A town hall meeting Monday night at the Greene County Community Center was attended by about 60 area residents ready to hear “what’s next” for the county. The meeting was hosted by Greene County Development Corporation. GDCD executive director Ken Paxton was emcee. The first town hall meeting was held last August.
Paxton explained, “I believe that an informed community that knows what’s going on is a lot more supportive than a community that gets surprised. In our case, most of our surprises are good ones. We have a lot of new things going on, and the more you know about these new things, the more you can be excited and supportive and talk to your friends and spread the word.”
Mike Couch, general manager of Wild Rose Jefferson, spoke briefly about construction at the casino. He said the building is fully enclosed and interior work is progressing. The job fair, held April 9-10, had a “strong turnout,” he said. “We were very happy with the results.” Hiring is being done from the top of the organizational chart down, with management positions being hired first.
Carl Behne, CEO of Greene County Medical Center, updated the group on progress at the medical center’s expansion and renovation project. He said the new addition will be ready for move-in in mid-July. Public tours are slated for Saturday, June 13, during the Bell Tower Festival.
Behne also announced that UnityPoint Clinic will open July 6. One nurse practitioner has been hired and will start in mid-May. By the July opening, a physician will be on board as well. Behne said the goal is to have two or three physicians and two or three nurse practitioners, “depending on the fit and mix of providers for the community and for the clinic.”
He added that UnityPoint is working to add a pediatrician to the practice. “That’s a big need in the community. We want to keep those young parents from having to travel out of town either during or after work for their children.”
Jefferson city council and GCDC board member Lisa Jaskey provided an update on housing. She said there has been “great progress” made in increasing the housing stock available in the community. JCorp of Huxley is in the process of finalizing plans to build a 44-unit rental complex near the water tower in northwest Jefferson, Jaskey reported, with groundbreaking planned for June and completion in early fall. The rent will range from $450 to $800 a month, depending on the size of the unit. Duane Jensen and Ben Jensen of JCorp were at the town hall meeting.
Jaskey said two other developers are looking at city-owned residential lots for duplexes or starter homes in the $150,000 price range. She encouraged any one with housing that could be rehabbed and put on the market to do so.
Greene County Chamber president Omega Sang spoke about the Welcome Center, and Bell Tower Festival coordinator Angie Pedersen gave an update on festival planning. Jefferson Matters: Main Street board president Jamie Daubendiek gave a report on the Tour of Empty Buildings. See related posts elsewhere at GreeneCountyNewsOnline.
Paxton was the last speaker. He told of GCDC’s efforts to inventory available business sites near Wild Rose Jefferson and elsewhere. He said being the first Home Base Iowa community has brought considerable positive publicity to Greene County. When Gov Terry Branstad provided information to the U.S. Department of Defense about Home Base Iowa, he included a detailed case study of its implementation in Greene County. That case study has been forwarded by that department to very military installation in the country. Paxton will be on a panel at the Iowa SMART conference for economic developers next month, and he has already met with officials from 40 other Iowa counties about Home Base Iowa.
Paxton identified housing as the biggest single challenge in dealing with the county’s economic growth.
Paxton said the county will look a lot different in the fall, and even more different a year from now. Paxton said Greene County is seeing good economic growth because “everybody is on the same page.” “I’ve been in economic development a long time and worked with a lot of communities… and very rarely, if ever, do you have a community where the economic development group, the city council, the board of supervisors, all of the other community groups are all on the same page. They all want to grow the community. Everybody is pushing the same direction, and when you get that, you can get a lot done,” he said.
Paxton said he plans to hold another town hall meeting next fall, perhaps in September.
