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

During reports, County Attorney Thomas Laehn told the Board that he was asked by Greene County Emergency Management Coordinator Doug Hawn to draft a 28E agreement with Dallas County about using one of their emergency communication towers. Laehn said once the county’s new tower is built, it will need to piggy-back from another tower to use the state system and Dallas County had agreed to allow equipment to be installed on a tower in Perry. He added that Dallas County would like Greene County to record their dispatch communications to serve as a digital backup. The Board agreed to move forward.

County Engineer Wade Weiss reported that the joint road project with Dallas County on County Road P-46 near Dawson had a low bid of $4.2 million, with Dallas County absorbing 75-80 percent of the cost for the project. He said Greene County’s portion will be crack sealing and overlaying with asphalt, while also making the road 28-feet wide. 

The Board then set April 15th at 8:45am for a public hearing on the consideration of amending the solar energy ordinance. They also approved DCI Group as the construction manager at-risk for the county jail project. The Board also approved the amended fiscal year 2024 Secondary Roads Department budget with the Iowa Department of Transportation with an overall $126,000 net increase, the 2025 fiscal year Secondary Roads budget and the five year construction program as presented. They also approved a road closure on 280th Street with the Snake Creek bridge replacement project that is currently underway.

Finally, there was a lengthy discussion regarding three topics for financing with Heidi Kuhl from Northland Securities. On the topic of the county jail, Supervisor Chair John Muir said the Board would like to see the groundbreaking happen this fall and so Kuhl recommended selling the entire $10 million bond and that debt issuance will take the county to 38 percent of its capacity. The HVAC project with the courthouse, Kuhl told the Board they could ask for $2.2 million as a ballot measure that would need 60 percent approval by voters, or try for the Local Option Sales and Services Tax (LOSST) revenue purpose statement vote again in November, after it failed this March. The Urban Renewal Area for tax increment financing (TIF) road projects would grow to $32 million if that account is not used. However, if funds are not used, TIF can be discontinued. No action was taken following the discussion.