Work on the new Greene County jail is on schedule. Sheriff Jack Williams reported at the May 12 county supervisors that half the footings are poured and he expects the second half to be poured yet this week.
He said earlier that after the footings are poured not much more will be done until the precast walls are delivered, probably in July.
Completion of the jail is expected during the fall of 2026.
Also at the meeting, county engineer Wade Weiss reported that work on the resurfacing of County Road P-46 is going well and that paving will start the second week in June. The weather has set the project back about one week.
Work on the south approach to the Grimmell Rd bridge in Jefferson is complete, although work remains on the shoulders and guardrails. Contractors will begin work on the north approach this week.
Work cannot be done in the river from May 15 through July 31 because of Topeka shiners in the river. Low flow structures placed in the river during construction will need to remain there until August. They can be removed after construction is complete, Weiss said.
The bridge will be open June 1, Weiss hopes.
He also mentioned that the Iowa Department of Transportation is doing a lot of work in Greene County this year and referenced the Highway 30 Coalition, which has been working toward having a four-lane Highway 30 across the entire state. Weiss said that all the work being done now raises questions. “There’s questioning if that’s to stop four lane construction. We’re wondering. It’s nice we have improvements here, but they’re long overdue. We’ll have a lot of construction going on in the next two years on U.S. 30,” Weiss said.
He and supervisor Joe Gannon, who replaces retired supervisor Mick Burkett as the county’s representative on the U.S. 30 Coalition, will have discussion with the DOT. “We want our options to remain open, especially in the Ogden and Carroll areas,” he said.
City administrator Scott Peterson said during his monthly update that the pickleball court at Russell park will likely open some time this week. He said the bid was let on the airport fuel farm project and he anticipates the city will follow through with the project. It will upgrade the aviation gas system and add jet fuel at the Jefferson airport.
The reported single stream recycling has been in place for a year and that the number of users is at 900 households, twice the number of households that recycled before. He also said tonnage is 50 percent higher than before.
Peterson expressed his appreciation to the board and engineer Weiss for their work on the Grimmell Rd bridge. The city provided some funds for it, since it’s in the Jefferson city limits, but as a farm to market road, it also qualified for other state funds. He said the project “has gone fantastic from the city perspective, and we appreciate the great working relationship,” Peterson said.
The supervisors approved the second reading of the ordinance prohibiting sex acts in public. The third reading will be at the May 19 meeting, with the ordinance being in effect once it is published in the official newspapers of the county.
