Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.UNION, Neb. — An effort to clean up several properties in this Cass County village has resulted in a court battle, a recall election and felony assault charges.
"It's crazy," said David Chipman, a member of the village board. "I just can't imagine that all of this could happen over an attempt to make this town more attractive for the people who live here and for potential business opportunities."
The controversy is between 69-year-old Bill Bescheinen, who owns an earth-moving business and several buildings in the town of 260 residents, and the village board, which wants nine of those properties cleaned up.
It also involves his son, Steve Bescheinen, 28, who allegedly attacked Chipman in a local tavern and is charged in Cass County District Court with making terroristic threats, strangulation, third-degree assault and criminal mischief.
Village board member Dwain "Butch" Hardbarger Jr. said he has known Bill Bescheinen for 30 years.
"Bill is just mad because we're making him clean up his properties," Hardbarger said. "Well, we've been trying to get him to clean up his messes for 15 years, and he's just upset because this time we're sticking to it."
Bescheinen countered that he had an 11-year-old verbal agreement with the board to keep equipment he owns on the properties. He also said he has hauled away "66 tons of scrap metal" in an effort to correct the problems.
"My places aren't the Taj Mahal, but neither is the whole town," Bescheinen said. "I've hauled a lot of stuff out this summer, but they say we can't see that you've made any progress. If they don't want my business in town, I'll sell off my stuff and let someone else make a Taj Mahal out of this place."
Tensions began to heat up in April, when the board passed a resolution declaring nine of Bescheinen's properties to be public nuisances. The board's minutes cite the disrepair of the buildings, as well as the large amounts of trash, disabled machinery and wrecked vehicles stored at each one.
Bescheinen, who is chief of the town's volunteer fire department, said he feels picked on because there are other properties in town that "are not so pretty either."
Hardbarger said the board has to start somewhere, and Bescheinen has "by far" the biggest accumulation of junk.
One of Bescheinen's buildings is a former schoolhouse that is surrounded by numerous vehicles, an old water tower and hundreds of other objects. Chipman, Hardbarger and Melissa Hansen, the village clerk, all live near the schoolhouse.
Bescheinen said he spent $5,000 to build a 6-foot plank fence to conceal the heaps of junk. Hansen points out that the fence does not extend around the entire property and that the old schoolhouse yard is not zoned as a junkyard.
"To me, it's not junk," Bescheinen said. "Everything in there is of value because it can be recycled. I was recycling before anyone else around here."
In July, the board found no significant progress and voted 4-1 to file a civil lawsuit. The suit seeks to force Bescheinen to repair or demolish the buildings and clear away all items not relevant to his business.
Bescheinen is fighting the lawsuit and successfully circulated recall petitions for board members Chipman, Hardbarger and Paul Vidlak. Bescheinen needed 16 registered voters per board member to force the Nov. 15 recall vote.
Although Gaille Brown also voted for the resolution and the lawsuit, Bescheinen said his dispute is mostly with Chipman, an attorney who moved to the area about four years ago. Chipman's wife, Mindy, also is an attorney and is working without pay to represent the village in the lawsuit.
"Mr. Chipman is our own little Gadhafi," Bescheinen said. "He's the only one (on the board) who makes motions, and (Vidlak and Hardbarger) are just his puppets. (Chipman) seems to have a personal vendetta for me and my properties that has gone on long enough."
The fifth board member, Caleb Keene, voted against the lawsuit, saying Bescheinen should be given the chance to clean up one property at a time.
Resident hair salon operator Chris Keene is a former village board member whose family has lived in Union since the 1920s.
"I'm against the recall because the board we have is finally taking control, getting us out of debt and moving forward," she said. "Bill keeps buying little properties and filling them up with junk. I don't know what else the board could have done."
Contact the writer: 402-444-1272, kevin.cole@owh.com
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