~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
At the regular meeting of the Greene county board of supervisors on Dec. 7, the board discussed electronic and in-person attendance of the public at board meetings.
Chair John Muir asked county attorney Thomas Laehn whether the board is required to provide electronic attendance to the public and whether the public must be allowed to speak at board meetings.
Laehn answered, “The board is not legally required to offer electronic attendance if the courthouse is open to the public. The board is not legally required to allow people to participate in the meetings.”
The open forum part of the weekly board meetings has traditionally been time for members of the public to bring topics of concern to the attention of the board.
“If there’s an open forum, all must be allowed to speak,” said Laehn, “but public participation (open forum) is at the board’s discretion.”
“If people have concerns, they should address us individually and be put on the agenda,” supervisor Mick Burkett said.
The supervisors have allowed attendance via electronic means to this point and have participated in electronic Zoom meetings, but, as a group, they seemed to be stressed by increased public attendance and participation through Zoom.
No board members spoke up in support of public attendance or participation at board meetings, either electronic or in-person, though chair Muir did speak of the importance of “transparency.”
In other business, attorney Laehn spoke of opioid addiction problems in the county and encouraged the board to participate in a federal lawsuit against the manufacturers of opioid drugs.
According to Laehn, 47 Iowa counties have joined the lawsuit filed by a Wisconsin law firm. A resolution from the board would be needed to make Greene County a party in the suit.
Chair Muir asked if opioid addiction is among the “top five problems in the county.”Laehn said, “Yes.”
No action was taken by the board.
Michele Hull and Sheilah Pound of RSVP 55+, Retired Senior Volunteer Program serving Boone and Greene counties, requested funding for FY 2021-2022 in the amount of $2,500. The organization coordinates services by volunteers in Greene County through in-home visitation, Grocery Assistance Program, adult caregiver respite, Phone-a-Friend, and pen pals.
Hull said, “We have a tremendous group of dedicated volunteers in Greene County.”
The request will be considered by the board when the county budget is constructed.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the State of Iowa concerning cybersecurity measures had been reviewed by attorney Laehn and he told the board he saw no problems with it.
Information technology director Michelle Fields explained hardware would be provided by the state to the county at no cost and the state would monitor the program with money from Homeland Security.
The board unanimously approved the MOU for enhanced security services between the office of the chief information officer of the State of Iowa and state and local governmental entities.
The board unanimously approved the hiring of three people on an as-needed basis for the ambulance department. William Levi Cloninger was hired as part-time driver at $10 per hour for patient care and $4 per hour when on-call.
Heather Shipley, RN, and Janelle Elken, RN, were hired as part-time RN Exceptions at $20 per hour first-out coverage and $4 per hour for second-out call.
