Jeff council will look at it this evening
~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
At the Greene County board of supervisors meeting Sept. 21, county attorney Thomas Laehn presented the draft of a 28E agreement to provide law enforcement coverage by the county sheriff’s office for the city of Jefferson, if city police officers are not available.
The agreement would be between the sheriff’s office, the board of supervisors, and the city of Jefferson. Laehn said the agreement is designed to be temporary, running from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021.
“There is no renewal provision in the agreement,” Laehn said. “Each party can terminate the agreement at any time with one month’s notice.”
The proposed agreement is the result of ongoing difficulties by the Jefferson police department in maintaining a full staff of officers. Law enforcement coverage for the city has been discussed at previous board meetings.
“I’m glad we can work together,” board chair John Muir said. “We have an obligation to make sure the citizens of Jefferson have law enforcement services.”
According to the proposed 28E agreement, the sheriff of Greene County and deputies could cover up to 15 12-hour shifts per month for the Jefferson police department.
Laehn said the cost of this coverage would be charged to the city at a rate of $1,000 per shift. The county would provide half-time administrative services and charge the city $1,750 per month. Additional fees could be charged to the city for other services such as deputies attending court on their days off. This would be charged at a rate of $60 per hour.
The proposed agreement states the law enforcement services provided by the sheriff’s office will be limited to “routine patrol services, including door checks of commercial establishments, enforcement of the laws of the State of Iowa, investigation of suspected criminal activity, and specialized traffic and vehicle operation enforcement.”
The deputies will also be involved in any judicial process arising from their work.
The board discussed benchmarks for the city as the police department rebuilds after losing several officers.
According to the agreement, the county can terminate the agreement if the city doesn’t meet the following benchmarks: 1) completion of interviews for at least two new Jefferson police officers by Oct. 30; 2) job offers to at least two new officers on condition of their completion of testing by Nov. 13; and 3) formal job offers to two new officers by Dec. 8.
Supervisor Dawn Rudolph said, “The most important part is to get good candidates.”
The benchmarks would assure the city aggressively works to rebuild the PD in the near future; complacency is not an option.
If the agreement were terminated and law enforcement in Jefferson fell upon the sheriff’s office, sheriff Jack Williams has said he would need to hire six new deputies to provide coverage.
The board unanimously approved Resolution 2020-39 to accept the 28E agreement and to file the agreement with the Iowa Secretary of State if the sheriff’s office and city also approve the agreement.
The 28E agreement for the temporary provision of law enforcement services will be on the city council agenda at its regular meeting Sept. 22.
In other business, county engineer Wade Weiss reported on graveling in Dawson township, clearing debris from the wind in Rippey, finishing up a boat ramp at Squirrel Hollow, and completion of an approach at Brown Bridge north of Scranton.
Weiss spoke of absent employees due to the pandemic. Muir asked if there was a plan as winter is coming on for covering if employees need to be absent.
“I think we’ll be fine,” Weiss said. “We have the ability to send out mechanics (for snow removal) and put extra people on snow if we need to.”
Chris Henning thanked the board for its support of farmer’s market this year. “The last farmer’s market was last Tuesday,” she said, “but we’ll be back next year.”
“It gave a little normalcy back to everyone,” said Muir.
Supervisor Pete Bardole spoke of timelines for artists entering the 2021 Art on the Square contest so the board can update the art policy resolution to allow new art on the courthouse grounds.
