By LuAnn Schindler
Publisher
Supervisors set public hearing date for Wetland Reserve Easement
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December 2, 2021
LuAnn Schindler
Melvin Knox (left) listens as Holt County Attorney Brent Kelly discusses a wetlands easement during Tuesday's Holt County Supervisors' meeting, in O'Neill. Supervisors agreed the county's planning and zoning board should hold a public hearing on the matter. Then, the matter will come in front of supervisors for a public hearing.
After nearly an hour of discussion about a request for a Wetland Reserve Easement, for Melvin Knox's Bar K Bar, LLC, Holt County Supervisors set a public hearing date and determined the county's planning and zoning board should conduct a public hearing, too.
The action was taken Tuesday, during the board's scheduled meeting.
Knox filed paperwork for the easement, with county clerk Cathy Pavel, Oct. 26. According to the paperwork, a decision on the easement was to be made in 60 days.
Following discussion at the supervisors' Nov. 16 meeting, Pavel forwarded the paperwork to the county's planning and zoning board.
On Monday, planning and zoning board members submitted a recommendation to Pavel, who presented it to supervisors, Tuesday.
The Advocate-Messenger was unable to obtain a copy of the document by press time.
During Tuesday's meeting, Holt County Attorney Brent Kelly told supervisors he was "a little bit uncomfortable" with how the county's planning and zoning board failed to hold a public hearing on the matter.
"In fairness to everyone involved, conservation easements aren't new, but there is new controversy surrounding them," he said. "From an Open Meetings Act perspective, and a legality perspective, they should've handled it differently. From a fundamental fairness standpoint, the Knox's should be allowed an opportunity ... to explain what's going on."
He suggested planning and zoning consider what the land and easement will be used for.
"What are we going to do with this land if we recommend against the easement?" he asked.
A public hearing will take place during the supervisors' Dec. 16 meeting. A time for the hearing will be included in a legal notice, which will appear in the county's legal newspaper, the Atkinson Graphic.
In other business, supervisors approved transferring 4H shooting sports equipment to the annex. Debra Walnofer, 4-H extension assistant, approached supervisors and requested the move, making it easier to keep track of equipment.
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