Greene County Development Corporation executive director Ken Paxton thought he was asking the Greene County board of supervisors for a relatively small amount of money when he talked with the board Monday about signage for the Home Base Iowa initiative. He requested funding for six signs – one each for Jefferson, Scranton, Churdan, Paton, Grand Junction and Rippey – at a cost of $46 each. “It’s a real good size sign, a nice looking sign,” Paxton said.
The supervisors suggested Paxton get advice from county engineer Wade Weiss before proceeding.
By the time the supervisors adjourned their meeting, and after talking with Weiss, the price tag for signage had grown from the $276 Paxton mentioned to $4,000.
A requirement for designation as a Home Base Iowa community is signage with the Home Base Iowa logo. A sample sign was displayed last month when Gov Branstad and Lt Gov Kim Reynolds were in Jefferson to announce Greene County as the first Home Base Iowa community in the state.
The price tag grew Monday after supervisor Dawn Rudolph suggested that each town, including Dana, should have at least two signs. As the conversation continued, four signs were proposed for Jefferson and three or four for Scranton and Grand Junction.
Weiss visited with the supervisors off the agenda, as he often does to update them on secondary roads matters. He reported that Paxton had talked with him immediately after leaving the supervisors’ meeting. Weiss said he would prefer the signs be placed on state highways and that the Iowa Department of Transportation install them.
However, Paxton’s cost was for signs only, not posts. Weiss estimated the cost of posts and sleeves at $125 or more per sign. The supervisors figured the total cost of 20 signs to be $4,000.
Paxton also asked the supervisors to consider moving county veterans affairs director Tracie Perez from part-time to fulltime. Perez will be the first point of contact for veterans considering moving to Greene County, Paxton explained, increasing her workload. Perez now works 35 hours a week. She was paid $29,102 in 2013.
Supervisor Guy Richardson told Paxton there had been discussion about increasing Perez’s hours in a reorganization of some job duties. “It might be possible,” Richardson said about increasing her hours, “but not right away. Possibly next year.”
The state of Iowa gives the county $10,000 a year for veterans services, auditor Jane Heun said. The Home Base Iowa initiative provides some assistance with marketing and promotions via state-generated media, but there is no additional funding directly to the county or Jefferson through the designation. Any additional revenue will come as a result of job and population growth and the accompanying increase in tax revenue.
“Here we are. We’re a Home Base community. That’s good, it’s really good. But we’re needing $4,000 for signs and we’re needing extra money because our veterans affairs person is going to be busy with this work, too,” said board chair John Muir with a sigh.
Richardson told Muir not to be discouraged. “I’m not discouraged. It will all work out,” Muir said.
