Bull Pen dead horse beaten one more time at County Board meeting

By GREG SCELLIN
Signal Editor

The Fillmore County Board of Supervisors met in regular session last Tuesday, May 13. A group of about a dozen local citizens attended the beginning of the meeting to talk about the east and west Bull Pens in Geneva.
Four supervisors met with the Geneva City Council’s Finance Committee two weeks ago. They said they thought the meeting went very well. They said they felt the general consensus was to clean out the East Bull Pen, work on the base and asphalt pave one lane and place concrete fines in the other lane. The goal—to make one lane, smooth and all nice again.
“The city came to us with a mess—it’s not the county’s mess,” Supervisor Ralph Graham said. “They have also said they want to get out of the lease…they are of the understanding that they really don’t need them.”
Several in attendance commented:

• Jerry Otte: if the county pays, everyone pays. It’s a bad deal putting their deal on all the taxpayers of the county.
• Mike Johnson and Barb Trapp also commented.
  Comments were made that several people have already fallen in the bull pens.
  “We are willing to try and help some,” Graham said.
  An idea of having county workers help with removing the broken concrete from the bull pens was discussed. The county would have some use for this for placing around bridges. They could also help hauling in dirt and clay.
  “We need to come up with a solution…working with them,” Supervisor Wade Sluka said. “Although, just four years ago, Joe Casey came in and said the city was interested in them. I think they (the city) have closed their eyes with them…the only thing that has happened is they have deteriorated.”
  “The county board had the responsibility to make them honor the lease, and maybe dropped the ball some,” Supervisor Kenny Harre said.
  A cost of any where between $100,000 to $200,000 was discussed to pave one or more lanes of the East Bull Pen.
  “No one is going to say anything until we know what it’s going to cost,” Supervisor Mark Lightwine said.
  Bids for paving the R Street entrance into Geneva will be discussed at the May 19 city council meeting. These could offer a better guess on what the paving costs could be.
  “It’s been an ongoing thing for way too long,” said Harre to the group present. “Feel confident that something is going to be done.”
  Other meeting notes include:
• The county is going to look into the cost share with the City of Geneva for law enforcement coverage.
  “A lot of what we will ask is just catch up,” Sluka said.
  The cost of outfitting cruisers, new cruisers and fuel was noted.
  “Everything has went up fuel…wages,” Fillmore County Sheriff Mark McFarland said.
• Fillmore County Highway Superintendent Doug Motis attended the meeting. Declaring a motor grader and drag, haul agreement, cleaning out a culvert and County Road 24 and County Road 20 were discussed.
• Fillmore County Extension Educator Brandy VanDeWalle introduced her office’s summer intern from Syracuse, Neb.
• During Public Comment, Ronnie Wilson reminded the county board about his desire to see a copy of the U.S. Constitution placed in the board’s meeting room.