 Families are invited to the fairgrounds on Sunday, March 31, for an open house from 3 to 5 p.m.
There will be a variety of activities with more than 25 different 4-H projects and opportunities showcased. There will be an archery shoot demonstration, along with 4-H clubs on hand. Laptops will be set up for families to enroll or re-enroll in 4-H. Monetary donations for flood relief will be collected at the open house and donated to the Orphan Grain Train. Three people were sentenced to jail in Antelope County District Court on Wednesday.
Jessica Mace, 37, appeared for sentencing on the charge of theft by deception, a class 2A felony. Judge James Kube ordered Mace to serve an indeterminate term of not less than three years nor more than 5 years in the Nebraska Department of Corrections, pay $8,598.48 in restitution to Kala Pelster and pay $147 in court costs. Lynnette Boutwell, 44, was sentenced to 180 days in the Antelope County Jail on one count of possession of a controlled substance-methamphetamine, a class IV felony. Boutwell was also ordered to pay $163 in court costs. Max Kerkman, 30, appeared for sentencing on obstructing governmental operations, a class I misdemeanor. Judge Kube ordered Kerkman to serve 120 days in the Antelope County Jail, commencing at 8 a.m. on Friday, March 29, and pay $179 in court costs. |
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