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

The Supervisors heard an update from economic development director Ken Paxton.  He said that when he checked with the Iowa Department of Transportation, they told him the Home Base Iowa signs themselves would be about $45 each and he would like to have at least two signs for each City in the County posted at each entrance.  The signs would be three-foot by three-foot metal signs with “Home Base Iowa” on them.  He added that the signs would be made by the DOT.

County Engineer Wade Weiss told the Board that more information would be needed before the project could begin.  He suggested to post the signs along state highways, that way the DOT could install them either for free or for a minimum fee.  He figured that there would need to be about 20 signs total for the whole county and that it would cost about $4,000 with the proper posts and frames attached.  The Supervisors did not take action on the issue.

The Board also approved with Carroll County to set its assessment rate at 65% for drainage district 9-13 to make up the difference on bills for Carroll County.  The Board also approved a 6% waiver rate if a landowner chooses not to pay their portion of the assessment if it is over $500.

There was also discussion about the Scranton Public Library.  Supervisor Dawn Rudolph reported that the City of Scranton pays for insurance and benefits to all employees and contributes $9,300 in Local Option Sales and Services Tax to the library.  The County contributes $10,000 every year.  Currently, all employees are getting paid for 70 hours every other week and it is suppose to be 50 hours.  The Board suggested that Rudolph follow up with them and see if they could manage their finances better instead of overspending.

During the open forum, Jay Ostrander presented initial information to the Board about his potential hog confinement expansion project.  He told the Board that he wanted to expand his current facility because his son wants to take over the family farm and they have land on their farm where it is currently doing nothing.  Auditor Jane Heun said they will review the Master Matrix with County Zoning and Sanitation Tim Healy on April 14th and on April 21st, they will hold a formal public hearing about it.  No action was taken on the topic.

Finally, Rudolph reported to the Board about her Midamerican Energy meeting last week.  She said that Scranton’s wind farm project is slated to start next year with 54 wind mills to be built in the City and there will be about 175 construction people working on the project.  However, preliminary studies needed to be re-certified due to them expiring by Volkswind.