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Brown County Commissioners to Consider Refinancing Hospital Bond

During the regular meeting of the Brown County Commissioners on February 16th, the Commissioners were informed that refinancing the hospital bond could save in excess of $40,000.00.

Andy Forney of DA Davidson explained to the commissioners that bond rates are at a 70 year low and refinancing the hospital bond now could save the county money.

The hospital bond will end on December 15, 2025. Bonds are currently at 1.84% and the new rate at the time of the meeting was .43%.

“It’s not a great deal, but a respectable deal,” said Forney.

He told the commissioners that they could pass a parameters resolution which would set things in motion for refinancing, but not obligate the county to actually refinance. The parameters resolution would provide information to the commissioners about rates and costs.

Currently there is 2.1 million dollars left on the bond. If the commissioners refinance after the June 21st payment the bond amount would be 1.95 million.

Forney said it would cost $15,000.00 to $20,000.00 to refinance, but would save the county approximately $46,000.00 at the .43% rate.

The commissioners passed the parameters resolution to start the refinancing process and see if it would benefit the county.

Road Department

Brown County Highway Superintendent Kenny Turpin reviewed with the commissioners what the road department has been doing since the last commissioner’s meeting.

Turpin said the crews have completed road work on the Bar-25 road and were building autogates and doing repair work during the cold spell.

Turpin informed the commissioners that all FEMA projects from the flooding of 2019 have been obligated except for three bridges and culverts southwest of Johnstown on Plum Creek.

Turpin opened a bid for armor coating during 2021. The only bid received was from Topkote, Inc. of Yankton, SD. The 2021 bid was for $12,598.00 per mile with the county supplying the aggregate.

Turpin said he plans on armor coating 12 to 15 miles of hard surfaced roads with most of the work being done on the Elsmere Road.

Region 24 Emergency Management

The commissioners approved the resolution to withdraw Brown County from the Region 24 Interlocal Agreement effective June 30, 2021.

The commissioners voted at the January 19th meeting to withdraw from Region 24 Emergency Management.

Second Amendment Sanctuary County

Following approval at the February 2nd meeting of the commissioners, a resolution was approved and signed designating Brown County as a Second Amendment Sanctuary County.

Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions are primarily expressive and symbolic.

Letter of Opposition

The commissioners approved a letter of opposition to LB 102 which calls for the transfer of duties of the ex officio Clerks of the District Court to the Judicial Branch.

The letter states Brown County Sheriff Bruce Papstein, Brown County Attorney Andy Taylor and Brown County Clerk Travee Hobbs (current Clerk of District Court) are opposed to the transfer of duties.

The next regular meeting of the Brown County Commissioners will be held on Tuesday, March 2nd in the Brown County Courthouse at 5:00 p.m.