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

During open forum, Jefferson Matters: A Main Street and Chamber Community Events Team Chair Philip Heisterkamp thanked the Supervisors for their financial support into another successful Bell Tower Festival. He mentioned that this was one of the best festivals in recent history, where this past Saturday evening, they sold more alcoholic beverages at the Brew Station than they did all of last year’s festival combined.

The Board then heard an update from Jefferson City Administrator Mike Palmer. He said there needs to be additional soil testing at the animal shelter site. The City Council previously approved up to 20 feet, and now estimates are needed as far down as 50 feet, which the Council will need to consider approving the $6,000 expense. He talked about another building improvements with the former AirTemp downtown building, purchasing a building to be torn down at 307 North Wilson Avenue, the front entryway project at City Hall and replacing the Russell Street water main by the wastewater treatment plant.

Next, the Board approved a memorandum of understanding for transferring client files to the Central Iowa Community Services mental health region. This was to recognize that CICS has control of the confidential client files and will maintain those records. 

Additionally, the Board held a discussion with Motorola and Unplugged Wireless about building a radio tower in the county. Currently, county entities such as law enforcement, EMS and others are using the Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications Systems Board (ISICS) to communicate with the local entities and also with other county and state agencies. However, the in-vehicle radios work well with ISICS, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and Greene County Ambulance are having to switch to the older communication system when they leave their vehicles and enter other buildings. 

The county does not have a communication tower that is specifically designed for ISICS and the cost estimate to install one is $2.8 million, including the tower, a shelter at the site, and moving dispatch to the administrative law enforcement center. There is also an 18-24 month wait on a tower. The Board took no action following the discussion.

Finally, the Board conducted the canvas of votes from this past Tuesday’s primary election, which also included the administrative recount from the county auditor’s request. No changes were made to the finalized results.