The Greene County supervisors plan to have on their July agenda a motion to proceed with hiring BBS Engineering to provide design plans for updating the HVAC at the courthouse.
The next step in the much-needed project is to secure funding for it. Total project cost, which includes heating runs to replace the vintage radiators, cooling runs, work on the boiler and a chiller is $3.2 million. The supervisors have on hand $1.8 million from the American Rescue Plan Act (Covid relief funds). They would sell $1.5 million in bonds for the remainder.
The supervisors are still eyeing revenue from the Local Options Sales and Service Tax (LOSST) from the unincorporated portions of the county to repay the bonds. That would require voters to approve changing the revenue purpose statement for the LOSST to allow it to be used for “any lawful purpose” rather than “property tax relief.” Last March in a special election rural residents were asked to approve that change in wording; the proposition failed 88 votes to 73 votes.
County engineer Wade Weiss said then and he said again at Monday’s meeting that the change in the revenue purpose statement would not affect the secondary roads or sheriff’s office budget. Auditor Billie Hoskins said voters last winter weren’t convinced that secondary roads and the sheriff would not eventually be shorted funds, and that others didn’t realize they’d been paying the LOSST for years. They thought they were being asked to approve a new tax.
Hoskins said the supervisors have until September to add a proposition to the Nov. 5 ballot.
The supervisors approved a 28E agreement with the city of Jefferson to share the cost of an administrative assistant at the Law Enforcement Center. The administrative assistant is a fulltime employee of the county. The city will pay the county $15,000 toward the employee’s wage and benefit package.
The supervisors also approved a two-year service agreement at a cost of $3,650 with Nyhart Company Inc for actuarial services related to Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) post-employment benefits.
The supervisors, serving as drainage district trustees, approved a protection agreement with Alliant Energy for work in the northeast corner of the county to allow Landus Coop to add to its Boxholm location. Drainage districts involved are Greene DD 28/Boone Co DD 26; Greene DD 77/ Boone DD 2/ Webster Co DD 140; Greene DD 156/Webster DD 315; and Greene DD 140/ Boone DD 178/ Webster DD 277.
Luke Filmeier of Alliant Energy spoke with the supervisors about the agreement last week.
Also as drainage district trustees, the supervisors authorized drainage clerk Michelle Fields to send a tile repair request to Union Pacific railroad regarding work needed on the drainage tile east of Scranton along the railroad. The drain was unsuccessfully jet-cleaned earlier this year. No more can be done without entering the railroad right-of-way. Fields called working with Union Pacific an “uphill battle,” but according to county attorney Thomas Laehn, the drainage district can take Union Pacific to court if the needed work isn’t completed.
The supervisors approved the salaries and wage schedule for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
