BROKEN BOW – The Custer County Board of Supervisors held their final meeting of September on the morning of Tuesday, the 27 in the Custer County Courthouse. All board members were present.
The meeting was called to order at 9:05 a.m., where minutes from the last meeting, mail, and committee reports were reviewed.
The Sheriff’s Office and Custer County Emergency Management Department presented before the supervisors an alternative and more comprehensive mental health policy for county employees. Under Wholeness Healing’s proposed policy, county employees would be eligible for 5 in-person mental health check-ups every year; these would include members of the employee’s household as well, up to 15 visits.
Employees seeking help under the policy would not be hindered by physical distance, either: four of Wholeness Healing’s licensed therapists work in Broken Bow, mere blocks from the courthouse steps.
The county’s current policy is telehealth only; those seeking help are required to do so exclusively over the phone, and are limited to 3 “visits” a year, with no guarantee they’ll be speaking to the same professional twice.
The cost of the new program would be $5750 per year, to be billed quarterly. The rough cost per county employee works out to about $38 per year. While no decision was made on the policy, the board generally acknowledged the benefits of an upgraded mental health program. A vote is expected at the next meeting.
Bids for the ongoing and upcoming bridge projects (C21(424)A1, C21(425)A1, C21(426)A1, C(21(429)A1) were closed at 10 a.m. The board received three bids for the four-part project: $237,773.14 from Midwest Service and Sales of Schuyler, $224,505 from Contact, Inc. of Lincoln, and a winning $260,642.26 bid from Ace/Eaton Metals of Kearney.
The winning bid promised a delivery time of 12-14 weeks on part one of the project, up to 15-20 on part 4, and was accepted unanimously.
Bruce Forrester received his Conditional Use Permit for commercially selling automobiles; Forrester said he plans to keep low inventory on his property, between one and three vehicles, while he works on obtaining his commercial seller’s license.
Resolution #33-3011 was unanimously sent to be redrafted by the county attorney; under the revised resolution, county department heads would no longer bear personal responsibility for department cell phones or numbers. Cell phones would be county-issued through a government program.
The meeting adjourned at 10:24 a.m., with the next scheduled for October 11 at 9 a.m.
