The Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower will be lit in party-style Friday and Saturday nights but in while lights the other five nights of the week.
The Greene County supervisors at their Aug. 7 meeting passed a resolution for decorative lighting on the bell tower similar to a 2019 resolution dealing with decorative lighting on the courthouse. Retired electrician Chris Durlam earlier this summer installed ground-level lighting that can illuminate the 120-ft concrete sides of the tower all the way up to the observation deck, prompting the discussion.
The lighting is computer-controlled, with different color options available, including random color changes with the lights fading in and out as they change.
The 2019 resolution specifies that the north façade of the courthouse be illuminated with “appropriately colored lights” from the first Monday after Thanksgiving to the first Monday after New Year’s Day, and on recognized county holidays. Other times the lights shall be white.
After 15 minutes of discussion of “aesthetics” and “ooohs and aaahs,” the supervisors approved lighting the bell tower the same color as the courthouse all year, including county holidays, except Fridays and Saturdays, when the lights will be random colors with the fade effect until midnight.
All decorative lighting turns off at midnight.
The supervisors approved a resolution in support of designating the Hwy 30 bridge over the N. Raccoon River near J Ave as the CPT Matthew Nielson Memorial Bridge, and another resolution in support of designation Hwy 4 between Hwy 30 and Hwy 141 as the LCpl Benjamin Carman Memorial Highway.
Both soldiers were raised in Greene County and killed in action in Iraq during the War on Terror. Carman was killed April 6, 2004, in Ramadi, and Nielson was killed June 29, 2011, in Badrah.
The supervisors approved replacement of the bridge over Snake Creek on 280th St north of Rippey. According to county engineer Wade Weiss, cost of the bridge is $575,000, with federal funds covering the full amount. Weiss anticipates bid letting in November with construction possibly during the winter.
Weiss also reported the secondary roads department would take delivery of the first 500 tons of road salt Tuesday.
The supervisors, serving as trustees of Drainage District 13 changed the assessment rate to correct a clerical error in the drainage clerk’s office. The amount to be collected will not change.
