~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
The Greene County supervisors unanimously approved a resolution adopting the Mahanay Carillon music policy at their regular meeting on April 26. The supervisors had received a draft of the policy on April 19.
After three months of meetings between the Greene County attorney and the Bell Tower Community Foundation, the policy was written to “facilitate the performance of both live and pre-programmed music on the carillon while respecting the artistic freedom of Greene County’s carilloneurs, all applicable state and federal laws, the constitutional rights of the people of Greene County under both the Iowa and the United States Constitutions, and the testamentary wishes of William Floyd Mahanay.” (Quoted from the resolution.)
In a separate resolution, the supervisors appointed Peg Raney, foundation member, as music coordinator for a term of four years beginning April 26, 2021 to ensure the music policy is implemented. This is a new, unpaid position.
Bill Monroe was appointed musician to play pre-programmed music for the bells. This is a continuation of what Monroe has done for many years. He, also, was appointed for a four-year term beginning immediately.
Eighty-eight current Mahanay Maestros were appointed for life by the supervisors. The full list is included in the resolution, which is posted with the meeting minutes under the Calendar/Agenda tab at GCNO.
The need for a music policy and resolution was brought to light in January when there was confusion between the foundation and the board of supervisors about responsibility for making decisions about music requested by private parties.
More issues about playing copyrighted music and meeting the amount and type of music required by the will of Floyd Mahanay surfaced as talks progressed.
The new music policy specifies “All live and pre-programmed music performed on the carillon shall comply with all applicable copyright laws.”
According to the music policy, Mahanay Maestros are given complete control over the music they choose to play. The music coordinator is responsible for assuring compliance with copyright laws, which usually means payment of licensing fees for music not in public domain.
The policy also addresses the type of music played: “….at least fifty percent of all non-sacred music performed on the carillon shall be patriotic in nature.”
The issue of religion in the music chosen by Mahanay Maestros to play is described, also, as needing to “neither advance nor inhibit religion….and shall not convey a message of government endorsement or disapproval of religion.”
The policy states, “No outside requests for particular pieces of music, whether pre-programmed or performed live, shall be solicited or accepted.”
However, requests for special concerts or music can be submitted to the board from the music coordinator or a Mahanay Maestro.
The policy also outlines specific days and times for concerts and specific holidays when concerts may be played.
The board of supervisors can appoint “an unlimited number” of new Maestros for life or for a term of years. Musicians who would like to become Mahanay Maestros will submit a nominating application to the board of supervisors .
The resolution requires a nominee have “at least two years of formal piano lessons or their equivalent and must complete a tutorial on the operation of the carillon approved by the Bell Tower Community Foundation.”
“Anyone can nominate anyone to become a Maestro,” said county attorney Thomas Laehn. “People can self-nominate.”
The resolution expands on the wording of the music policy in some areas. One is that the resolution provides the board with power to remove any coordinator, musician, or maestro before the end of their term “with or without cause, at the board’s sole discretion” by a majority vote.
Peg Raney and Robert Schwarzkopf attended the board meeting in person to support the music policy.
“Pete Bardole (supervisor) did a fabulous job. We have a good relationship between the supervisors and the foundation. We agree with the policy and what it represents,” said Raney.
Raney said the foundation does not have legal representation. She wanted to be clear that attorney Robert Schwarzkopf is only a volunteer with the foundation.
Both resolutions became effective April 26, 2021.
In other business, engineer Wade Weiss spoke to the board about the need for equipment and storage space for the secondary roads department.
Weiss spoke of the history of an old structure at Scranton called “the Scranton shed.” This is on County Road E-53 and was a gas station at one time and a car dealership. Weiss said it needs to be replaced.
Weiss mentioned “leaking underground tanks” and the property not being able to be sold for very much, though he said it is valued at $472,000.
“It won’t bring anywhere near that,” Weiss said.
In a later interview, GCNO asked Weiss about the tanks. Weiss said there are underground tanks there to hold gasoline and oil from the gas station and car dealership businesses, and the tanks were leaking in the 1990s. Weiss said the environmental issues “were cleaned up” and there are no problems now, but he does not want to sell the property. He said the cost to repair the building or build a new building is too much, however.
At the board meeting, Weiss spoke of an offer from Interstate Power and Light Company to sell its “Alliant” property and building “west of Sparky’s” on Highway 30 for $582,000.
“This is a good opportunity for us,” said Weiss. “At 16,800 square feet, the cost would be $34.65 per square foot. Building a new building would be estimated at $50 a square foot.”
Weiss said the building has a concrete floor and is heated and he recommended the purchase. He said funds could come from $250,000 gained from the sale of the old Armory to the school district several years ago and from COVID relief funds.
“This sounds like a much better facility than the armory,” said chair John Muir.
Supervisor Dawn Rudolph said, “It’s the best option we’ve got. Building something could take three years. We can’t wait.”
Rick Kullander, real estate broker in Iowa and real estate and right of way representative, was present for the discussion.
After discussing the needs for storage and the possible solutions at length, the board voted to approve the offer and acceptance for the Interstate Power and Light Company property.
Supervisor Contner was the lone nay vote.
“You presented it real well,” Contner told Weiss, “but I’m not convinced.”
Contner did agree that the funding would not cost the taxpayers, but he still had reservations about the purchase.
During open forum, Chris Henning of rural Cooper told the supervisors she will not be this year’s farmers market manager, but the new person will need information from the board about it.
After discussion, the board seemed to agree the hours will be 4 to 6:30 pm as in other years and the location on the east side of the courthouse would continue.
Restrooms for the public were discussed. Bardole said, “Security doesn’t want to leave the courthouse open for restrooms.” He suggested Thomas Jefferson Gardens.
In the end, the agreement was for the market manager to maintain security of the courthouse by being the only person able to give courthouse restroom access as arranged by auditor Jane Heun.
Henning also asked about food vendors and extra picnic tables.
Muir said, “It’s fine with us if it’s all right with IDALS (Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.)”
IDALS supervises and provides rules for farmers markets in the state.
In other business, Muir reported EOC (Emergency Operations Center) meetings stopped several weeks ago. The group had been meeting to coordinate due to pandemic operations.
Bardole said, “Everything is in place and working.”
Rudolph described a disruptive recycling issue presented to the Scranton city council in which the mayor received a call from the landfill. The landfill was discovering boxes with city addresses on them which should have been recycled rather than sent to the landfill.
Procedures for recycling vs landfill were discussed by the board. A solution was unclear.
“We don’t want to jeopardize our relationship with the landfill,” said Muir.
