The Greene County Board of Supervisors met yesterday in regular session.

The Board approved to abate the 2013 property taxes for Thomas Jefferson Gardens on the southeast corner of the downtown square.  Supervisors John Muir, Dawn Rudolph and Guy Richardson were in favor, but Mick Burkett and Tom Contner voted against it.  Thomas Jefferson Gardens President Tom Polking told the Board that when they took possession of the property from Kingsgate Insurance in the 2013-14 fiscal year, their agreement stated that the nonprofit organization become the property owners.  Polking noted that since they didn’t apply for the tax exemption, that’s the reason why they were asking the Supervisors for abatement.  The main argument was whether or not the property would signify any benefit for the community.

The vote came down to Chair John Muir and he explained why he voted in favor of it.

“Ultimately, we all would’ve probably been in favor, it’s just that timing and how everybody’s public budgets are already figured out with the money figured in.  That’s why we hate to do it because we’re taking money out of their budget that they’ve already figured in.  But as a nonprofit, that’s where we would end up.”

The Board abated the Sierra Community Theatre’s taxes last year.  Thomas Jefferson’s taxes were $2,412 and County Treasurer Donna Lawson said they will be exempt from taxes starting in 2014.

Another item the Board approved was a satisfaction of mortgage agreement with Region XII Council of Governments as the owner of a property at 505 West Madison in Jefferson for the down-payment assistance program.

Finally, County Engineer Wade Weiss gave an update to the Board.  He said he will talk with the Verdin Company about their estimate to replace the entire bell structure on the Mahanay Bell Tower as well as get a quote for just replacing the broken strikers and controllers to get the bells ringing again.  It will also scare the turkey vultures from flying around the tower.  He also reported that the Secondary Roads Department will be repairing some shoulders on County Road P-14 to E-57 and north of the City of Dana.  He will also wait until January 2016 for bid letting on the concrete pavement project around Bauer Built’s new facility in Paton.  He pointed out that it was due to the wet conditions that he thought the project couldn’t be done this year.