State officials remain silent about license office closure
“Crickets!”
That’s how Hamilton County officials described on Monday the level of communication from the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) since the abrupt closure of the Aurora drivers license office at the courthouse a month and a half ago. At this week’s county commission meeting, commissioners and County Business Manager Pat Shaw said despite efforts by the county and the Hamilton County Ag Society to make a space at the fairgrounds on Tuesdays for the facility, there has been no communication from DMV Dist. 3 Supervisor Janie Johannes or her superiors at the DMV.
On Oct. 2 ANR reported that county officials were working together with the fair board on a plan to offer the 4-H Building at the fairgrounds for use as a temporary drivers license office until the DMV’s old space at the courthouse opens up again, possibly sometime next year.
In discussing an agenda item regarding the payment by the county of a $125 per week rental charge for the use of electricity at the 4-H building, Shaw reported that attempts to contact DMV officials have been unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, county veterans service officer Mike Irons, whose first floor courthouse office the DMV had been using on Tuesdays the past several months, put in an appearance at the meeting to report some of the state’s equipment is still in his office. Irons said he would like to move the equipment out so that he can move his file cabinets back in.
When asked by this reporter for clarification about communications with the DMV regarding the closure, those in attendance at the meeting said the last time they had any direct communication with DMV officials was when Johannes showed up at a commission meeting in July to complain that there was not enough room in Irons’ office for the facility due to the large number of drivers coming over to test from Hall County. They also said it was Johannes who suggested the fairgrounds location as an alternative.
The drivers license facility was moved out of its long-time location on the west side of the courthouse earlier this summer because the county wanted to move County Attorney Douglas Dexter and his staff into that space. Once a new headquarters is constructed for the county Extension office at the fairgrounds, which may happen next year, the plan is to move the attorney’s office into the Extension offices. That way the DMV could go back to using its old location on Tuesdays.
No action was taken on the agenda item which is expected to be brought back next week, but that wasn’t the only item to be tabled at Monday’s meeting.
The bid letting for the proposed Extension building at the fairgrounds was on the agenda, but since an interlocal agreement with the Ag Society for construction of the facility had not been confirmed, the matter was tabled until next Monday’s meeting when it is anticipated that both items will be decided at the same time.