The Greene County supervisors at their Feb. 10 meeting delayed making a decision to accept bids for the new jail until the Thursday meeting, Feb. 13.
The discussion covered much of the same ground as the Feb. 6 meeting. The bids for the jail came in higher than expected, partly due to the two-year lapse between voters approving the $10 million project and it finally being put out for bids. The base bid was $10,954. An alternate bid including two extra cells (for a total of 17 cells) and a heated sally port was $11,367,300. That’s the package sheriff Jack Williams prefers, as it would allow the required separation of sex offenders from female inmates, and also aid in thawing snow and ice from patrol vehicles during winter storms.
As the discussion continued, the supervisors reached consensus to move ahead with the jail but didn’t agree on which bid to accept.
They also talked about how the proposed HVAC project could be completed. Cost of the project is $3.1 million. The county has $1.7 million in ARPA funds and would borrow the remainder of the cost. The loan would be paid by transferring LOSST funds to the general basic fund. The current plan is to transfer LOSST funds into the general basic fund to pay for it. That project cost is $3.1 million. The county would borrow $2 million to complete.
Auditor Billie Jo Hoskins said debt service would be about $900,000 annually if both projects were completed.
The county currently has $2 million in reserve. The goal has been to have at least $1 million in reserve. Supervisor Dan Benitz said the purpose of a cash reserve is to cover such instances, and that “maybe we should bite the bullet” on this. “Use the reserve. That’s why people pay taxes,” he said.
Freshman supervisor Joe Gannon said he thinks the more expensive option should be taken on the jail “if we can swing it. It would be money well spent.”
He said the supervisors should see a payment schedule and what interest income would be derived from the bond money until it’s needed to pay bills. “We have to know what the cash flow will look like,” Gannon said.
Board chair John Muir agreed. “With the cash reserve we have we could do both, but I want to know what that would look like,” he said, referring to the county’s cash flow.
The board hopes to make a final decision at the Thursday meeting. The jail bids were received Jan. 22; they’re valid for 30 days.
In other business, county engineer Wade Weiss reported that work on the Grimmell Rd bridge will begin again the last week of February or the first two weeks of March, with completion anticipated by May 1.
Assistant county attorney Laura Snider reported in county attorney Thomas Laehn’s absence. She said the county has seen an uptick in defendants and juvenile delinquents “who are refusing to take accountability.” She said juvenile court used to be convened one Friday each month; that has increased to four Fridays a month.
She said she and Laehn have both prepared for three trials each of the county’s trial dates. That way if a defendant pleads guilty, they’re ready to go with another case so as not to lose the trial date. (The county is limited to 10 trial dates a year.) “Our goal is to show the defense bar that we’ll prepare to try, to move forward with all the cases that are set to go, and when someone doesn’t accept accountability… we’ll push for prison,” Snider said. The goal is to shorten the time cases are pending and the cost of jury trials.
She also said the county is partnering with Webster County’s drug treatment court. Non-violent offenders are eligible. The program provides intensive inpatient drug treatment in Fort Dodge. Persons then go to a residential correctional facility for 180 days or until maximum benefits are attained, and then to a recovery house. A parole officer meets with them weekly. They must complete substance abuse and mental health treatment, and attend Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous meetings two or three times a week. They must also obtain a driver’s license, complete a GED if they haven’t or didn’t graduate from high school, get a job, and do a “give-back project” for the community. There are now four Greene County offenders in the program, some of whom have been using drugs since they were 14 years old, and that “they’re actually doing pretty will in the program.” During his monthly report, Jefferson city administrator Scott Peterson asked for more communication from the county, noting that neither he nor the city finance officer had been informed of Wild Rose Casino’s appeal of the property assessment. He said the draft budget had already been presented to the council before they learned of the significant decrease to the city’s total valuation.
