​YORK – This week, the York County Commissioners signed off on an agreement with Fillmore County, which outlines how the two counties will share emergency management services.
Jean Engle will continue acting as the emergency manager for both counties, now under a formal agreement. The prior agreement was on an interim basis as the two counties worked out the details of paying for the services, etc.
York County Commissioner Chairman Daniel Grotz explained how he and Commissioner Randy Obermier have been talking and working with Fillmore County Supervisors to create this interlocal agreement. He said the agreement had been reviewed by the York County Attorney’s office and “Fillmore County officials have also said it’s a good agreement.”
Obermier noted how the Fillmore County Supervisors were also scheduled to take formal action in the matter this week as well.
“All has gone well so far,” Obermier said, noting Engle “is very, very knowledgeable and she communicates very well. She’s very good in this position. And this arrangement is a good way for us to share her services. We know we will need to find some limited help here and they will, too, on a part-time basis, to help her, which we will address later.”
All the commissioners voted in favor of moving ahead with the interlocal agreement and sharing Engle’s services.
 

​YORK – This last week in York County, the commissioners met with representatives of Apace and Region V as they made their annual reports.
Matt Kasik explained how Apace is the largest provider of developmental disability services. During the last year, 31 people were served in York County, five people were competitively employed, seven shared living providers. Apace has 38 employees, working for the agency, in York County.
“We appreciate the relationship we have with the York County board,” Kasik said. “Our budget request continues to be zero because funding continues to be through Medicaid. You provide oversight which is worth so much.”
He also thanked Commissioner Deb Robertson for serving on their board, as each county has a representative on that governing body.
Patrick Kreifels represented Region V, which is one of Nebraska’s six behavioral health regions. Region V Systems was originally created by state statute in 1974 as a quasi-governmental entity with the responsibility of coordinating and overseeing the delivery of publicly funded mental health services for the 16 counties making up the region 5 Systems geographical area. Two years later, the legislature added responsibility to each of the regions for the development and coordination of substance use services. In 20024, a bill was passed, repealing the original statutes but re-establishing and renaming the regions as behavioral health authorities, which make up the state’s public  behavioral health system.
One of the agency’s most notable roles is how it works with local law enforcement in providing Emergency Protective Custody (EPC) services.
He also thanked Robertson for serving on their board. Kreifels noted his agency would be making the same budget request from the county as it has in the past – about $36,000.
 

​YORK – This week, Jon Day from Blue Valley Behavioral Health met with the York County commissioners to make his annual report and budget request.
During his meeting with the county board members, he said the amount of services utilized in York County continues to grow – in the last year, the agency served about one in 10 people living in York County.
The agency provides outpatient behavioral health services, seeing about a 20% increase in usage over the course of the last fiscal year.
Each year, the agency asks for and receives a $5,000 payment from the county. Day said the same request was being made this year.
The mental health treatment center provides outpatient treatment and telemedicine/telehealth. It also offers couples/family therapy, behavior modification and cognitive behavioral therapy to adopts, seniors and children, as well as court-ordered outpatient treatment, suicide prevention services and case management.
The county commissioners thanked Day for his presentation and said they would take his request under consideration during the budget process.

​YORK – When the York County Commissioners met in regular session this past week, they discussed a number of topics with Greg Heine from the York County Roads Department, including road conditions.
Following a series of very heavy rains, there were places in the county where there were less than favorable rural road conditions – which Heine said the roads department has been working hard to fix.
“I believe the majority of the places with the worst road top issues have been covered,” Heine said.
Commissioner Deb Robertson also said she wanted to mention how quickly roads department personnel responded when alerted about concerns from constituents.
“With our heavy rains, it has shown all the weaknesses in our county roads,” said Commissioner Andy Bowman, who has been working closely with the roads department. “Fortunately, a lot of those issues have been remedied and they’ve gotten a lot of material our on the roads, which is good.”
Meanwhile, Heine said one of the county’s motorgraders has been delivered back to the dealer for repair work. “As for the motorgrader which was recently involved in the accident (at the intersection of North Delaware and 25th Street in York), that motorgrader should be coming back to the fleet in the next week or so.”
Heine also said a few new people have been hired at the roads department and training has been underway. “One of the new people, you will see working on the roads in the Thayer area.”
Heine added, “We recently were made aware of a bridge issue, we worked with inspectors and we are replacing it with a culvert.”
 
 

​YORK – The York County Planning/Zoning Commission is scheduled to meet at 5:30 p.m., on Tuesday, June 30, in the York County Commissioners’ meeting room, on the main floor of the courthouse.
York County Zoning Administrator Nate Heinz told the county board members they are invited to join the planning commission members, as they will be going through the comprehensive plan update as well as revisions to the portion dedicated to zoning regulations.
The public can also attend, as the planning commission members meet with Marvin Consultants and the county board members.
 

YORK – This past week, Shari Weber, CEO of Blue Valley Community Action, met with the York County Commissioners to discuss her impact report from 2025 and make the entity’s annual budget request.
“BVCA assisted 7,867 individuals by offering life-changing services which provided solutions to help build lives of stability, dignity and prosperity,” Weber said. “Poverty, unfortunately, is still prevalent. What we do – we aren’t giving a hand out, we are giving a hand up, as poverty looks different each individual.”
She said of the 6,121 individuals who were enrolled in goal-setting programs, 5,977 achieved one or more outcomes, which is a 97% success rate.
In York County alone, she said 9.1% of the population is living in poverty, including 311 children and 1,014 adults. BVCA helped 1,558 individuals in 677 households in York County during the last fiscal year. This included 722 children, 763 adults and 73 elderly individuals.
In York County, 1,000 people were assisted with emergency services; 123 individuals received utility assistance; 71 individuals received rental assistance; and 32 people were provided with rapid re-housing and/or transitional housing for homelessness.
Also in York County, 609 individuals in 246 households received 1,922 food boxes. Forty-five elderly individuals received nutritious food via CSFP. A total of 76,470 pounds of Feeding America food was distributed in York County (this is through a program with Wal-Mart).
Weber said 641 individuals residing in 171 households in York County received WIC services.
BVCA is asking for $11,000 from the county for the 2026-27 fiscal year, which is the same amount that has been provided by the county in the last four years.
She also noted how the thrift store in York is one of the largest in the BVCA footprint, crediting the work of volunteers in helping continue this and other services.
Weber acknowledged how federal grants “have been a challenge” and “we had to make some difficult decisions to save money.” She said they are pursuing other sources of revenue never pursued before.
BVCA is currently doing a community needs assessment, with everyone encouraged to participate.
 

​YORK – This past week, the York County Board of Equalization (made up of the York County Commissioners) sat down with York County Assessor Kurt Bulgrin to conduct the first valuation protests of this year.
But it was a far different scene from last year, as only a few protests took place – compared to the 200 last year. Granted, this was only the first session during which protests were heard and there will be more – but it doesn’t appear there will be near the volume as was seen last year.
This week, one York resident questioned why the valuation of a property she is in the middle of purchasing is so much higher than the purchase price.
Another York resident protested the value on a lot in the flood plain where there are no utilities and only a gravel street. She said the value jumped from $4,000 to $40,000. She also protested the value placed on the property where she lives as one part of the property would be very hard to develop.
A property owner in Henderson protested the valuation placed on a small vacant lot which he said would be very difficult to develop. He said he purchased the little lot for $4,500 and the valuation has now been placed at $38,500.
The commissioners heard the protests and accepted the property owners’ materials as presented. Decisions will be made later.
Also as the board of equalization:

• They considered a personal property penalty protest. Personal property filings must be done before May 1 – if not, a 10% penalty is imposed. The property owner filed on June 5 and there was some misunderstanding in the matter. The board moved to deny the protest.
• Bulgrin presented an over/under report – which reflects situations in which property owners reached out to his office to provide corrected information about their properties. Because the information had been incorrect in the assessor’s system, the changes could be made.
• They also approved a motor vehicle exemption for Epworth Village.

 

​YORK COUNTY – A newly formed group, called Moms on a Mission, in Henderson, has secured a $100,000 York County visitors improvement grant toward a project to be create an inclusive playground in downtown Henderson.

​YORK – This week, the York County Commissioners held their last meeting of the 2025-26 fiscal year and had to take some unusual action by opening the current budget and changing budget authority, in order to cover deficits.

YORK – The York County Commissioners will be holding a public hearing during their regular meeting on Tuesday, June 23, as they open and change the 2025-26 budget.