The permit had been submitted by Mark Morten for a commercial dog business performing training, breeding and limited small scale boarding services at 29235, 145th Road north of Kearney. (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
KEARNEY — The Buffalo County Commissioners held off on making a decision regarding a special use permit for a commercial dog business north of Kearney during their meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 14.
The permit had been submitted by Mark Morten for a commercial dog business performing training, breeding and limited small scale boarding services at 29235, 145th Road north of Kearney.
This is not the first time Morten has submitted a permit for the facility. The commissioners approved a larger scale facility in December 2022 by a 5-2 vote, with commissioners Tim Higgins and Ronald Loeffelholz voting against it.
Nicholas Ridgeway of Jacobsen Orr Lindstrom & Holbrook appeared at the meeting, representing Morten who was unable to attend the meeting.
The original idea had been to allow for 40 dogs, but the plan had been downgraded to a 10 dog, seven kennel facility, Ridgeway said.
Ridgeway noted that Morten had gotten either verbal or written approval from 13 of the 14 neighbors in the area. Travis Martinson, the one hold-out, did not object to the plan but wanted to see follow through on the submitted permit.
The facility had gotten approval by the Department of Agriculture, Ridgeway said.
Morten’s plan is for serious sports training for the dog, with the priority being waterfowl dogs, Ridgeway said.
Several of the commissioners expressed some concern that building on the property for the facility had already occurred without the permit being approved. The question of including an annual inspection with the permit approval was also raised.
Ridgeway questioned if an inspection was standard protocol for a special use permit and noted Morten would not want to be treated differently than any other commercial dog business in the county.
The commissioners noted they have trepidations if someone cannot physically inspect the property to ensure the permit is being followed.
In the end, the commissioners moved to postpone their decision to a future meeting to allow for Morten to appear in person regarding the permit.
During the regular agenda, Buffalo County Sheriff Neil Miller appeared with approval of the South Central/Panhandle Nebraska 911 Regional Interlocal Agreement.
Miller said Buffalo County is part of this region that now includes 22 911 centers, and the agreement reflects the fact the area has grown in their number of centers from past years. The commissioners approved.
Miller also presented a public safety software purchase – CentralSquare Technologies, which he said deals with their collaboration with the City of Kearney and data sharing. The commissioners approve the purchase.
The last item Miller spoke about was an Interlocal Agreement with the Nebraska Department of Transportation to install automatic license plate readers.
Miller said the license plate readers would be re-located from their sites in Kearney to areas east, west and north of the community on state right-of-way.
The readers have been successful, Miller said, and have proven a useful tool to help keep the community safe.
During the road department period, Highway Superintendent John Maul presented four bids for the projects on Daykin Road and Coal Chute Road. The bids would be reviewed by the road department and returned with a recommendation.
Maul also presented an authorization to write off the account of Carlos Vasquez, who had been involved in a February accident with a lighted stop sign. Attempts to bill Vazquez failed due to bills not being able to reach the listed address. The commissioners approved the write-off.
A recommendation to vacate 39th Road between Odessa Road and Eagle Road was also presented by Maul.
The section of road lies north of Odessa and Maul said the area of road has been problematic as it is either used as a trash dumping ground or vehicles are being ran through and tearing up the road.
Maul was of the opinion to vacate the land and the commissioners set a public hearing date for Jan. 23, 2024, at 9:30 a.m.
The commissioners also approved the year-end certification of the County Highway Superintendent.
During the board of equalization section, the commissioners approved the motor vehicle tax renewal applications for The Salvation Army, Evangelical Lutheran, Good Samaritan, Society Home Health and Prairie View Gardens.
There was also a public hearing to amend the Buffalo County 2023-2024 fiscal year budget.
The amendment would authorize Buffalo County to serve as the fiscal agent for South Central Planning, Exercising, and Training (PET) region.
Buffalo County Emergency Manager Darrin Lewis said the South-Central PET region had recently lost their fiscal agent and was asking the county to step into the role. He said this is not the first time the county has acted as the fiscal agent, the first was in 2002.
The county would take on the role for three years before there would be a revaluation, which the commissioners approved.
A United Way of Kearney area update was provided by Executive Director Savannah Lyon.
Lyon said she has been in the position for 11 months and told the commissioners that they support 19 funded partner agencies.
“United Way uses its infrastructure and experience to efficiently turn donations into results through its relationships with its many local partners. The community Investment process ensures that dollars donated to the United Way of the Kearney Area are distributed to the most needed programs and serves each year in Education, Income, and Health,” per the United Way website.
Lyons also shared that they plan to bring First Call back to the area and seek to develop a community resource center.
An executive session was held to discuss contract negotiations, no action was taken after the closed session.
