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

During open forum, bicycle enthusiast Jamie Daubendiek talked about how impressive the Bike Ride to Rippey (BRR) that was held this past Saturday. He also mentioned that some cyclists from Des Moines, unsolicited, said to him that they used to ride the Raccoon River Valley Trail up to Jefferson but will not now because of the rough shape portions of the trail are. The Supervisors thought that fundraising was still happening for the project between Greene and Guthrie Counties in hopes of repaving that stretch of the trail.

Greene County Development Corporation Director Greg Piklapp also addressed the Board with an update, as per Supervisor Peter Bardole’s request. Piklapp said, pending a board vote, he expects to know the final decision about the possibility of Worthington Steel looking to acquire Kloeckner and Company, which purchased the property that was formerly owned by Bauer Built Manufacturing. Piklapp noted that if the acquisition goes through, Worthington Steel would be the second largest fabricating metals company in North America. 

County Attorney Thomas Laehn mentioned receiving a notice from the Environmental Protection Agency about a settlement with Electrolux, which closed in 2011. He noted that Electrolux has a property in Jefferson that was demolished, but certain chemicals may still be present, which the EPA wants Electrolux to handle the mitigation. Jefferson City Administrator Scott Peterson noted that there are no wells in the area and there is no immediate concern for those chemicals to contaminate the groundwater. 

County Engineer Wade Weiss then presented a plaque from the Iowa Concrete Paving Association as the state’s Best County Road Project, so the re-paving of County Roads P-46, E-26 and E-18. 

Peterson then gave a more detailed update. He said the airport fuel farm project, to add jet fuel, will start this spring and needs to be completed by mid-June, as per the grant stipulations. He also talked about an asphalt overlay project for McKinley Street that is happening this summer and the Westwood Drive sidewalk project will be bid soon. He mentioned that a grant application with Region XII Council of Governments for the sidewalk project from West Central Avenue to the Greene County High School was submitted and that there will be a re-design and construction done this summer for the alleyway north of Doc’s Stadium in the downtown area.

Next, the Board heard the 2027 fiscal year budget request from the County Attorney’s Office. Laehn highlighted requesting a budget for four attorneys in his office through December 31st, but then scale back to three attorneys because he was not seeking re-election this November for another term. 

Sheriff Jack Williams presented his 2027 fiscal year budget to the Board. He talked about one main change for expenses was reducing the inmate meals from three hot meals to one hot and two cold meals. He said the meals come from Greene County Medical Center, but that shifting to one hot meal would save the county about $90,000 annually and he would use $35,000 to purchase needed equipment for the jail staff to store and prepare the two cold meals. The Board will consider both proposals before they approve the final budget.

The Board then approved a quote of over $69,500 to Heartland Business Systems to replace the county’s server and a resolution to extend the 28E agreement with the city of Jefferson for recycling to March 31st to continue negotiations for an annual agreement. They also approved a resolution to solicit a proposal for a memorial honoring the Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey during the Civil War. This was a needed step via the county’s public art policy. It was also mentioned to meet with the committee to make sure both entities were on the same page as far as stipulations when making a proposal. 

The Board also approved a resolution to transfer $4,036 to Optimized Systems and $8,053 to BBS Architects from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for the Greene County Courthouse HVAC project. The Supervisors approved several change orders with the HVAC project for a total of over $67,000, which included a $400 credit back to the county. They also approved nine documents that were standard procedural steps for the grant with the Paton-Churdan Early Learning Center new building project. 10

Then, acting as the Drainage District Board of Trustees, they approved $5,600 for engineering services with AgriVia for work on the DD 20 improvement project and $850 for the company to handle Drainage District Clerk responsibilities in January. Finally, the Supervisors ended the meeting in closed session for the courthouse custodian employee evaluation.