Bonds Approved For Hospital

Kimball Health Services officials and Andy Forney, vice president and public finance banker for D.A. Davidson & Co., met Tuesday with the Kimball County Commissioners at their regular bimonthly board meeting where they approved the issuance of limited tax bonds for the county not to exceed $6.5 million.

These limited tax bonds are for the Kimball hospital development project. Once the hospital bonds sell, construction and repair crews will be on site to begin certain phases of the project. The completion date for the hospital is projected to be May 2023.

Kimball Health Services assures that it has every expectation that it will pay for the bonds, but the county would be responsible to do that should KHS not be able to do so.

Other business included a public hearing for a “conditional use permit for indoor or outdoor recreational facilities that due to the nature of the facility generally required location separated from urban areas.” Dale Critchfield, Real Western Wings, applied for the permit.

There were no public comments, and the public hearing was closed. The commissioners approved and adopted the conditional use permit and zoning resolution. The conditional use permit will expire on May 31, 2026. Critchfield leased the land from Lyle Young for a controlled shooting area.

Critchfield explained that he has hunters from California, Idaho, Utah and, of course, Denver and the surrounding areas with reservations for the upcoming season.

A variety of additional department officials met with the commissioners. Randy Bymer, county highway superintendent, updated the board.

Bymer said, “We’ve been fixing signs and service work since it is so dry.”

A discussion ensued when Bymer informed the commissioners that the land where they had obtained water sold, and they were no longer able to purchased water for the roads at that location.

Bymer said that he was approached about using production water on the roads to keep the dust down. It was reported that previously the commissioners had talked to the Nebraska Oil and Gas Commission and the EPA, and it was deemed OK to use the production water.

When the production water was used in previous years, the decision was made to stay a mile away from residences due to the smell.

County Tourism Director Jessica Rocha reported that weekly visitors in August and September ranged from 180 to 333 individuals. The current hours of operations will remain until the end of October. Rocha said that the lodging tax numbers were $5,275 June and $9,379 in July.

Meanwhile, Steve Warner, assistant building and grounds superintendent and historical preservationist, had received bids and proposals for concrete work around the outside of the courthouse and to improve a drainage area near the south door.

No specific specifications had been provided for the job, and the bids were about $7,000 apart. The county board made no decision, and it was determined to obtained bids with specific specifications.