Also agree to holiday lighting on the courthouse
~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
At the regular meeting on Dec 2, the Greene County board of supervisors heard a summary from Sid Jones and Ken Paxton about the work of Greene County Development Corporation over the past year. GCDC requested continued county funding of $50,000 in fiscal year ‘21.
Paxton and Jones spoke of the importance of housing, historic building restoration, and child care for the continued growth of the county.
Paxton said GCDC wants to attract young families to the area and “we used focus groups of younger people in the community” to gain information for a marketing plan. “From these groups,” Paxton said, “we learned we have to get the word out in a modern way using social media.”
Jones and Paxton reported “developers are coming to us to talk about (building) housing.” The idea of the Lincoln Corridor, the triangle of Carroll, Jefferson, Boone, and Perry, is attractive to developers and potential residents because it can be promoted as having a population of 50,000 and 11 hospitals as well as many amenities, services, and opportunities for employment.
However, Jones said, “People won’t come if there’s no child care.” He cited a statistic that 90 percent of young families now have two parents working.
Jones and Paxton described a proposed new Early Learning Center designed by Nate Adams as being “important for employers to attract employees,” and “important to attract families.”
In housing, the Andy Rowland 4-plexes are coming along well and Paxton reported “calls asking about rental possibilities.” Success of this project could result in “future building in other communities in the county.”
Other projects reported on were funding for The Forge and for downtown buildings. Paxton reported GCDC had made a “5-year, $100,000 commitment” to The Forge and had facilitated an evaluation of the former tearoom on State St.
“The tearoom had severe problems and could have collapsed,” Paxton said.
The board did not take action on the GCDC request for $50,000 for FY21.
Patti Treibel-Leeds and Ellen Ritter from Central Iowa Community Services spoke to the board about mental health services in the region and the importance of a drop-in center. Treibel-Leeds said the drop-in project in Greene County is “on hold due to confusion (at the regional level) about budget rules.”
Supervisor Dawn Rudolph is the board representative to Central Iowa Community Services.
County attorney Thomas Laehn answered questions from the board about legality of the county decorating for Christmas.
Laehn said, “Government entities can celebrate Christmas as long as it’s treated as a secular holiday.”
Related to the opinion, the board then passed resolutions to acquire a Christmas holiday light display for the south side of the courthouse from All American Turf Beauty, Inc. for permanent use. The holiday lights will be displayed from the first Friday after Thanksgiving until the first Monday after New Year’s Day each year.
The lights express the board’s message of enhancing “the beauty of the Courthouse building and grounds,” promoting “good cheer,” and drawing “visitors to the Courthouse Square shopping district.”
The approval of the light display which had been researched by Supervisor Pete Bardole required several resolutions in order to comply with the new Public Art Policy.
County sheriff Jack Williams reported Boone Walmart has donated $1,000 to the local Shop with a Cop program. Shop with a Cop will be Dec 14. Local youngsters are chosen to go shopping with local officers for presents for the child’s family members.
