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

During open forum, Supervisor Chair John Muir gave an update on the North Raccoon River Watershed Management Coalition meeting from last week. He said part of the meeting was a vote about setting levels of nitrogen on fields so that the coalition would be eligible for Environmental Protection Agency funds. Muir said he voted against the measure due to his concern that if farmers are allowed to have certain levels of nitrogen on crop fields, it would be devastating to the industry. Muir added, the measure did pass.

The Board then held an annexation and classification hearing for drainage district 14. Engineering firm Bolton and Menk led the hearing and said 100 acres were being considered for annexation, which was approved by the Board. During the classification portion of the hearing, Bolton and Menk talked about the four factors when classifying the degree a landowner receives benefit from the district drainage tile. The factors include soil wetness, how much the landowner is using the district tile and their proximity to it, and the amount of runoff from the tile. The assessed value was $400,000, which covered the cost of the project of $390,000. The Board approved the classification schedule as presented.

A completion hearing was then held for drainage district 191. Once again Bolton and Menk representatives led the hearing. The project of establishing the district tile between Jefferson and Scranton was completed in June. There was crop damage reported by three landowners associated with the project that totaled $9,828, which the Board approved as presented.

John Torbert with the Iowa Drainage District Association then gave an update. He talked about working with Senator Charles Grassley’s office about the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation refusing to pay its special assessments when their property is connected to various district drainage tiles. He also spoke about Iowa legislation on publication requirements and the threshold for doing an engineering study, which passed the House but not the Senate this year.

Finally, the Board heard a mid-year review of its insurance plans with Group Benefit Partners. The County’s stop-loss expected claims are currently at 73-percent of what its carrier, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield are expecting this year. The County also has $700,000 in its reserves, compared to less than $200,000 in 2019.