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

During the open forum, Bob Ausberger updated the Board about a watershed project that he spoke about last week.  He reported that he spoke with a representative with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources about applying for a grant through the federal government to establish part of the county as a watershed to help improve the water quality in the Hardin Creek and the Raccoon River.  He wants Hardin Creek to be a Hydrologic Unit Code for the 11,000-acre area.  The Supervisors agreed to send a representative to the next National Resource Convention in December to further discuss the project and get extra support for the next round of applications.

The Board approved the purchase of a new Chevrolet Tahoe for the Sheriff’s office and the Sheriff’s quarterly report of fees of $39,282.90 for the months of July through September were also approved.

The Board also approved a Class C beer permit for a new business in Paton called the Paton Pit Stop along with a $5,416 grant for emergency medical services personnel for the county to help offset some of the cost of training.

The Supervisors discussed its health insurance renewals with Sandy Scheuermann.  She reported that the first nine months of 2014, the county had $445,169 in claims and that she projected them to finish the year with $600,000 in claims.  The Supervisors also discussed the possibility of letting county employees have the choice to use a debit card for their medical flex spending accounts.  Scheuermann said if the county stays with their current carrier with Wellmark, then they would have a 2% fixed cost increase in their premiums for 2015.  The Supervisors did not take action on the topic.