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

During reports, Greene County Attorney Thomas Laehn gave an update. He said the new community service programs had its first two juveniles complete their sentences and the program now has its first adult that was sentenced to 100 hours of community service. Laehn added that NationalGrid Renewables has applied for a conditional use permit to build its solar panel farm near Grand Junction and he said they were compliant with the county’s new ordinance.

Greene County Emergency Management Coordinator Doug Hawn gave an update on the E-911 communication tower. He said an environmental study is being done with GSS to determine if the site for a new communication tower at Seven Hills Park will meet the requirements before site work can be done. He mentioned touring a tower in Templeton that the state owns and one near Perry that is owned by Dallas County. Hawn pointed out they want to store some of their equipment at the Dallas County tower and Dallas County would like to use Greene County’s new recording system as their backup. Hawn talked about developing a 28E agreement between the two entities. 

The Supervisors then appointed Supervisor Pete Bardole as the alternate on the Region V Hazardous Materials Response and Hawn is the primary designee. The Board also approved the retirement resolution for Jean Tuhn with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, Hawn was also appointed as the authorized signer for documents with GSS agreement for services for the communications tower. 

The Board also continued discussions about the Greene County Courthouse renovations. Bardole said the estimate from BBS Architects was $2.8 million to install an HVAC system, as well as updating the restrooms and lighting. The Supervisors currently have $1.7 million they have designated toward the project from the federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, and an additional $100,000 from the Local Assistance Tribal Consistency Fund. The Board will talk more in depth about the project this summer with a BBS representative. 

The Board then held a public hearing and approved the maximum property tax levies for the 2024 fiscal year, including a 6.04-percent increase in rural services and 2.25-percent increase in general services. They set a public hearing for March 27th at 9am for the 2024 fiscal year budget. The Board also held a public hearing to sell two properties and following the hearing, those were sold to the city of Paton at 520 South Park Street for two parcels for a total of $600 and 305 South Georgia Street in Jefferson to Joe and Janet Cummings for $500. 

Finally, the Board approved the canvass of votes from last week’s Paton-Churdan School District special election on the revenue purpose statement for the Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) funds. No change was made following the canvass of 41 “yes” votes to three “no” votes.