The Greene County Board of Supervisors met Monday in regular session.
During open forum, Supervisor Peter Bardole serves as the county’s representative on the Central Iowa Juvenile Committee. He reported that the committee is moving forward with a $7.19 million addition to the facility in Eldora to be able to house juveniles that have been waived to be tried in adult court. Those individuals are required to be kept separate from other juveniles.
County Conservation Director Dan Towers announced the bridge on the Raccoon River Valley Bike Trail that is south of Jefferson has been repaired and is open once again. He also announced that Tanner Scheuerman has been hired as the new county conservation director. Towers said he will continue to train and help Scheuerman through the rest of this month.
County Attorney Thomas Laehn also addressed the Board in open forum. He said that five major pharmaceutical companies have settled in an opioid lawsuit. The settlement was for $26 billion to be paid in eight years. The first two years, the state will receive $20-25 million, with about 15-percent being allocated to all 99 counties. Two of the pharmaceutical companies involved in the lawsuit are Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson. Greene County will receive a portion of those funds, even though they were never a party involved in the lawsuit.
Jefferson City Administrator Mike Palmer then gave a report. He said there will be an informational meeting regarding a project on West Lincoln Way held this Wednesday and on August 21st Jefferson residents can drop off hazardous waste. He reported that about 66-percent of the renovations of the former Pizza Ranch were complete as the new location for The Stitch. Finally, Palmer talked about the feasibility study for the library’s expansion, which will be done within one year.
Next, the Board approved the County Recorder’s report of fees for July of $19,618, and two funding requests for Region XII Council of Governments. The first request was for $50,000 to be split over the next two fiscal years from each of the six counties to leverage $1.5 million for revolving loan funds. The Board approved the request 4-1, with Supervisor Vice-Chair Dawn Rudolph abstaining. The second request was to increase the county’s contribution to the Housing Trust Fund to $10,000 annually. The Board approved that request 4-1, with Supervisor Tom Contner voting against the measure. Both requests are pending approval from the other counties.
The Board also held a discussion about a Mahanay Maestro nomination. The nominee was Abby LaPole, who is a minor. Following the discussion, the Board approved the lifetime nomination 4-1, with Supervisor Chair John Muir voting no. His reason was he wanted this to be a privilege and voiced a concern that with LaPole’s age, it might take away from that. However, the topic will be brought to the music committee to further review and possibly recommend amending the music policy for adults to accompany minor musicians.