~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
The condition of the Raccoon River Valley Trail, the “bike trail,” was discussed at the Greene County supervisors’ Sept. 9 meeting.
Board chair John Muir reported he and supervisor Pete Bardole had attended a meeting about the condition of part of the north spur of the Raccoon River Valley bike trail which runs from the southern county line north to Winkleman Switch. Muir said the concrete trail from Jefferson south to Winkleman Switch is good but the rest “needs attention.”
“The discussion was about using economic development money,” Muir said. “It is an asset to the county, and, like all assets, we need to do as much as we can to keep it viable.”
Supervisor Dawn Rudolph said she doesn’t disagree with that, but she doesn’t want to “take money away from roads to fix the bike trail.”
The board discussed changes in technology that could make paving construction of the bike trail easier and more economical, and a $5 million figure was discussed as a possibility. Various funding sources that would include some kind of collaboration with Guthrie County to include paving from the Greene-Guthrie County line to Panora were discussed as possibilities.
Auditor Billie Jo Hoskins said Grow Greene County might be a possibility, but funding is usually done over a 5-year period.
County engineer Wade Weiss told the board the (north spur) trail “is a mess.” Weiss said it had been “sub-standard” when initially built, beginning in 1984. He did agree the concrete from Jefferson through the river land and up to Winkleman Switch is still good.
Weiss also reported on the Dallas/Greene County road project near Dawson, the Grimmel Rd bridge on the edge of Jefferson, and a bridge project near Rippey. He said projects are progressing and the Rippey bridge is “wrapping up.”
Jefferson city administrator Scott Peterson, providing his monthly update, reported the Iowa Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting concerning conversion of Highway 4 from four lanes to three through Jefferson. The meeting is Monday, Sept. 23, at 5:30 pm at Greene County Community Center.
“The DOT will have their plans together and people can see them. They’re interested in what people’s comments are. We’re not committed to do a project,” Peterson said.
Peterson also described a project by Origin Homes to build three single-family homes in Jefferson and said work is being done to make the second floor of The Centennial into apartments.
Construction work downtown includes the exterior of the old JC Penney building, also known as the Homestead building. The outside eastern wall with the mural is currently being removed and replaced with brick.
Peterson reported the city’s mass texting program has begun, and 1,900 cell phone numbers are in the database so far. City staff will text information of importance and emergency information to anyone who wants to participate. Peterson said the city of Jefferson web page is the place to sign up or opt out of the mass texting program.
Supervisor Dawn Rudolph said those at an election security meeting identified it as a way to communicate power outages or other changes affecting voting places.
About the meeting, she said she thinks “everyone is on the same page as to how we handle situations.”
The supervisors also discussed ongoing problems with a leaky roof on the courthouse, birds continuing to attack segments of the roof, previous efforts to fix the roof and deal with the birds, and recurring problems with the elevator shaft.
During the open forum at the beginning of the meeting, Bryan Helmus of Jefferson commended the supervisors for passing a resolution at the Sept. 3 meeting which objects to the construction of a hazardous liquid carbon capture pipeline through Greene County. The resolution was complex and addressed the use of eminent domain, safety in the event of a rupture in the pipeline, and the depletion of aquifers. The supervisors and county attorney Thomas Laehn had discussed the issues and the resolution at length during the meeting before the supervisors unanimously approved it.
At the Sept. 9 meeting Helmus suggested sharing the resolution with the Louis Dreyfus ethanol plant at Grand Junction and the POET ethanol plant at Coon Rapids and asking them to withdraw from the group of ethanol plants participating with the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline services.
“If all the ethanol plants decide they don’t want to do it, that will put an end to it,” Helmus said.
Helmus also suggested making the legislature aware of the supervisors’ concerns and directly asking for legislation that would “restrict, limit, or in some way put an end to the pipeline.”
“If it’s not a good idea here, it’s not a good idea for all of Iowa,” Helmus said.
