BROKEN BOW – The Custer County Board of Supervisors held its final meeting of April on Tuesday morning on the top floor of the Custer County Courthouse, with Supervisor Parliament absent.
Emergency Manager Mark Rempe presented a report on the 4 fires that tore through the county two weeks ago, including the Cooksley Complex Fire. Rempe said that the amount of help lent to area departments had been immeasurable, almost literally.
“We’re still waiting on other dispatch centers to get us the numbers, but at this time we have confirmed over 50 fire departments were here.”
Rempe went on to tally air support from 3 sources for those departments: a plane each from Valentine and Buffalo Air, and another from Arrow Aviation in Broken Bow. All told, Rempe said, there were an alarming number of fires, though thanks to a vigilant community, only the biggest 4 required departmental attention.
“Not all the lightning fires found their way to 911 calls. People were being vigilant and putting them out, or fire crews got there fast enough to handle them. In total, there were 7 extra fires due to lightning inside our county that night.”
The total destruction by each fire, according to the Emergency Manager, was 41,750 acres, 37,500 of which belonged to the Cooksley Complex Fire. Fortunately, however, no injuries or loss of life were reported, and initial damage to livestock appears negligible.
The next step will be to submit a disaster claim to NEMA; additionally, residents having property destroyed by the fires can opt to fill out Form 425 for partial relief, which can be obtained through the County Assessor.
The board also chose to move forward with a state-funded upgrade to its courtroom technologies at the Judicial Center; the installation and maintenance of the systems will be handled by the state for the next 5 years and then turned over to the county.
A new reclaimer was approved for purchase, as well. The 2022 Wirtgen machine, which the county had been renting to own, will run about $527,000, though the rent paid will go toward its outright ownership. As for the old reclaimer, the board will be taking bids to find it a new home next meeting.
The agreements between the Extension Office and the county and DHHS and the county were both tabled so that potential revisions and questions could be presented to the county attorney before approval.
Two county right-of-way crossings were approved, and Tim Conover delivered the annual weed compliance report; Custer County’s Weed Department scored 3275 out of a possible 3400 points.
The claim on the courthouse roof through NIRMA had been approved, and the board then voted unanimously to move forward with the settlement. Additionally, the board approved a two-year contract with Charron Lawn Care of Broken Bow to handle snow removal and lawn maintenance. The meeting adjourned at 11:44 a.m., with the next expected on May 9.
