The Greene County Board of Supervisors met Monday in regular session.
During open forum, county resident Nancy Hanaman addressed the Board about the countywide mask mandate expiring on March 31st. She encouraged the Board to continue the mandate through April so that more people have time to get the vaccine against COVID-19. Supervisor Pete Bardole said that even after the mandate sunsets on March 31st, they will continue to encourage people to wear a mask.
Grand Junction Mayor Gerald Herrick mentioned that people should use common sense when it comes to wearing a mask. He noted that about 80-percent of city residents don’t wear a mask until they go somewhere, including public areas.
County resident Tori Riley then addressed the Board during open forum about continuing the Supervisors meeting electronically. She said continuing the remote option would allow for improved communication with constituents to participate in their meetings, build better transparency and if the remote option ceases, she thought it would show the Board being regressive. No action was taken by the Board following Riley’s comments.
County Attorney Thomas Laehn reported that there were 29 pre-trial hearings scheduled for this Friday and the next jury trial is scheduled for April 6th. He mentioned that after last week’s county department head meeting, it was recommended that the courthouse be open 10-15 minutes before 8am during the work week so that employees could access the building before the beginning of the workday.
The Board then approved amending a resolution to allow for the expansion of the photography display of Greene County Veterans to include World War II Veteran Edward English. Then during the public hearing on the 2022 fiscal year budget, Herrick questioned why the farmland percentage was increasing by over five-percent. County Auditor Jane Heun said it was in regards to the total dollars raised of about $93,000. The Board then voted 4-1 to approve the salary schedule for the elected county officials as well as the budget, following the hearing. The general basic tax levy will be $3.89- $1,000 of property valuation, general supplemental will be $2.19 and rural basic is going to be $3.40. The lone no vote was from Supervisor Tom Contner. He said he had concerns about purchasing the former Alliant Energy building by Sparky’s One Stop gas station on Highway 30 in Jefferson as a new Secondary Roads Department facility. His other concern was having to have taxpayers pay for a facility like that eventually.
The Board heard a staffing update from Central Iowa Community Services. CFO Patti Treibel-Leeds said Kim Shoemaker will be the new mental health services coordinator from Boone County. She will be in the CICS office in the courthouse Wednesdays and Fridays starting April 1st, while Treibel-Leeds will continue on Mondays.