In the minutes: Pender Minutes, Automated License Plate (Aug 7)

THURSTON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS PROCEEDING
July 27th, 2026
A regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Thurston County, Nebraska was held at the regular
meeting place of the board room in Thurston County, Nebraska Courthouse in Pender, Nebraska on July
27th, 2026. Present were Davin French, Georgia Mayberry, Mark English, Jim Mueller, James Price, Robb
Roeber and Benjamin Walker Jr. Also, present were Steven Schneider County Clerk, County Attorney
Tammy Maul Bodlak, Emergency Manager Tom Perez, County Roads Supervisor Mat Frazey, Sheriff Russ
Briggs, Chief Deputy Derek Herron, and Zack Randall. Notice of the meeting was given to all members of
the Board of Supervisors and a copy of their acknowledgement of their notice and receipt of the notice
on the agenda is attached hereto. The availability of the agenda was communicated in advance and in
the notice to the Board of Supervisors of this meeting. All proceedings shown hereafter were taken
while the convened meeting was open to the attendance of the public.
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Davin French at 9:00 a.m. stated that the open meeting laws
will be followed during this meeting and are posted in the back of the boardroom for anyone that would
like to review them.
Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Motioned by English seconded by Walker to approve the Board Minutes of July 13th, 2026. Roll call aye:
Mayberry, English, Mueller, Roeber, Walker and French. Abstained: Price. Motion carried.
Public Comments: None
Unfinished Business: None
Commi ee Report: English spoke that he spoke with Nola Briggs from the CABC, a group in Walthill
improving the community. She wanted to know if the county had any ac on on the le er from a prior
mee ng. English informed her that a commi ee had been put together and we were going to try and
address some of the proper es. Their biggest concern was property as people enter Walthill. English
informed them there are plans to tear down that building and clean up the lot. English would like to
focus on that one and would speak with Mat Frazey to see what can be done this year. Mayberry asked
about trespassing concerns, English said that there have been people trespassing to conduct illegal
ac vi es.
Mo oned by Price seconded by Mueller to go into Board of Equaliza on at 9:07 am. Roll call aye:
Mayberry, English, Mueller, Price, Roeber, Walker and French. Motion carried.
Board of Equalization
Chairwoman Mayberry Called the Board of Equalization to order at 9:07 am.
Motion by French second by Roeber to enter items into evidence from the County Assessor,
a.
2026 Certification of assessment of real and personal property
b.
2026 Notice of Valuation change of Ag Land, Commercial and Residential property.
c.
2026 Ag Land calculation breakdown of ratios
d.
2026 Commercial calculation breakdown of ratios
e.
2026 Residential calculation breakdown of ratios
Roll call aye: English, Mueller, Price, Roeber, Walker, French and Mayberry. Motion carried.
Motioned by French seconded by Roeber to adjourn Board of Equalization at 9:08 am. Roll call aye:
English, Mueller, Price, Roeber, Walker, French and Mayberry. Motion carried.
Mat Frazey Road Supervisor: Last few weeks have been hauling gravel and rock, working on culverts, a
couple different guardrails. Last Monday afternoon, a blade operator called Mat and said he hit a gas
pipeline, and it was leaking gas. Mat got a hold of Northern Natural Gas right away. They had to leave
the maintainer sit at the site to block the road to the north. Mat arrived to block the road to the south.
Within minutes Northen Natural Gas showed up and took control of the site. Mat spoke to Tom Perez to
contact emergency services and fire departments. The Line was estimated an inch underground.
Mayberry asked about policy regarding major accidents, Mat said they were not allowed to leave the
site until 4:30 pm that day. French asked about the location of the line, where did it become exposed in
the ditch or in the center of the road. Mat said it was on the east side of the road, and the pipeline was
not parallel to the surface of the road. On the west side of the road the pipeline was about 3 feet deep.

Mayberry asked what Mat thoughts were on going back to grass on the minimum maintenance roads.
Mat was concerned about how heavily the roads are traveled.
Emergency Manager Report: Tom Perez spoke about working with Mat Frazey to resolve the gas leak
and to work with Northern Natural Gas. He helped fill in some of the gaps calling agencies, reporting to
the state, and working on reports. It was handled very well by Mat and everyone else. Tower had been
worked on, The West repeater ended up being a cable antenna, and the repeater is being
reprogrammed right now. Once reprogrammed it will be installed and be up and running. The east
repeater needed a new cable. Now he is testing the repairs to make sure we are getting better signals.
He has been working on paperwork. Friday and Saturday he briefly attended Powwow, left due to the
heat. The APG award is competed with English’s help for this past year. The county should be awarded
next week for this year, and it is usually about the same amount.
County Clerk and Emergency Manager discussed conversations with Text My Gov . Text my gov is a
service similar to alert sense currently being used by the county. It offers a few additional features that
alert sense does not offer. However, relating to the clerk’s office, most of the alerts being sent out
would be through the Emergency Manager. Could not see any advantages of using this new service over
what is currently being used. Tom could not see it being beneficial for his office and could not justify it.
Motioned by English seconded by Roeber to approve Resolution #26-23 to transfer $2,500.00 out of The
Visitor Improvement fund (0995) to Visitor Promotional Fund (0990). Roll call aye: Mayberry, English,
Mueller, Price, Roeber, Walker and French. Motion carried.
Motioned by Mueller seconded by Price to approve Grant Application for Thurston Watermelon Days for
$500.00 from the Visitor Promotional fund (0990) Roll call aye: Mayberry, English, Mueller, Price,
Roeber, Walker and French. Motion carried.
Mold issue at the Law Enforcement Center, the sheetrock has been put back in, they have it taped and
painted. The vendor was coming back in, to match the paint with prior color. Still awaiting the
installation of the HVAC units. Should be towards the end of the month, they will start on that project.
Motioned by Mayberry seconded by Roeber to approve Resolution #26-24 to adopting and approving
the execution of an agreement with Department of Transportation of the State of Nebraska for
agreement N0. ZL2605, Project Name: Automated License Plate Readers. Roll call aye: Mayberry,
English, Mueller, Price, Roeber, Walker and French. Motion carried.
Motioned by Roeber seconded by Price to approve County Chairperson, County Clerk and County Sheriff
signatures on State/ County Agreement Installation and Operation of Automated License Plate Readers
on State Highway. Roll call aye: Mayberry, English, Mueller, Price, Roeber, Walker and French. Motion
carried.
French spoke that the budget committee is going to try to meet with some of the elected officials after
the Board Meeting
Correspondence: French had a few emails from Dan Alexander that the county was not selected for
the iHub application. September 3rd there is to be a meeting for the Pender east bridge with the
NDOT, unknown time yet. Dan also emailed about the designs and engineering for the three
projects, we asked him to do. The project by Heitzman’s looks like it will be twin 7 foot pipes with
head walls and wings. The county line bridge looks like it will be triple 9 foot pipes with head walls
and wings. The bridge by Blue Ox would be triple six foot by 10 foot box culverts. The board will need
to decide which bridges to do, any or all of them, as far as the budget is concerned.
After the meeting there will be a handbook committee meeting
Motioned by Mueller seconded by Roeber to approve Claims. Roll call aye: Mayberry, English,
Mueller, Price, Roeber, Walker and French. Motion carried
Motioned by Mayberry seconded by Walker to adjourn at 09:20 am. Roll call aye: Mayberry, English,
Mueller, Price, Roeber, Walker and French. Motion carried

______________________________
Steven Schneider- County Clerk

__________________________________
Davin French- Chairman