The Greene County supervisors approved a pair of hires at their Dec. 31 meeting, one to fill a long-standing vacancy, and the other to fill a position the board hasn’t yet taken action to create.
The board approved hiring Michael Bierl as part-time county veterans services director, a position that has been vacant since Tracie Perez left at the end of August. Bierl’s starting wage is $18/hour. It will increase to $19 after July 1 upon review, and it will increase to $20 once he attains certification. His contract is for 20 hours a week.
The supervisors hired Lacy Brubaker as fulltime Emergency Medical Services interim director to handle the transition from a contract-based ambulance service to a county-based service. The supervisors last week heard a plan developed by board chair John Muir and sheriff Jack Williams to move in that direction. The supervisors have not heard a formal recommendation nor taken action to accept a recommendation for a county-based service.
During the discussion of hiring Brubaker, Muir said, “When we have time, we’ll have to talk to other counties that have had this experience. Lacy has a lot of information of what needs to be done and what needs to be in place so there’s not a gap.”
Brubaker will be paid $18/hour with benefits. Her contract is for 37-1/2 hours a week and expires June 30, 2019. She will work out of the Law Enforcement Center.
The board approved a resolution to use the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ master matrix for evaluating construction plans for confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
According to county zoning coordinator Chuck Wenthold, county boards that approve a resolution can recommend to the DNR approval or disapproval of a construction permit; hold a public hearing on the scoring of the master matrix; have a county representative present at the pre-approval site visit; appeal issuance of a permit to the Environmental Protection Commission; and require prospective CAFO owners to use the master matrix .
CAFOs can be built in counties that do not approve a resolution to use the master matrix without any involvement from the county.
The county has used the master matrix since it was adopted by the state. Only 10 counties in Iowa did not use it in 2018 – Osceola, Plymouth, Warren, Mahaska, Keokuk, Washington, Wapello, Des Moines, Davis and Lee.
The board approved a resolution to begin the process of borrowing $175,000 for new radio equipment to bring the Law Enforcement Center into the State Interoperative Communication Network. The loan will be reimbursed by the E 9-1-1 board from surcharge revenue over five years.
County auditor Jane Heun explained the E 9-1-1 board cannot borrow money on its own and that the county has taken out similar loans previously. A public hearing was set for Jan. 14 at 9 am.
County engineer Wade Weiss provided a short report as weed commissioner. “Situation normal” was his comment.
