~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
The Greene County supervisors spent much of their Feb. 20 meeting as trustees for the drainage district 187, presiding at the continuation of a public hearing that began Jan. 30.
The first hearing was continued due to landowners not attending. Representatives of Bolton and Menk then sent ballots to the landowners in DD187, which is located south of Cooper and runs at an angle east and west of Highway 4. At the continuance on Feb 20, two landowners attended and 16 ballots had been returned.
The issue on the ballots was whether DD187, established in 1998, should be repaired due to tree overgrowth or should be more extensively improved. Repair would cost an estimated $226,000 and would require cleaning every 20 years or more frequently.
Improving the drainage district would cost an estimated $330,000 but would mean less cleaning, possibly only after 40 years.
Jacob Hagen of Bolton and Menk opened the ballots and tallied the responses. There were 12 yes votes and four no votes for the more expensive, longer-lasting improvement. The board unanimously approved improvements to DD187.
Hagen said bids could be let in mid-March with work done through the summer and fall. He said landowners would be compensated for damages to crops at the completion hearing after the work is done.
In regular board business, the board unanimously approved the appointment of Amy Youngblood as clerk and Andrew Woodley as trustee for Bristol Township.
Supervisor Dawn Rudolph reported attending a meeting of the Greene County Suicide Prevention Coalition.
Chuck Wenthold, environmental health coordinator, reported a quote from Midwest Alarm Services, the county’s provider of courthouse fire alarm inspections. Midwest quoted the installation of a notification and monitoring system at $700 and a yearly rate of $550 to constantly monitor the fire alarms.
County engineer Wade Weiss reported on current trimming of trees along paved roads as “a good thing for safety.” He explained “the canopy areas never melt
