Park Board member resigns citing conflicts of interest

At their weekly meeting Thursday the Hill County Commission announced the resignation of Hill County Park Board Member Nick Siebrasse’s whose letter to them indicated that he no longer felt comfortable being on the board as he felt he had conflicts of interest with regards to grazing on the park.

The board, and its grazing committee, have been the subject of considerable controversy over their handling of a recent request made by members of the Kallenberger family who say the committee and board were not following proper procedure when it comes to how they choose who has access to grazing land on the park.

Earlier this month the board, after receiving a recommendation to do so by the grazing committee, rejected a request by Ray and Debbie Kallenberger to be granted a portion of grazing land on the park used by them in years past.

The decision came after several months of conflict between the Kallenbergers and the board, with the former arguing that their treatment by the committee is the result of a “good ol’ boys club” attitude that ignores present conflicts of interests and keeps most from having a fair chance to use the park for grazing.

In previous meetings Debbie Kallenberger said that, after a cancer diagnosis in 2009, her family sold the cattle they had been grazing on the park and they requested then that the board’s grazing committee let them keep the lease but let someone else use it.

Kallenberger said the committee allowed this at the time, but after three years, when the couple still didn’t have cattle on the land, the allotment was terminated.

She said once they had built their herd back up in 2016 or 2017 they asked to be put on the waiting list for land, and when they called last year to see where they were on the list, she was told they were at the bottom.

A year ago, she said, they heard a family member of theirs was moving and would be letting his grazing lease go, and when they inquired about this land they were told to call the family member for permission to use it.

Kallenberger said that under board policy, when existing grazers sell, retire or die their family members may apply for grazing in that area no permission necessary, but when she inquired about an application she was told there wasn’t one and they only needed to get permission from the family member.

She said the parts of the allotment they were interested in were then divided up among area grazers without any consideration of them, or anyone else on the waiting list.

Kallenberger said the leaser of the land in question, upon leaving that area requested that part of it be given to specific family members, but not them, and the rest be returned to the park.

The Kallenbergers have argued that the handling of this issue was done in violation of board and committee policy, an accusation that was denied by the committee in their recommendation to the board, which stated that because the Kallenbergers were not immediate family members they are not eligible.

Policy has been a major point of contention within this conflict, with the Kallenbergers, as well as others including a few Hill County Park Board members, pointing out that they still do not have an application process in place, one that may have allowed the Kallenbergers to apply for use of the land in question.

At this month’s Park Board Meeting Hill County Commissioner Diane McLean and Siebrasse implored the rest of the board to get an application process set up as soon as possible and the later also raised concerns about the fact that so many members of the committee are grazers who use the park.

“We have some conflicts of interest,” Siebrasse said.

These apparent conflicts have been another consistent criticism leveled by the Kallenbergers and others who say that committee members cannot be making decisions and recommendations that have a direct financial impact on them.

These sentiments are reflected in Siebrasse’s resignation letter to the commission which McLean read at Thursday’s meeting.

His letter said recent events lead to a situation that is certain to repeat itself and he doesn’t want to be part of it.

Siebrasse’s letter said the matter with the Kallenbergers could have been avoided if the rules governing the allotment of grazing land had been followed and there is dissatisfaction with the park’s management of grazing.

The letter raised a number of concerns he has including how decisions about the sizes of various allotments are made and the makeup of the grazing committee which the Kallenbergers and their supporters have argued has too many people on it actively grazing the park, which they say is clearly a conflict of interest.

“The composition of the grazing committee needs to be addressed at the very least,” the letter says.

Siebrasse’s letter says he wants to make clear that his resignation is not an indictment of anyone on the board or committee, but he’s no longer comfortable making decisions that will affect the financial future of so many people he knows so well.

“I, like most of you, have been friends with all parties involved,” the letter says, “I also work with and alongside these folks. … I’m not at all comfortable sitting on the board to make decisions that could change their financial situations.”

Beyond that, the letter says his deep-rooted relationships with grazers on the park makes his continued presence on the board an issue.

“When conflicts of interest are involved in the decision making process I believe the person should recuse themselves from the process, this is how I came to the decision to resign,” Siebrasse’s letter says.

Courthouse HVAC designs

After accepting Siebrasse’s resignation the commissioners also voted unanimously to accept a professional design proposal sent to them laying out what is needed for replacement of the Hill County Courthouse’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system, a project the commission has been working on in past months.

McLean said the proposal submitted to them detail what is needed to create a better system for floors one, two and three of the courthouse, which the commission will use American Rescue Plan Act funds to build.

She said final designs should be finished by the end of October and the commission will be able to put the project out for bid in November and December.

Construction is still up in the air, she said, as contractor and material availability remains a concern, but it will hopefully begin sometime between Feb. 1 of 2023 and 2024.

McLean said the proposal they’ve received were drawn up on the assumption that the courthouse’s boiler and chiller have enough power to sufficiently heat and cool the building.