~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
The Greene County board of supervisors heard FY2025 budget requests from Boone/Greene County Probation Services and from the secondary roads department at the meeting on Jan. 29.
Diane Hinderaker and county attorney Thomas Laehn described the success of two programs under the supervision of Boone/Greene County Probation Services.
A program of community service for youth begun in 2023 has shown growth according to Hinderaker and Laehn, and a recently hired person works with the school district.
The community service program, coordinated by Kelley McCane, is a resource for judges and is a possibility for youth and adults. Probationers serve the community through work at non-profit businesses and organizations in the county, fulfilling a court-mandated number of hours instead of jail time and/or fines.
“Kelley McCane manages youth opportunities, reports to the court, and works with families to get kids to their work assignments,” Hinderaker said.
“Recidivism (return to lawbreaking) is down 75 percent,” Laehn said. “It’s an incredible improvement.”
Hinderaker said 11 youth participated in the program last year for a total of 152 hours of community service work.
Hinderaker and Laehn reported adult engagement in community service is less successful, though recidivism for those adults who do participate is also low.
“Out of 114 adults who participated in the community service program, only nine re-offended,” they said. “Many adults would rather spend time in jail than do community service.”
“It’s difficult to get into jail, however,” Hinderaker said. “People try to do their time but are told there’s no room. Sending people to other counties is expensive.”
Hinderaker reported that of 61 adult clients, 28 had OWI charges and 21 had drug charges. Other charges included domestic abuse assault, theft, and assault.
Hinderaker requested FY2025 funding of $47,276, an increase from the previous year’s contracted amount of $35,611.
Laehn explained Greene County contracts with Boone/Greene County Probation instead of engaging in a 28E agreement.
Engineer Wade Weiss presented an extensive report of the activities, maintenance, repairs, and construction done by secondary roads during FY2024 and he described current and future projects: Snake Creek bridge ($575,000) and relocating mussels upstream from the bridge on south Grimmel Rd prior to construction there. Estimates for mussel relocation ranged from $10,500 to $52,000 depending on the company consulted.
Weiss also presented past expenditures and described various sources of funding his department accesses for various purposes. He said income from road use money could increase slightly in FY2025. He estimated sales of equipment and various reimbursements could bring in $1,050,000 and road use money could bring in $3,435,550.
Weiss requested a 3 percent budget increase from General Fund ($59,123) and an increase from Rural Fund to $1,306,618. His request for money from LOSST (Local Option Sales and Services Tax) remained at $360,000.
Weiss outlined strategies his department uses to save money and he estimated FY2025 expenditures of $8,567,253. This is a decrease in estimated expenditures from FY2024 of $9,087,611.
No board action was taken on either budget request.
In other business, Joey Wendinger, senior project manager with ISG, the company consulting on the new jail, presented two proposals to the board for geotechnical evaluation services. Wendinger explained these involve soil borings to determine the composition of the soil and recommend design for the foundation of the building.
Braun Intertek and Terracon were the two companies submitting proposals. Wendinger recommended the board choose the lower proposal of $12,500 from Terracon and told the board ISG will coordinate and facilitate Terracon’s work. Wendinger said, however, Greene County will contract directly with Terracon.
The board unanimously approved awarding the contract to Terracon.
Wendinger then gave the board a list of companies that had submitted their Construction Manager at Risk for Qualifications responses to ISG for construction manager of the Greene County jail.
The companies are Ball Team, LLC., Conlon Construction, DCI Group, Inc., Edge Commercial, Henkel Construction Company, Jensen Builders, Larson Construction Co. Inc., Miron Construction Co., Inc., Samuels Group, and Woodruff Construction.
Wendinger said ISG and the supervisors will review all the submissions and narrow the list.
Chair John Muir asked if Jensen Builders is the company working at the airport (east of Jefferson,) and supervisor Dan Benitz wondered about possible conflict of interest issues between a manager and a builder.
Wendinger addressed the conflict of interest concern by citing a need for an “independent general contractor” and “guaranteed pricing.”
Attorney Laehn told the board the Greene County opioid settlement funds allocation committee will meet Feb. 5 at 1:30 pm in the courthouse boardroom.
The board unanimously approved the 2024 County Substance Abuse Prevention Grant.
