The Greene County Board of Supervisors met Thursday.

During open forum, the Board discussed its informal financial commitment to the new building project for the Greene County Early Learning Center. Supervisor Dawn Rudolph reminded the Board that she wanted to keep their own projects at the top of their list. Supervisor Pete Bardole said they still need to participate, but find an appropriate level to do so. Supervisor John Muir asked, in five years what will the building look like because the current facility won’t allow for expansion? County Attorney Thomas Laehn told the Board he felt that the move to commit tax increment financing (TIF) funds to the project is within state law for economic development. Earlier this week, the Board informally agreed to financially support the new building project. Following the discussion, no formal action was taken by the Board.

Also during open forum, County Conservation Director Dan Towers asked about using local option sales and services tax (LOSST) funds for the 15-percent match for the bridge project on the Raccoon River Valley Trail. He thought there could be a combination of LOSST and general fund money to be used as the match with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant to repair the bridge that collapsed last year due to ice jams. A formal decision will be made at a future meeting.

Greene County Sheriff Jack Williams told the Board he is working with Greene County Ambulance Director Michele Madsen on a Region XII Council of Governments FEMA grant. They would need to provide a five-percent match to purchase a new ambulance. The Supervisors agreed to apply for the grant.

The Board then approved a resolution of support for a Surface Transportation Block Grant application for an overlay project on County Road E-57. County Engineer Wade Weiss said the grant would fund 80-percent of the estimated $2.55 million project to overlay 4 ½ miles of the county road west to Highway 4. The remaining cost would be paid through the farm-to-market program. 

Next the Board discussed the county budget. The main discussion was about possibly creating a county human resources position. It was mentioned that the County could share the position with the Greene County School District. No action was taken by the Board.

The Board then held a bid opening to install a new drainage tile for drainage district 191. Bolton and Menk opened the three submitted bids and the low bidder was Healy Excavating from Lake View for $261,808. The engineer’s estimated cost was $290,000. Bolton and Menk will finalize the bids and will recommend approval next week. 

Finally, a public hearing was held for a project in drainage district 187. Bolton and Menk recommended either repairing an open ditch to its original specifications for $226,000 or improve the tile to better handle the surface water for $303,000. Due to no landowners being present, the Board decided to continue the public hearing to February 20th.