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

The Board approved the insurance committee recommendation for the county’s health insurance plan for the 2019 calendar year. The Board unanimously voted to switch from its current self-insured provider with Cypress to Wellmark, and make Kingston Life and Health its new insurance carrier from MacDonald Insurance. The option the Board approved includes a $1,000/$2,000 deductible as per the union contract, a $1,500/$3,000 deductible and a plan with a health savings account. The reason for the change was due mostly to the network of provider coverage and the need to increase the county’s overall fund balance.

The Board also approved the second reading to create an ordinance for the division of revenues for a portion of the Greene County Beaver Creek Wind Farm Urban Renewal Area and the County Recorder’s report of fees for October of $19,350. Additionally, County Engineer Wade Weiss reported that the county’s union voted to decertify for next year. The Board agreed with Weiss to allow the current structure to remain in place until the end of the current fiscal year on June 30, 2019. A bargaining strategy meeting was then held with Renee Von Bokern to discuss the transition.

During open forum, Sheriff Jack Williams told the Board that he was going to propose altering the payment agreement in the 28E with the City of Jefferson to a 70-30 split at an entity board meeting. He was also going to propose having the City pay $60,000 for a dispatcher, since it was mentioned that the City’s police department is using all dispatch and secretarial staff for free, which he can no longer do to make it viable in his budget. The Board agreed that it was a fair assessment.