~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
The Greene County board of supervisors received good news at the meeting on Jan. 25 from conservation director Tanner Scheuermann and engineer Wade Weiss about federal grant money available to update the Raccoon River Valley Trail from Winkleman Switch south to the Greene-Guthrie County line and possibly beyond.
Weiss said a collaboration with Guthrie County Conservation and a joint application for grant money could make an update to the entire North Spur possible with a federal grant of up to $1.4 million dollars.
Scheuermann reported having received many complaints over the past years from cyclists about the poor riding conditions on the asphalt trail, called the North Spur, in Greene County. Weiss said the asphalt was laid in 1998 and is not a long-term material.
According to the Raccoon River Valley Trail Association, asphalt runs from Winkleman Switch south about 8 miles to the county line and then another 1.25 miles south in Guthrie County to Herndon. The North Spur then connects with the RRVT Loop which continues to a trailhead in Waukee. The part of the Loop going east to Perry and beyond is concrete and is about 10 years old.
Weiss and Scheuermann said they have been discussing the need for a concrete North Spur which would enhance tourism to Jefferson for riders “making a day trip” to Jefferson from Des Moines and spending the night here.
“Cyclists tell me they would rather ride gravel detours around (the North Spur) than ride from Herndon (north to Jefferson)” Scheuermann said. He said Weiss has also received complaints.
Later, in his FY2025 budget request, Scheuermann requested $130,000 for the rehabilitation of the RRVT, and $35,000 for preliminary repairs before construction.
Scheuermann would also like to hire a fulltime naturalist and increase seasonal hourly wages from $14 to $15 per hour. In an extensive presentation to the board, he outlined long term plans for plantings, landscaping, and maintenance of conservation areas throughout the county and identified sources for grants and additional funding.
Other FY2025 budget requests were presented to the board for veterans affairs and general assistance, clerk of court, and public health.
Mike Bierl requested a total budget for both vet affairs and general assistance of $61,112, an increase of about $1,500 over FY2024. Clerk of court FY2025 budget remained the same as FY2024 but with an increase in juvenile detention and shelter care to $40,000.
The final portion remaining of public health’s budget request for FY2025 was presented to the board noting a decrease of $75,000 in pass-through funds due to the expiration of COVID contracts in Dec. 2023.
No action was taken by the board on any budget requests.
The board unanimously approved Resolution 2024-007 to establish a Greene County opioid settlement funds allocation committee to be responsible for “distributing grants from Greene County’s LG Abatement Fund.”
According to the resolution, members of the committee will be the Greene County treasurer, Greene County director of public health, Greene County attorney, and one member of the board of supervisors.
The committee will “develop a grant application process no later than Mar. 1.” They will receive applications for projects designed to remediate the opioid crisis in Greene County and distribute Greene County’s opioid settlement Funds” according to the guidelines required by the settlement.
County attorney Thomas Laehn said Greene County’s share of the settlement will be an estimated $276,000 paid over 18 years.
Board chair John Muir was chosen as the member of the board to serve on the opioid settlement committee.
In other business, Resolution 2024-005 transferring $75,000 from the general basic fund to the conservation reserve fund and $8,000 from the general basic fund to the bike trail fund was unanimously approved by the board. In addition, the board unanimously approved the transfer of $5,000 from the LOSST fund to the bike trail fund.
A resolution to increase the annual wage of the accounts payable/payroll clerk in the auditor’s office to $55,000 per year beginning Feb. 1, 2024 was unanimously approved.
The board also unanimously approved the Wage Publication Report for 2023.
The resolutions and the Wage Publication Report can be found under the Calendar/Agenda tab.
County attorney Thomas Laehn reported 74 pending cases in his office and told the board all three of the people involved in the ATM theft at Wild Rose Casino in Jan. 2022 have now been sentenced to 10-year prison sentences.
Laehn said one of the three had received probation, violated probation, fled the county, and was brought back to Greene County through the services of a “prisoner transport company.” This person is now serving his sentence.
Laehn explained the sheriff’s office bears the cost of bringing prisoners back to Greene County when necessary. He said there are times when contracting with a company dealing in this service is more cost-effective than sending officers to retrieve the prisoner.
Muir asked about the cost; auditor Billie Jo Hoskins estimated it to be $2,500.
The board meeting ended with brief discussion of a previously identified issue involving Greene County Development Corporation’s use of county funds allocated to them by the board of supervisors.
Supervisor Dawn Rudolph said, “We need better justification of funds going out to GCDC. We need more reports on how many are helped.”
Supervisor Peter Bardole said he thinks small business is being helped.
