The Greene County Board of Supervisors met Monday in regular session.
During open forum, resident Bryan Helmus commended the Supervisors for their objection to Summit Carbon Solution’s second proposed phase for an underground carbon dioxide pipeline through the county. He requested the Board to reach out to ethanol plants including Louis Dreyfus and POET Biorefining and let them know about their objection to the project and urge them to drop out of it.
Supervisor Chair John Muir mentioned a meeting with Supervisor Pete Bardole and some residents about their concerns with the portion of the Raccoon River Valley Trail in the county that is not in good condition. Muir reported that the residents asked if there was Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds available to help pay to get the trail resurfaced with concrete. The Supervisors were unsure if any TIF funds were available, but that RRVT is not currently in the urban renewal plan to receive TIF money.
Muir admitted that RRVT is an important asset and that he thought they should do what they could to make it viable. Supervisor Vice Chair Dawn Rudolph stated that she did not want to take money that would be used to repair and improve roads to pay for the trail to be repaved. It was mentioned that the overall project was about $5 million.
Next, County Engineer Wade Weiss gave an update to the Board. He said there have been delays on the Dallas County portion of the resurfacing project on a county road through the city of Dawson, which also includes a smaller portion of the county road into Greene County. Weiss noted that he wanted to do this project in conjunction with Dallas County so there would not be separate road closures to resurface the road. He added that Secondary Roads crews would be pavement patching this week on County Road P-29 from recent blowouts on the roadway.
Jefferson City Administrator Scott Peterson also gave an update. He said the East Lincoln Way road resurfacing project is virtually complete and dirt work has started for the pickleball courts at Russell Park. He mentioned the Wastewater Treatment Plant improvement project was about 76 percent complete, but that the contractor was given an extension of 200 days due to supply chain issues with electrical components, but that the project is slated to be done next spring. Finally, he announced that the Iowa Department of Transportation is hosting a public informational meeting about possibly converting Highway 4 through Jefferson from four to three lanes. The meeting is scheduled for September 23rd at 5:30pm at the Greene County Community Center.
Finally, the Board discussed the courthouse roof repair project. It was mentioned that the contractor, Gary Goodwin, would begin by cleaning the roof before making necessary repairs with a silicon product. Weiss thought Mark Devilbliss would also look at the leak from the roof where the elevator shaft is, and the chimney for tuckpointing. They are also looking into possibly purchasing an ultrasonic device that Goodwin has mentioned at a previous meeting that would reduce the amount of birds from pecking at the roof, causing it to deteriorate quicker.