Hampton village board votes to join NPAIT

The Hampton Village Board has found a way to help offset the interest from its recent bond sale to pay for infrastructure work on the new Hampton West Subdivision. At its meeting Monday night the board adopted Resolution 2024-8 allowing the village to join the Nebraska Public Agency Investment Trust (NPAIT) which is a money market fund available only to public entities in Nebraska. 
The board heard a presentation from Walker Zulkoski, a representative of NPAIT, who said the fund is a high interest instrument local governments can use to park money until it is ready to be spent. He said the money is liquid and can be withdrawn at any time. 
“It’s not a bank and it’s not meant to replace your existing bank relationship,” Zulkoski said. “It’s just another tool in your financial toolbox.” 
Zulkoski said the daily interest rate on the fund that day was 5.3 percent, noting that it fluctuates daily. Dividends are paid monthly based on an average of the daily rate for that month. He said there are no fees for the account since all the expenses are paid out prior to dividends being paid. 
Noting that NPAIT is triple-A rated by S&P, Zulkoski said it is used by local governments across the state, including the towns of Sutton, Loup City and St. Paul. 
Board members agreed that the account would be useful for parking unspent proceeds from the recent bond sale for the new subdivision and moved to approve the resolution allowing the village to join the organization. Following the vote to approve, the board also moved to designate authorized officials for the fund. 
In other business having to do with the bond issue, Karen Bamesberger, secretary of the Hampton Development Corporation (the village’s partner in the subdivision project) made a presentation to the board with reference to the USDA Rural Development Grant the village received last year to pay for infrastructure installation to the industrial lot at the south end of the development. 
Bamesberger said the way the grant was initially set up, the village was to pay invoices for the contractors completing the work on sewer, water, electricity and other services, and then send the invoices to the USDA for reimbursement. Stating that was a cumbersome and time-consuming process, she said she and others had a conference call with the USDA to ask if the $148,000 grant could be paid out in one lump sum. 
Bamesberger handed out a worksheet showing that all but one of the various tasks under the grant had been fully completed and stated that USDA officials had given verbal agreement to plan to pay out the reimbursement in a lump sum. 
“All we have to do is turn in the request and I want this (worksheet) as a cover sheet,” Bamesberger said. 
Following the presentation the board voted to approve the request to the USDA. 
In other business at the meeting Monday night, the trustees:
*gave approval to the Hampton Public School Foundation’s request for a conditional use permit for the former Lutheran School as a community daycare center. County Planning and Zoning Director Hillary Betka was at the meeting to present the request and report that the Joint Planning and Zoning Commission had signed off on the request; 
*approved an engagement letter with AMGL of Grand Island for continuing to provide audit and budget services to the village, and held a budget workship with AMGL representative Tracy Cannon to begin planning for the 2024-25 budget which will go into effect on Oct. 1; 
*discussed a bid in the amount of $25,824 for new LED lights for the softball field. New poles to replace the ones that have been there since about 1980 are estimated at another $16,000. No decision was made on the bid.