Donner sworn in; McGregor elected as chairman
HARTINGTON — The Cedar County Board of Commissioners welcomed a new member on Jan. 10.
Dick Donner replaced Chris Tramp for the position that represents District 1, which covers the northern and western portions of the county.
Donner previously served two terms as a commissioner from 1999 to 2007.
During the commissioners’ first meeting of the year, they selected Dave McGregor as the board chairman and Craig Bartels as the vice chairman for 2023.
McGregor is starting his fifth term serving District 3, which includes Hartington and Coleridge.
During the annual reorganizational part of the meeting, the commissioners approved the following board appointments: -District 1 (Donner): Region IV NorthStar Disabilities, Missouri River Advisory Group and National Scenic River District.
-District 2 (Bartels): Region IV Mental Health and Northeast Nebraska Public Health Board.
-District 3 (McGregor): Landfill and Solid Waste, Transit – Bus, Goldenrod Hills – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Northeast Nebraska Area on Aging.
The board members also approved the following appointments: -Carla Schmidt, road superintendent.
-David Dowling, general assistance administrator.
-Kevin Garvin, emergency management and communications director.
-Bob Hamilton, part-time emergency manager under the direction and supervision of Garvin.
-Tim Gobel, zoning administrator.
-Justin Heikes, part-time weed superintendent.
The commissioners also approved: -Appointing the Cedar County News, Laurel Advocate and Randolph Times as the legal newspapers for the county, as well as designating the county website as official notice.
-Keeping the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month as meeting days and retaining 8:30 a.m. as the starting time inside the com-mis-sioners’ room at the county courthouse.
-Using the following depositories: Bank of Hartington; Citizens State Bank, Laurel; First State Bank, Randolph; Security Bank, Laurel, Hartington, Coleridge; Cedar Security Bank, Fordyce, Wynot, Hartington; and Farmers & Merchants State Bank, Hartington.
-Appointing Alice Pommer to the Northeast Nebraska Area on Aging Board.
The board members also discussed and approved the annual legal holidays the county will observe and close the courthouse for: -New Year’s Day. -Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
-Presidents’ Day -Good Friday (one half day) -Memorial Day. -Juneteenth. -Independence Day. -Labor Day. -Columbus Day. -Veterans Day. -Thanksgiving. -Day after Thanksgiving. -Christmas. The commissioners also approved setting the 2023 mileage reimbursement rate at 65.5 cents per mile traveled doing county business as stated by the Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts’ Office.