September 2, 2021 at 10:00 AM - Executive Committee Meeting

Rationale:  Attached find registration information for the NARD Fall Conference being held September 26-28 at the Younes Conference in Kearney.  Please let Breunig know if you are interested in attending.  The pre-registration deadline is September 1st. 

Attached is the resolution that was submitted to NARD for consideration at the 2021 Annual Conference.

The following are currently registered for the NARD Conference - Hilger, Mountford, Elliott, Benal and Oaklund 

Rationale:  Attached find Director Ruzicka, Yosten and Bailey absence request from the August Board Meeting.

Ruzicka was in Phoenix on business to try and list and sell his house, Yosten had a contractor hired to move cement with side-dumps and Bailey hosted an Open House/Customer Appreciation dinner. 

Rationale:  Attached find Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Membership Dues in the amount of $30,118.22.

Rationale:  Discussion is needed and arrangements will need to be made if we wish to hold our November Board Meeting in Newman Grove or Schuyler. 

A request has been made to have the Board Meeting at Schuyler High School cafeteria at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, November 8th.  Newman Grove, Lakeview and Schuyler students who are involved in the Shell Creek water testing will be presenting their findings.
 

Rationale:  We have received a bid from FNIC - Glatfelter Insurance.  Staff have asked for additional information/coverage and prices.  A motion will be needed at Board Meeting.

Rationale:  The NRD currently owns lots at Thomas Lake and east of Lake Wanahoo. We have asked Jovan for some guidance.

If the decision is to move forward with selling the lots what procedures/steps must we take?

Do we need all properties surveyed? The assessors lines are not accurate.

Do we auction, sealed bids?  I know the two neighboring homeowners on the south end of Thomas Lake would like those 2 lots.

What restrictions (no building on Thomas Lake lots) can we put on these if any?

I would guess a movable/mobile unit could be used on the Thomas Lake lots.

Jovan's comments are listed below:
You wouldn’t need to have the properties formally surveyed as they are defined as tax lots but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a surveyor perform a stake survey so that the boundaries are clearly marked.  This will advise anyone interested in the properties what the usable spaces are and will ensure there are no encroachment issues that need to be addressed before a sale. 
 
We certainly can record any conservation, ingress/egress, etc. easements that the district wants to maintain before the properties are marketed for sale. This is authorized by statute under Neb. Rev. Stat. 2-3234.01.  I would suggest the staff and committee discuss what possible uses the District might have of these properties.  If the easement isn’t going to be recorded against the full lot then we would also need to have the surveyor out to put together a metes and bounds description of the easement area. 
 
The one lot out at air park needs to have an easement through the cities property on the east side to E 31^st Street because title standards prevent us from selling a landlocked parcel.  This wouldn’t be an issue if either Skyline, LLC (owner on the north and west) or Lorenz (SE) were the buyer since they adjoin the tract. 
 
You are not a city or village so you are NOT required to follow a remonstrance process where you pass a resolution determining the land to be excess, notify the public and then wait to see if you receive objections.
 
While the statutes are silent on this issue I would maintain that all political subdivisions have the obligation to maximize the purchase value of their property.  Since it would be difficult to argue this was the case with either a direct sale or a private listing, I believe that means a public auction is the safest option.  The exception to this is if the property is sold to another political subdivision (example would be 002063619 lot next to the hospitals property which could be sold to the hospital since its owned by the county).  If you wanted to sell the property via informal means (i.e. sealed bids without an auctioneer) then I would suggest we follow the process that controls counties (Neb. Rev. Stat. 23-107.01) which is that the property is appraised to determine its FMV and then a public hearing takes place wherein people can come to object either the FMV.  The county then publishes notice of the sale and allows for bids on the property through sealed means. 
 
Before you commence the actual sale process it would also be a good idea for us to order title searches from one of the two local title companies just to make sure there are no blemishes in the title record that need to be addressed for any parcels intended to be sold. 
 
In summary, once the District decides its ready to sell a parcel the steps would generally be as follows:
 

1. Determine what easements need to be recorded first and finalize filing.
2. Conduct updated title search.
3. Conduct stake survey.
4. Clean-up any title blemishes and/or access issues.
5. Determine if a political subdivision will be a direct buyer.
6. If the answer to #4 is no then take proposals from auctioneers for the sale.
7. This is where the board would need to be involved as they would approve entering into an auction agreement and decide if there will be a reserve.  Provide the easements, title record, etc. to the auctioneer so everything can be fully disclosed.   
8. Auction takes place and the highest bidder is sold the parcels.  

 
*Note that Steps 6 through 8 above would be substituted with an appraisal and public bid process if that option is selected.   
 
 

Rationale:  As after each census, the U.S. Census Bureau releases data for States and other political subdivisions to use for the purpose of determining sub-district boundaries.  As in the past, it is our intention to have Chris in our office review the data and generate sub-district boundary lines as needed.

This may also be a good time to review and re-visit the potential of transferring the 2+ sections of Butler County land currently in the Lower Loup NRD into Lower Platte North NRD.  This is land on the south side of the Platte River and the only Butler County land in Lower Loup NRD.

Rationale:  Due to a network issue at HBE we will not have the July Financials until next week.  We will send the Financial Statements along with Grant's comments/summary to each Director when we get them. 

Rationale:  Attached find Gottschalk's time and expense sheets.

Rationale:  As discussed at last month's Board Meeting, our plan is to once again maintain the same tax asking of $3,480,715 as it has been in the past five years. We were able to use a portion of our cash carry-over to achieve this tax request even though our total LPNNRD budget increased $7,782,546 to $8,217,366. 

Due to the increased district property valuations, we will also be lowering our tax levy from .03383044 to .03344902.  After our Levy Hearing on September 13th, the Board will be asked to approve this new levy amount so we can finalize our Fiscal Year 2022 State Budget Report. 

A motion will be needed at Board Meeting - to approve the State Budget that includes total expenditures of $8,217,366 with tax levy rate of .03344 for a tax asking of $3,480,715 that same asking as the past five years.