Greene County voters will be asked Nov. 7 to approve a $10 million general obligation bond issue for the purpose of constructing a new jail.
The board of supervisors passed the necessary resolution at its regular meeting Aug. 28. According to the resolution, the bond issue is for the purpose of “designing, constructing, equipping, furnishing and making land site improvements.”
The new jail would be built adjacent to the Law Enforcement Center at 1005 E. Lincoln Way in Jefferson. The property was purchased from Midland Power early in 2021 at a cost of $600,000, with an eye toward building a new jail there. The Midland office building was remodeled and the LEC was moved there from S. Chestnut St. The small, antiquated jail continues to function on Chestnut St.
The supervisors have discussed the possible bond issue several times recently. On Monday, board chair John Muir said it would be “fiscally irresponsible to do nothing” about the jail.
County attorney Thomas Laehn again raised the possibility of the state consolidating counties, and said having a new jail would put the county in a better position should that happen.
The supervisors spent more time Monday discussing whether colored lights should be shown on the Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower than on the jail bond referendum.
The Bell Tower Community Foundation asked the supervisors to amend a resolution passed two weeks ago that calls for having random colored lights on the bell tower only Friday and Saturday evenings. The Foundation asked for random colored lights every evening except during the specified county holiday times. Then the lights would match the lights on the front of the courthouse.
(Note – The new lights have eight colors available with options for the speed at which lights fade in and out as well as the orders colors are used.)
Bell Tower Foundation board members Peg Raney, Carole Custer, Bonnie Silbaugh, Don Van Gilder, Pat Richards, and Matt Wetrich attended the meeting. Supervisor Pete Bardole, a voting member of the Foundation board, was there as well.
Raney said they were unaware that a resolution was on the supervisors’ agenda previously, and that if they had known, they would have been in attendance.
The bell tower has been lighted from the ground up only once, May 25, as a test. The only color used was green. The tower has not been illuminated again pending getting the computerized controller set up. That was expected to be complete soon after the Monday supervisors’ meeting.
Bardole said white lights on the bell tower make it look elegant, and he feared colored lights would look “cheesy.” “When I saw the (green) lights up there, it didn’t. I thought the lights enhanced it,” he said.
He added that if the lights changed randomly, there would be less chance that viewers would try to attach a message to the color of lights. It’s the possibility that someone will interpret some sort of message from the color of the lights that worries the supervisors.
Muir said the supervisors were perhaps overly cautious in setting the policy, but that he preferred taking “baby steps.” “We don’t know if we’re ready to take that next step (of random lights every night),” he said.
“We’re not ready to take that step. We discussed this two weeks ago and were all in agreement then,” supervisor Dawn Rudolph said.
After 36 minutes of discussion back and forth, the supervisors agreed to have random colored lights fading in and out on the bell tower this Friday and Saturday, Sept. 1-2, from dusk to midnight. They may discuss the lighting again at their Sept. 5 meeting. The resolution approved previously was not amended.
“After seeing it, in our minds we’ll know if we want to take another step,” Muir said.
Muir cautioned that if the supervisors agree to have random lights on the bell tower every evening, it will be because they think it would enhance the beauty of the bell tower, not because an “outside group” requested it.
Ann Ostendorf talked with the supervisors about RVTV coming to Jefferson next Tuesday from 4 to 10 pm as part of the lead-up to the Iowa-Iowa State football game Sept. 9. Ostendorf said a community party is being planned with food, games, and entertainment.
Lincoln Way will be closed between Wilson Ave and Chestnut St, and Wilson will be closed between State St and Lincoln Way. Some of the activities will be held on the courthouse grounds.
The board approved a request from the Bell Tower Community Foundation for Mahanay Maestro Rick Morain to play the carillon that day from 4:30 to 5. He’ll play 30 minutes of college fight songs.
The board approved a federal aid agreement for $575,000 in federal funds for replacing a bridge on 280th St north of Rippey over Snake Creek. That is the full cost of the bridge.
The supervisors turned down a request from the city of Jefferson to abate back property taxes on three properties – the Greene County Animal Shelter at 1700 Wilber Drive, 307 N. Wilson Ave, and 105 E. Adams St. City-owned property is exempt from county property taxes, but the amounts under review were unpaid at the time the city purchased the property.
County treasurer Katlynn Mechaelsen told the supervisors those amounts should have been taken care via the purchase agreement. The amounts the city had asked be abated were $220 on the animal shelter property, $2,344 on the N. Wilson property, and $1,004 on the E. Adams St property.
During the Reports portion of the meeting, attorney Laehn reported a jury trial last week resulted in a guilty verdict. He said that with no jury trials in the near future, he plans to spend time catching up on other projects. He has written a draft 28E agreement between the County and the Bell Tower Community Foundation for operation of the tower and use of county funds. He also plans to “clean up” the general assistance policy and look at drainage district protection policies.
Supervisors Muir and Rudolph reminded him of a previous conversation about selling some county-owned timberland.
Laehn said he also will look at abandoned railroad rights-of-way. He said the property automatically reverts to the previous property owner when a railroad abandons a rail line. “A lot of people now own land they may not realize they own. It hasn’t been taxed. We need to get that land back on the tax rolls,” Laehn said.
He added that for most landowners the increase in taxes should be minimal.
County engineer Wade Weiss briefed the supervisors on an upcoming change in overweight permits, on progress on County Road E-57 and hauling gravel.
