~by Victoria Riley for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
No members of the public spoke at a public hearing held by the Greene County supervisors April 14 on entering into a loan agreement and issuing not to exceed $2 million in general obligation capitol loan notes to fund improvements to the heating/ventilation/air conditioning system at the county courthouse.
It was the first of two public hearings needed to borrow funds for that purpose.
Although the public didn’t speak, supervisor Joe Gannon did, expressing concern about taking on debt with the intention of repaying it using surplus funds. The current plan is to use carryover funds in the general basic fund.
“I have concerns about taking on debt and taking payment out of the general fund,” Gannon said. “That’s a long ways down the road to guarantee money for it, especially since the State (legislature) seems dead set on changing how we’re going to be able to raise those funds how much is increase/decrease. It’s a long ways out there to forecast it.”
Supervisor Dan Benitz said it would be easier if the project had been done 20 years ago. Board chair John Muir answered that a lot has changed since then, and that the county didn’t have ARPA funds then to put toward the project.
“It’s not that the project isn’t a good one. It’s the unknown of that far out,” Gannon answered.
County treasurer Katlynn Mechaelsen clarified Gannon’s concerns, saying there is surplus available to pay the first seven years of debt.
“I’m not concerned about the first seven. It’s the years after that… We can eat up a surplus pretty quick and you can’t levy for it. Pretty soon you’re broke and you’ve got a bill to pay you can’t pay. That’s my concern,” Gannon answered.
Muir said he understood the concern and asked if there was a way to ease that concern. “If the jail project were done, you would know where your starting point would be. We’ve already said we wanted the jail to get done and get done right, and we can afford that with the surplus we have now. But we don’t know that end dollar amount. There’s no guarantee on that, so you don’t really know what your starting point is… I’d feel way better if the taxpayers said ‘we’re in favor of this’ and we’d have a debt service levy that would take care of it,” Gannon said.
Benitz said he hadn’t heard of any concerns over financing the project. Supervisor Dawn Rudolph said she’d hate to see the courthouse closed if the state were to consolidate county court services, and Muir said the HVAC project is a step in modernizing the108-year-old building.
Mechaelsen then said she’s uncomfortable guaranteeing payments from surplus longer than five years.
Muir ended the discussion, held during the public hearing, saying Gannon’s concerns are “realistic.”
The second public hearing will be held May 19. If no one petitions to hold a special election on using general basic funds for the project, the supervisors can move forward with the project. If a petition signed by 488 registered Greene County voters asking for an election on the matter is submitted by May 15, the project would not move forward until after that election. The earliest it could be held would be Nov. 4.
In other business, the supervisors approved closing County Roads E-18 and P-46 to vehicular traffic between Hwy 144 (U Ave) and the Boone County line. P-46 was to be closed April 14, and E-18 will be closed April 28. Detours using paved roads are marked.
County engineer Wade Weiss reported the deck on the Grimmell Rd bridge has been poured. Completion of the project should be late May.
County attorney Thomas Laehn reported a recent problem with people called to jury duty not showing up for jury selection. He said that persons who don’t come are technically in contempt of court, and that the judge has issued summonses for some of them. He said those who don’t answer their summons could be sentenced to up to six months in jail for failure to appear and that a warrant could be issued for their arrest.
Laehn also told the supervisors he is drafting a county ordinance against public fornication. That’s in response to a request for a county ordinance against public nudity. Laehn said that per the Code of Iowa, public nudity is not illegal. Laehn hopes to have the draft ordinance ready for the April 28 agenda.
Jefferson city administrator Scott Peterson provided his monthly update. After he mentioned the city’s feasibility study of sidewalks on W. Lincoln Way, Westwood Dr and Grimmell Rd, Gannon asked if there’s a plan for a sidewalk to Greene County High School. County engineer Wade Weiss offered to work with the city toward getting federal “Safe Routes to Schools” funding for part of the cost.
