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

During reports, Sheriff Jack Williams was going to apply for a Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation grant to replace all of their body and in-vehicle cameras. He said the total was $76,000 and County Auditor Billie Jo Hoskins mentioned that they could use funding from the Local Option Sales and Services Tax to help provide a match. The Board agreed to provide a letter of support.

The Board then heard an update from Jefferson City Administrator Scott Peterson. He said they have filled all open positions, with exception to hiring a Water Superintendent, who must be a grade III operator. He detailed that the City is planning to continue to use PeopleService as a consultant and compliance for the Department of Natural Resources requirements. Peterson also mentioned about the top priority from the goal setting and strategy session was about employee retention and recruitment and the top capital improvement project is to upgrade the aging infrastructure.

The Board then heard from Greene County Public Health for its 2027 fiscal year funding request. Director Shelby Cooklin asked for the same amount as the current budget of $300,000. The Board took no action following the request and will consider it during the budgetary time frame. They also heard from Family Heritage Insurance for the non-payroll supplemental insurance. The company deals directly with the employee and does not need to work with the County and the employee can choose additional services such as cancer coverage. The Board agreed to allow the representative to set up informational meetings with employees of different departments.

Next, following a discussion with Greene County Veteran Service Administrator Billie-Jo Daves and Jeff Lamoureux, who serve on the Veterans Commission, the Board agreed that the commission should increase its membership from three to five people. Lamoureux outlined that having more people would allow for flexibility to have a quorum, broader range of military service eras and ages, and share more of the workload. 

The Board also approved a Louis Dreyfus funding request for $2,500 for the Grand Junction Municipal Pool project. Hoskins noted that the request was made two years ago to replace the pool filters, but a requirement to receive the funding as a reimbursement was to report to the Board and show proof the project was done. Hoskins said the applicant re-applied and the Board approved the request. 

Then, the Board had a motion that failed to obtain a second for a resolution to purchase $1.5 million for the general obligation bond to the general fund for the HVAC project for the Greene County Courthouse. Heidi Kuhl with Northland Securities, presented the two local interest rates, with United Bank of Iowa in Churdan having the lowest percentage. The Board voiced concerns if they had done their due diligence and if they needed to borrow less and pay with more cash on the project, as the general fund will be reimbursed with the county’s cash surplus. The next steps were for the Board to determine what amount they wanted to borrow, which will be done in two weeks before proceeding. 

The Board did approve a resolution to distribute the preliminary official statement for the Urban Renewal general obligation bond for the second phase of the county road projects. This will allow for investors to bid on the $10 estimated bond, which will be reimbursed through tax increment financing. 

The Board then approved to terminate the 28E agreement with the city of Jefferson for recycling. County Attorney Thomas Laehn didn’t think an agreement had been filed by the city with the Secretary of State’s Office, making the agreement effectively not a legal, binding document. He also stated that the agreement outlined that the city would provide the county with financial estimates for the upcoming year on January 1st, which was not done. Laehn noted that the County needed to terminate the agreement by January 13th by certified mail in order to not be locked into the rate for 2026. 

Peterson voiced his disappointment that there was no discussion before the termination was being pursued. He said there could have been a phone call to avoid this situation and was hoping to have a positive partnership with the county. The Board will have until February 13th to either make a new 28E agreement with the city or find another recycling agent to work with. 

The Board then approved the Baker Group as a municipal services advisor. Supervisor Chair Dawn Rudolph said they felt they needed a company to help them make a five year capital improvement plan to better handle when projects needed to happen with a good financial plan. Finally, the Board acted as the Drainage District Board of Trustees and approved $600 and $4,500 to AgriVia for Drainage District Clerk work in December and engineering services for DD20 project.