The Greene County Board of Supervisors met Monday in regular session.

During open forum, County Attorney Thomas Laehn mentioned presenting a finalized Bell Tower music policy to the Board by next week, with consideration for approval by the end of this month. 

The Board then held a discussion about property assessments with County Assessor Adam Smith. The Board asked Smith about property assessments being reduced in certain areas of the City of Jefferson and Smith said some of the assessments take into consideration how nice the neighborhood is compared to a nicer home, along with staying within five-percent of the market value of a home. Smith said new construction also would increase someone’s assessment. Smith mentioned that ag land had the highest increase, but those areas he wanted to increase more because he thought those were under-assessed, however, the state of Iowa sets ag assessments. 

The Board then heard an update from Jefferson City Administrator Mike Palmer. He talked about selling four properties, including the former Pizza Ranch building and the former Angie’s Tea Garden. He mentioned starting the process of the West Lincoln Way corridor improvements, with initial meetings with stakeholders and city staff. Palmer and Greene County Engineer Wade Weiss talked about cost sharing to upgrade the downtown speaker system in order to remote access the equipment. Preliminary cost estimate is $20,000. The Board agreed to pursue the project.

The Board also heard a Bell Tower Festival update with Chair Philip Heisterkamp. The Board agreed to allowing the open concept idea for alcoholic beverages within the barricaded area of the downtown square, having the music stage on the south side of the courthouse and allowing a special reunion event on the northwest corner of the courthouse grounds. 

The Board then approved to extend the COVID-19 paid sick leave for county employees to June 30th, for those employees who haven’t used up their allotted time from last March. The Board also approved hiring Amanda Clouse as a full time dispatcher effective April 24th and Brett Kersey as a part time ambulance driver. Additionally, the Board approved the 2022 fiscal year budget for the Iowa Department of Transportation Secondary Road budget and the five-year construction plan as presented.

Finally, the Board tabled its decision for the funding agreement with Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation grant for the ambulance department. During the discussion, it was unclear that if the ambulance department received a Region XII Council of Governments grant that they would give back the Grow Greene County grant to purchase a new ambulance.