Last fall Seward County Roads Department Superintendent Jon Regnier sent out about 380 letters informing property owners of their obligation to mow their rights of way twice a year and asking them to also remove hedges or trees from those areas.
About one-fourth of the property owners responded.
On Sept. 8 Regnier and Assistant Roads Superintendent Trever Trebilcock discussed with the Seward County Board of Commissioners ways to get more property owners to comply with the state law.
Nebraska Statutes 39-1811 through 39-1813 require landowners to mow or remove trees, hedges or other undergrowth bordering public roads to avoid obstructing vision at or near roads and railroad crossings. The ROWs are to be maintained once before July 15 and a second time in August.
Rights of way include the land between the middle of the road and a 33-foot point on the property owner’s land. Taking away the portion that is the actual road, that usually leaves around 15 feet of ditch to be maintained.
Tall weeds, hedges and trees in the rights of way can impair motorists’ vision and cause other problems along rural roads.
Statute 39-1812 requires property owners to remove fences, trees or undergrowth that “become a public nuisance to travel on the roads, or obstruct the view at or near railroad crossings, crossroads or abrupt turns in the road.” Hedges should be trimmed at least once per year to a height of four feet or less, while trees are allowed up to eight feet tall with trimmings to be burned or removed from the right of way within 10 days of cutting.
The commissioners review a draft list of fees and fines that could be charged to those property owners who do not comply with the law.
If the county has to hire a contractor to clean up the rights of way, Regnier said the county could charge the property owner for those services at a rate of $250 per hour plus possible dump fees, as well as a fine, which did not generate discussion.
But before the fee and fine system will work, the property owners have to open their mail. Last year’s notices were sent by certified mail, for which the county pays additional postage to require the recipient to sign for the letter and for the Postal Service to confirm delivery to the county.
Trebilcock said not everyone picked up their certified letter.
“This is not the first time we have talked about this,” Board Chair Misty Ahmic said.
She said they needed to decide two things – what the county is telling the landowners and what process the county will follow to deal with these properties.
“Where is the follow up and how are you holding those property owners accountable?” she asked.
But Commissioner Scott Pekarek said there are areas of his district where the right of way is not easily mowed because of steep slopes down to the ditches.
He also said some residents do not see clearing the trees from the rights of way as their responsibility.
“There are people who are going to sue the county over this because it is not their responsibility,” Pekarek said.
Properties owned by trusts or out-of-state owners also present challenges in the county’s efforts to contact them, he said.
“I am not giving them a bye for not knowing what is going on. It is not that I do not want trees removed from the right of way. I really do,” he said.
Ahmic asked the Roads Department to work with the county attorney’s office to determine the process they will follow for contacting owners, then bring the plan back to the commissioners.
Ahmic asked the department to work with the Legal Department to draft a policy and procedural document to govern the ROW removal letters and notifications that can be brought back before the commissioners.
In other business on Sept. 8, the commissioners briefly discussed the work done to finalize the county’s 2026-2027 budget, for which a public hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Sept. 22.
