~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
At their Feb. 22 meeting, the Greene County board of supervisors unanimously approved a resolution for the levy of taxes to purchase the Midland Power Cooperative building west of the Jefferson municipal cemetery for $600,000.
The resolution also included the approval of an installment contract which requires the county to pay four payments of $150,000 over the next four years.
The Midland Power Cooperative building and some ground around it will be used for a new law enforcement center to house the Greene County sheriff’s office and the Jefferson police department. The construction of a new jail, though not part of this resolution, could be part of future plans for the grounds.
County attorney Thomas Laehn said, “We need to be able to convert the building (to our needs) and maybe build a jail before the installments are (completely) paid. There is language in the contract to allow that.”
“Midland was good at getting the contract done so we can proceed,” said board chair John Muir. “We took a big step in the future of law enforcement.”
The purchase was first discussed in summer 2020 and a public hearing was held Sep 14, 2020. No objections from the public were received, according to board minutes.
Resolution 2021-06 can be read in entirety by contacting the county auditor’s office.
In other business, Chuck Wenthold, environmental department, told the board NEW Cooperative would like to place ammonia tanks at its site near Cooper and will be on the Mar. 1 board agenda to ask for approval.
Supervisor Pete Bardole reported he and attorney Laehn continue to meet with the Bell Tower Community Foundation to work on music policies so the bells can be played again by local musicians. The bells have been silent since mid-January, except for chimes marking hours and quarter hours.
“The Bell Tower Foundation has been getting Thomas (Laehn) the information he needs for the policies,” Bardole said.
Heather Wilson, board certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner with Greene County Medical Center in behavioral health, was commended by Laehn for her work in following court orders regarding county mental health treatment for clients.
“Heather has done a fantastic job in providing the six-month progress reports required by the court for county mental health clients receiving outpatient treatment,” Laehn said.
Muir noted the balance between clients’ medical privacy and the legal requirements of the court, commenting on “the two worlds of medical and legal.”
At the board meeting on Feb 18, Chris Henning asked about policies governing public gatherings, including and farmers market. Henning is the coordinator for the local market.
Henning asked for “clarification about what can be done on courthouse grounds.”
Henning said, “IDALS (Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship) is the governing body for farmers’ markets and the vendors (of Greene County) are interested (in the county policies of courthouse grounds usage.)
“In the past, we’ve got along great,” said Muir. “We will get an answer to you by March 15.”
In a later interview with GCNO, Henning said, “public events in the past have used the courthouse grounds to conduct private business. Now, there seems to be uncertainty about this.”
“There might be other places we need to have our farmers market,” she said.
In other business at the meeting on Feb. 18, the board scheduled a public hearing on the FY2022 proposed property tax levies for March 8 at 9 am.
