The Greene County Board of Supervisors met Monday in regular session.
During open forum, County Attorney Thomas Laehn addressed the Board. He said the courthouse security committee is working on implementation plans for the recommendations that were approved by the Board earlier this year for enhanced security measures of the courthouse.
He also talked about the need for a new county jail. Laehn said due the state prisons being overcrowded and the parole board releasing convicts much earlier than serving their full sentences, it’s forced him to change his tactics when prosecuting a case. He explained that he is requesting more people to serve jail time, because the individual is required to serve the full jail sentence and not be released early, like state prisons. However, the county jail has been at or over capacity and individuals can’t serve their time until a cell opens up. The Board took no action following the discussion.
County Engineer Wade Weiss then spoke during open forum. The Board decided on new banners that would be placed around the inside of the downtown square. Weiss then talked about an incident in Ames from this past weekend. As a couple of County Secondary Roads employees were picking up salt from their distributor in Ames, one of the distributor’s workers suffered a leg injury after being caught under a railroad car. The Greene County employees assisted the wounded individuals and helped prevent a death at the scene.
The Board then approved a beer permit for Paton Pit Stop and a wine permit for Deal’s Orchard. A public hearing was then held for authorization of a loan agreement and bond issuance for construction of the career academy for the Greene County School District. No public comments were made and so the Board approved the measure to establish issuing not to exceed $5.5 million in general obligation bonds for the project.
The Board moved into drainage for a couple of items. Engineering firm Bolton and Menk opened seven bids for an improvement project to replace an existing drainage tile in drainage district 14. The engineering cost estimate was $370,000 and the bids ranged from $479,000 to $310,000. The apparent low bidder was Midwest Mechanical and Industrial of Logan, Iowa with $310,905. Final preparations were needed before the Board can approve the bid at their next meeting.
Finally, the Board held a public hearing to create drainage district 191. The potentially new district would be located between Jefferson and Scranton. Following the public hearing, it was decided that a ballot would be sent out to all landowners in the proposed district. The landowners would vote to do one of three things. The first option is to do nothing. The next option is to install a main tile from the railroad tracks north of the Old Lincoln Highway through G Avenue and stop short of Falcon Avenue for a cost estimate of $330,000. The last option would be to have a new main tile from the railroad tracks and end at G Avenue for about $250,000. The other four separate branches that would be tied into the main, depending if the landowners want the entire main installed.
The Board also decided to continue the public hearing at 9:15am on Monday, November 25th, following a non-binding ballot vote by the landowners.