The Greene County Board of Supervisors met Thursday.

During open forum, County Environmental Administrator Chuck Wenthold gave an update on the carbon dioxide pipeline proposed project. He said Summit Carbon Solutions has filed for a permit with the Iowa Utility Board that would capture carbon emissions from 31 ethanol plants across five Midwest states and be stored in an underground facility in North Dakota. Part of the pipeline would stretch into Greene County with Louis Dreyfus. Wenthold added Summit also requested eminent domain in case the project would need to take land from landowners by force.  

Next, County Engineer Wade Weiss talked about a recent Iowa Department of Transportation report concerning structurally deficient bridges in the state. He said locally, there are about nine-percent of county bridges that would be unsafe for a vehicle carrying a weight from the posted signage to across a bridge. He mentioned that with the continued maintenance program, that percentage would be reduced to four percent. 

The Board then heard a Highway 30 Coalition update and funding request. Highway 30 Coalition President Adam Schweers gave the presentation. He said they hired engineering firm Snyder and Associates to conduct an economic impact study for two, 40 mile portions of the highway, from Lisbon to DeWitt and Ogden to Carroll. Schweers noted that they could present that data to the DOT to advocate a four lane highway for those 80 miles. He requested $5,000 from the Supervisors. The Board took no action following the presentation.

Finally, the meeting ended in a budget workshop. A proposal for the 2023 fiscal year was that the county would add an additional $340,000 in property taxes, but would also decrease the tax levy by $0.70, with the primary reason being higher property valuations.