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

The Board heard an update from the Greene County Development Corporation Interim Director Michelle Book. She went over how she was originally hired by GCDC to be the facilitator for Vision 2030 and through group discussion, establish a set of programs to achieve in the next five years. She explained some of those were countywide housing projects, family entertainment and utilizing the Career Academy more. 

However, Book noted that after the previous director stepped down, GCDC then named her as the interim director. She told the Board that GCDC was pausing her work with Vision 2030, as they are focusing their attention on deciding on a direction for the director’s role. She talked about the options that included doing a statewide or national-wide search, partnering with another development entity such as the Ames Regional Economic Alliance, or partnering with another local group. She pointed out that the GCDC membership is exploring the opportunity with the Ames Regional Economic Alliance. It was mentioned how much better the open communication and transparency has been with the Supervisors and GCDC as these changes move forward.

Then, the Board heard an update on the Paton-Churdan Early Learning Center. Board member Libby Towers said they are no longer looking to renovate the Methodist Church in Churdan, but rather having pod structures built west of the P-C School parking lot. She stated that due to the cost and viability of the church project, their board decided to move in this new direction. 

Towers noted that the initial plans for the new estimated $1.4 million project cost are completed. She said the City of Churdan is going to make a multi-year financial pledge and the P-C School was going to have an agreement in place with the PCELC to house their preschool. She mentioned that they have raised $55,000 in one month with more coming in. She said there are 51 kids currently enrolled and the new facility would give me a maximum space of 75. 

The Supervisors discussed different levels of financial support and agreed to look at possibly doing $180,000 over six years, provided that their Local Option Sales and Services Tax (LOSST) funds were available to do that. It was mentioned that the Board wanted to help since they also made a financial contribution to The Children’s Center in Jefferson. The Board is expected to act on that at next week’s meeting. 

Next, the Board approved an agreement with the Greene County Board of Health. This is to ensure that the county provides public health services on an annual basis. They also approved the salaries and wages for all county employees and elected officials for the 2026 fiscal year, as well as a resolution to appropriate 85 percent of funds for county departments and officials for the 2026 fiscal year. They also approved establishing a Deputy County Auditor and appointed Tori Gettler to that position. She will make 72 percent of the County Auditor’s salary for a total of $60,515.