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

During open forum, a discussion was held about hiring a new part-time county veterans affairs director. County Auditor Billie Jo Hoskins mentioned that five applications were received and that the Veterans Affairs Commission was going to hold interviews and either recommend hiring someone or go another direction.

County Zoning Administrator Chuck Wenthold said that Summit Carbon Solutions submitted its petition to the Iowa Utilities Commission to schedule hearings for the 14 expanded routes for its second phase of the underground liquid carbon dioxide pipeline project. He also talked about some proposed regulations associated with those kinds of projects from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) with the US Department of Transportation.

County Attorney Thomas Laehn talked about an Iowa Appellate Court decision about open meetings law. He shared that an incident occurred in Cedar Rapids where an employee requested to go into a closed session for an annual evaluation. Laehn noted that what Cedar Rapids did not do correctly was to hold the evaluation in an open meeting if it was determined that the evaluation was not going to cause injury to the employee’s reputation. 

Then, the Board held a public hearing on the plans and specifications, form of contract and cost estimate for the county jail project. Hoskins said the estimated total cost of the project, as prepared by ISG Incorporated, was $9.6 million. The bid opening date is slated for this Wednesday at 2pm, with a recommendation coming from ISG at a future meeting. The Board also approved the County Recorder’s quarterly report of fees and reviewed the fiscal year 2025 budget amendment. 

Hoskins reported the adjustments to the revenues included $14 million for the county road projects through tax increment financing and $400,000 transfer from the American Rescue Plan Act to the County Auditor’s Office to cover expenditures related to the HVAC project for the Greene County Courthouse. As for the expenses, there were some salary adjustments in the county attorney and sheriff’s office, as well as purchasing new vehicles for the sheriff’s office, additional funds needed for Shelter Care, the emergency communications tower project and flow through money for the tax increment financing county road projects. The total for revenues were $14,400,000 and the expenses were $15,435,234.