The Greene County Board of Supervisors met Monday in regular session.
During open forum, two residents spoke. The first one was Bryan Helmus and he requested the Supervisors to use whatever leverage they had to make Greene County Development Corporation (GCDC) hold their meetings in public. He said by GCDC having their meetings in private, it shows public distrust and he thought that GCDC has made some bad decisions because of this.
Another resident, Dennis Hall agreed with Helmus’ remarks. He said if GCDC is using taxpayer money, they should have their meetings held in public. He pointed out that having businesses locating to Greene County are kept private that doesn’t look good in the public eye. Supervisor Dan Benitz commented saying that while community development is important communication has been missed. He thought the comment about using taxpayer money was a good point. Supervisor Pete Bardole said some of the details of keeping businesses moving to the community that go public can result in negative impacts as well.
The Board then heard representatives from New Opportunities talk about the alcohol and drug workplace training programs for county employees, as well as other services that they provide. No action was taken by the Board following the presentation. The Board then approved hiring Stacy Myers as a full time jailer for the sheriff’s office with a salary of $48,000 to be effective March 8th. Sheriff Jack Williams said Myers was a jailer last year and decided to come back. He added there is one full time jailer position left available.
The Board set April 1st at 8:30am as the public hearing date for the proposed property tax levy. County Auditor Billie Jo Hoskins noted that this was supposed to be the only item on a meeting agenda. So the Board could hold the public hearing and make a decision, before closing that meeting and then immediately holding their regular meeting.
Next, the Board approved the rezoning recommendation from the planning and zoning commission to change a parcel in Section 36 of Dawson Township from agricultural to commercial for Thomas Scheffers. County Environmental and Zoning Official Chuck Wenthold said the portion of Scheffers property was assessed as commercial, due to having his own truck washing company for himself but now he wants to expand to wash other trucks. The Board also approved a waiver for the separation of distance, due to a requirement from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources having a 100-foot distance from the business to the road, which is only 40-feet.
The meeting ended in a budget workshop.