~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
The Greene County board of supervisors at its March 15 meeting again discussed dropping the county-wide mask mandate when it expires March 31.
The supervisors seemed generally in favor of dropping the mandate if “there isn’t a surge of COVID-19 in the county.”
Supervisor Pete Bardole spoke about masks still being advisable and can be worn, even if a county mandate is not in place.
“We can take our own personal responsibility and respect others,” Bardole said.
Supervisor Dawn Rudolph said, “If a business requires masks, then that’s their prerogative.”
The supervisors also discussed whether public access to the board meetings should continue electronically through Zoom after March 31.
Chair John Muir spoke of the possibility of “Zoom meetings disappearing” at the end of the month and wondered if the public would have any thoughts on it.
The supervisors have expressed mixed feelings over the past year about the public having electronic access to board meetings. For many months, sound quality was a problem, but the board responded to public suggestions and it has recently improved greatly.
Since the mask mandate and electronic meetings were not on the agenda, no action was taken. It appears the issues will be considered again as agenda items.
Muir reported he had received an email from Jacque Andrew, Greene County Early Learning Center board co-president, about the ELC receiving a state grant in the amount of nearly $475,000 to help fund the construction of a new facility.
Greene County has stated intent to support the construction with $250,000 over five years. The entire project is estimated at costing $1.9 Million.
County attorney Thomas Laehn reported Mike Bierl, director of veterans services, has requested the veterans’ photo display in the courthouse be expanded to add another photograph.
Laehn said the display falls under the public art policy and he advised the board to make the request an agenda item for the next board meeting. Laehn said the original resolution could be amended to include the new photograph, bringing the current total to three photographs of Greene County veterans.
Roger Aegerter, representing Jefferson Matters: Tower View Team, reported the committee has received applications for 10 sculptures to be considered for celebration of the Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower.
“Entries have been received from Texas and Tennesee, among other places,” Aegerter said.
According to the public art policy, sculptures are submitted to the Jefferson Matters committee in a juried art contest. The committee is permitted to select up to four sculptures for possible display on the courthouse grounds.
The supervisors then choose up to three of the sculptures to actually be displayed on the courthouse grounds.
The public art policy requires the sculptures to meet the supervisors’ message of expressing “pride in the Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower.”
No more than three sculptures chosen by the board of supervisors will be displayed on courthouse grounds from May 1 to Nov. 1. The supervisors will choose one of the three to be displayed from May 1 to April 1 of the next year.
The board heard a request from the sheriff’s office to approve overnight travel for deputy Christopher Frehse to pick up a new canine for the department. The board informally approved the trip.
The board unanimously approved health benefit extension for “in-network, inpatient treatment of COVID-19 and COVID-19 tests and related services” through June 30, 2021.
