~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
The Greene County board of supervisors formally adopted the new 2022 Code of Ordinances for the county after a second reading at the meeting on Oct. 17. The supervisors waived the third reading.
No oral or written objections were received by the board.
Supervisor Pete Bardole abstained from the vote because he has property that could be affected by zoning ordinances written for the development of utility level solar energy projects. Supervisors Mick Burkett, Tom Contner, John Muir, and Dawn Rudolph voted in favor of adopting the Code.
Board chair Muir noted “lengthy, but good, discussions” over the course of several months as the re-codification of ordinances was hammered out.
Rudolph noted the format of ordinances is now consistent and established.
The new ordinances will be in effect from the time of publication. Copies are available in the auditor’s office.
Supervisor Bardole and engineer Wade Weiss reported on a demonstration of exterior lighting for the Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower occurring last Thursday.
Weiss told the board colored lighting worked as well as white LED lighting and did not require two lights as had been previously thought. The cost of color vs white lights would then be the same.
Bardole and Weiss said colored lights might be good for occasions and white lighting for general use.
“Take some time to decide,” was Muir’s answer.
No action was taken on lighting for the exterior of the tower.
The board heard a lengthy presentation on insurance benefits renewal for 2023 by Ryan Berven of Assured Partners.
As he is required to do, Berven analyzed Greene County employees’ use of medical and prescription benefits over the past year.
Berven said medical claims were only 76 percent of the expected claims cost, but pharmacy claims were significantly higher.
“Pharmacy costs are crushing employers across the nation,” Berven said. “New specialty drugs are hitting the market.”
“Docs get kick-backs from pharmacy to prescribe non-generics,” Berven claimed.
However, Berven said generic drugs which cost less are being used by employees when appropriate and the county is getting some money back on pharmacy claims.
Berven told the board Greene County has $1.3 M in reserve for insurance claims and the board compared that favorably to much lower reserves in previous years.
Berven recommended raising specific deductibles from $50,000 to $60,000 and raising premium rates by 2.5 percent to keep the self-funded reserve healthy.
The board unanimously approved this increase.
