(KLZA)--Richardson County residents are invited to a community discussion by the Richardson County Highway Department regarding the contract dispute between the workers and the County on Thursday evening, December 11, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Prichard Auditorium in Falls City. 

Currently, a trial before the Court of Industrial Relations over the dispute is scheduled on January 8.

The Highway Department workers are represented by the Nebraska Association of Public Employees.  They are asking for citizens to reach out to the Richardson County Commissioners to reach a settlement prior to the hearing and stop what they call the spending of taxayer dollars on needless legal fees.  

According to a document on the Richardson County website,  between February 2022 and  May 2025, the county legal fees associated with five actions filed by the union or a union member has totaled more than $169,000,