County Confronted on River Issues
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Phonograph- The Herald MARCH 17, 2021 Wildcats Go to OT at State - PAGE 11 St. Paul, Howard County, Nebraska • USPS 430-720 • Volume 148, Number 11 • 20 Pages + Pre-Prints County Confronted on River Issues Last Tuesday morning, a dire threat to the munic- Paul for almost two years, that roughly a quarter mile mately three feet per day of railroad bridge, as the bank during the Howard County ipality: the rapidly chang- with Puncochar saying stretch of riverbank has embankment,” said Punco- continues to wear towards Board of Commissioners’ ing course of the Middle that, by her own estimates, eroded hundreds of feet char. “At that rate, it will the abutments. first meeting of the month Loup River. roughly three feet of the eastward, and now sits, by breach Hardy Road within “From there,” she said, of March, St. Paul resident Erosion and avulsion, river bank is now being Puncochar’s estimation, a month.” “it’s just a stone’s throw Rebecca Puncochar met she said, have been rapidly eroded away by the river less than 300 feet from Further north, added from the highway.” with the commissioners occurring on the east bank each day. Hardy Road. Puncochar, the river also Puncochar said that to discuss what she called of the river south of St. Satellite imaging shows “We are losing approxi- seems to be threatening the she did not come to the commissioners with any solutions, but instead that she was hoping to gain the board’s help in convincing the Army Corps of Engi- neers to perform an emer- gency survey of the area. Having been in routine contact with the county board, the St. Paul City Council, and the Army Corps of Engineers about the issue for almost two years, Puncochar said that she hoped 2021 would be the year “something gets done.” The private engineer- ing firms that she and her family had consulted with about potential solutions to the problem in 2019 and 2020, Puncochar said, had led her to the Army Corps of Engineers, as the rate and severity of erosion and avulsion has eclipsed what they had felt competent to handle. In 2021, she added, these processes had only become more severe. “It’s beyond concrete and rock,” she said. “If you tried to do that, it’d wash away in a week.” And, at this time, the landowner said the issue is about more than just sav- BOMGAARS ing some land. in St. Paul sustained damage on Sunday morning when high winds caught the tin roofing and rolled it up “At this point, our infra- on the east side of the building. While the damage caused the store to close early on Sunday, the business reopened as structure, our utilities, our usual on Monday morning. (Michael Happ) schools, our highways, our medical response time, our fire response time, all of those things are going to be affected by the river.” While Puncochar said Weekend Storm Impacts Area that she could request the survey herself, she said that she felt strongly that A large, moisture-rich storm store was open. The employees the request would have system blew through Howard in the store didn’t watch it hap- more weight with the force County and much of the Corn- pen, but they heard it.” of the county behind it. husker State over the weekend, The easterly gusts, which the “That’s why I’m and while it brought with it some National Weather Service said appealing to the board, much needed precipitation, the topped out above sixty miles an in the hopes that you will system also caused some dam- hour on Sunday morning in cen- pass a resolution com- age, with one local business tral Nebraska, rolled the tin up mitting to contacting the being the hardest hit. about halfway on the east side Army Corps of Engineers On Sunday morning, at about of the structure, exposing the to see that this emergency 9:15 a.m., strong winds damaged sheeting beneath. With the storm survey gets done.” the tin roof at Bomgaars’ St. system still impacting the area at The survey, she added, Paul store on Second Street, with the time of the event, Glinsmann if it determined that St. the wind rolling the east side of said that her team, with some Paul’s infrastructure was the roof up on the building like a additional help, worked to pro- at risk, could potentially pencil shaving. tect the merchandise inside of free up funding that would While the store was open the store from any water dam- not be available otherwise. for business at the time of the age. From estimates, she said, damage, store manager Melissa “There was not any damage stabilizing the bank along Glinsmann said that no one was inside the store,” Glinsmann her property alone could hurt. said. “There was water coming cost upwards of $500,000. “The wind was blowing, it in after the roof went off, but we Board Chairman Kathy caught the edge of the roof, and got all the products moved that Hirschman said she had it just rolled it right back,” Glins- we could and put plastic over the tried to contact Brad mann said during an interview rest of it.” ROADS AND FIELDS across Howard County were Thompson, chief of plan- on Monday morning, a day after (Continued on Page 7) flooded on Sunday after a large storm system impacted ning for the the damage had occurred. “The the area. (Courtney Bierbaum) (Continued on Page 7) SPPS Board Discusses Building Project at Special Mtg. The St. Paul Board of project to include renova- as the addition of a per- BVH saying that whether ally have such spaces be a things that we can start Education continues to tions to the district’s shop forming arts component, those items make it into part of the school’s campus work through the initial and Career and Technical entered the conversation, the current project on the was good to know. (Continued on Page 8) phases of a process that Education spaces, as well with project leaders from table, the desire to eventu- “These are kind of members of the district’s leadership hope ends with the passage of a bond issue and completion of a con- struction project on the school’s Howard Avenue campus. Yet, after more than eighteen months of work on the project, the board continues to grapple with exactly what they are eying as the final scope of the plan. Last Monday night, during an almost two-hour special meeting, members ST. PAUL SENIOR of the board met with the Paige Lukasiewicz lights project’s managers from a candle representing one BVH Architecture in of the four pillars of the hopes of narrowing down National Honor Society what exactly their expec- during the organization’s tations were for the future. annual induction ceremony Yet, after multiple rounds held on Monday night at of discussion, it was clear St. Paul High School. Read that the exact breadth of more about the event on the proposed project still page ten of this week’s remains uncertain. newspaper. (Michael In fact, during last Happ) week’s discussion, the pos- sibility of expanding the Page 2 Wednesday, March 17, 2021 The Phonograph-Herald • St. Paul, NE The Phonograph-Herald Wednesday, March 17, 2021 • Volume 147 • Issue 11 406 Howard Ave. • P.O. Box 27 • St. Paul, NE 68873 Phone 308-754-4401 • Fax 308-754-4498 USPS 430-720 • [email protected] www.phonographherald.com Published every Wednesday by Michael Happ. Periodical postage paid at St. Paul, NE 68873 Official newspaper for Howard County, City of St. Paul, Villages of Boelus, Cotesfield, Cushing, Dannebrog, Elba, Farwell and Wolbach. Publisher reserves the right to reject or cancel any advertisement any time. Member of the Nebraska Press Association and National Press Association Subscription Rates: $33 per year for people in Howard, Sherman, Merrick, Greeley, Valley, Nance, Hall, and Buffalo Coun- ties in Nebraska; $39 per year for people in the rest of Nebraska Bahensky Donates to American Legion $44 per year for people living outside Nebraska $1.00 for a single copy; $3 for single copy mailed Staff: ST. PAUL resident Marion Bahensky presented members of Carl Mogensen American Legion Post Michael Happ - Publisher 119 with a $10,000 check to assist in the post’s ongoing construction project on Thursday. Courtney Bierbaum - Managing Editor/Photographer Michael Rother - Assistant Editor/Reporter Advertising Deadline: 5 p.m. Monday Letters to the Editor must be signed and Mask Use Debated, Again, by SPPS Board limited to 300 words or less. Twelve months after was no reason kids should students were significantly son, as we have done since Postmaster: Change of Address, send PS 3579 to: educators across the state have had to wear them this behind.” December.” P.O. Box 27, St. Paul, NE 68873-0027 and country were faced long, Poppert pointed out At the core of the After some discussion, with one of the biggest that his remarks were only administration’s concerns board member Phil Thede hurdles they have been his recommendation. regarding mask use were commented that, at this confronted with, district “You guys make that the quarantine require- point, there was no reason leaders at St. Paul Public decision. I don’t make that ments still in place. Those to even be having the dis- Schools continue to grap- decision,” the superinten- requirements mean that cussion. Happ-enings ple with how to handle dent said. if one stu- “It is really a moot point their response to the novel During the dent comes anyway,” Thede said.