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

County Attorney Thomas Laehn told the Board that the county is expected to receive additional funds from a new round of opioid settlement money from a lawsuit with additional pharmaceutical companies. He stated that of the money that has already been allocated to the counties from the previous opioid settlement that only 11.5 percent of spent their funding, Greene County was one of them. He also reminded the Board that the local grant applications for opioid funding are due this coming Monday.

Jefferson City Administrator Scott Peterson then gave an update. He said the developers for McDonald’s have applied for a building permit, which has not yet been issued, but that they indicated that construction could start as early as next month. He noted that after a long litigation process with the Iowa court system, KCG Companies has updated its building permit to build rental units near Ace Hardware. Peterson also said that the new restroom in Daubendiek Park is slated to be operational this spring.

The Board then held a discussion with Red Lion Renewables and owner Terry Dvorak. He mentioned that there were about a dozen sites identified that would save the county an estimated $19,000 of electricity annually, which would equate to over $2 million with a rate increase of two to 2.5 percent. Some of the locations included the new county jail and the law enforcement center administrative building, the main shop area for the Secondary Roads Department and campgrounds at Spring Lake Park. The Board agreed to consider the 20 year power purchase agreement within the next two weeks.

The Board also agreed to move forward to change the Human Resources contract with Hopkins and Huebner to Hinders, Updegraff and Franklin. Brent Hinders told the Supervisors that Hopkins and Huebner no longer offered human resource services. The Board indicated that the new firm is already working on some documents for the county and so they should continue with them for a new agreement.

Next, the Board gave its support for a Leslyee’s Library in the Clerk of Court Office. Court Reporter Jessica Savits said it is a children’s library that was started in the memory of her beloved friend and colleague who passed away in 2024. She pointed out that the non-profit organization would supply a bookcase with age appropriate books for children to use when they come to the Clerk of Court Office with their parents, for typically negative reasons as a way to comfort the kids. 

The Board then approved the 2025 wage publication report of county employees wages for the 2025 calendar year, the 2027 fiscal year agreement with the Boone/Greene County Probation Services of $44,267 and a contract with Reliance Systems for telephone and video conferencing for the new county jail. They also approved two resolutions to transfer funds of $19,549 from E-911 to debt service as the final payment for the new communication tower and from debt service to the general basic fund of $18,758 as a reimbursement from completing the purchase of the former Midland Power Cooperative building that is the law enforcement center administrative building.