Council okays new JPD officer
The results of a housing needs assessment done earlier this summer should be available by the end of the week, Greene County Development Corporation director Ken Paxton told the Jefferson city council Tuesday.
The assessment was done with the cooperation of Greene County employers and collected data from more than 800 respondents. “We’ve got definitive data with strong threads, and it’s statistically accurate because of the size of the sample,” Paxton said. “It was a good study and we got some good results.”
Paxton said the data has been tabulated and analyzed with assistance from Region XII Council of Governments. He is now writing a draft of the report and hopes to have it finished in the next few days.
The study will be used to help chart a course to developing appropriate public-private partnerships to increase the amount of housing available in the county, particularly in Jefferson.
Paxton also told the city council that GCDC is looking at “augmenting” its direction toward community development. “We’ve done fairly well in generating new jobs and bringing new people to the community. Now we’re thinking of changing our focus to see if we can build the community back up to be more prepared for the next wave of growth,” Paxton said.
“We’re not going to quit doing what we’ve been doing – economic development and going after businesses – but it’s a new direction we want to add to it,” he said.
He also told the city council GCDC is looking at building spec warehouses in the west business park. He said Syngenta, Landus Coop and Farner-Bocken are potential uses of warehouse space.
Paxton announced GCDC will hold its annual meeting Sept. 14 at the Greene Room Events Center at Wild Rose Casino.
He then asked for and the council approved $12,500 in quarterly funding from the city to GCDC.
In other business, the council approved hiring Michael Stofer as a patrolman in the police department at an annual wage of $40,605.
Stofer, 26, lives in West Des Moines and works as a jailer in the Polk County jail and part-time for the West Des Moines fire department. Prior to his position as jailer we was a Polk County sheriff’s deputy. He completed the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy in 2015.
He said he is eager to get back out on patrol. “That’s something I enjoyed when I was a deputy,” he said.
He is a graduate of Valley High School in West Des Moines and earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Northwestern College in Orange City.
He is not unfamiliar with small town Iowa. His parents were from Guthrie Center and Bagley, and he lived in Perry for a time.
He will begin work with the JPD July 29.
