~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
At the regular meeting of the Greene County board of supervisors on Mar. 1, county attorney Thomas Laehn praised county sheriff Jack Williams and county deputies for the arrest of a person who allegedly robbed the Scranton office of Peoples Bank last week. Laehn praised the evidence-collecting skills of law enforcement.
Laehn also reported convening a grand jury on Monday to choose 12 jurors who will serve for one year. According to past information given the board by Laehn, grand juries help the county attorney decide when indictments for crimes are appropriate and if the action against people charged with crimes should proceed to jury trial.
John Wells, representing NEW Cooperative located west of Cooper on Highway 4, attended the meeting through Zoom and requested formal approval from the supervisors for the installation of four 45,000-gallon propane tanks on the site.
Board chair John Muir asked if the four tanks would meet the cooperative’s future needs.
Wells said, “The tanks are being built instead of trying to use 30,000 gallon tanks. They will be located east of the feed mill (at the site south of Cooper.)”
Wells estimated the larger tanks will be ready within a month or so.
The board unanimously approved the installation. According to Wells, the state fire marshal gives final approval for the tanks if regulations are met.
NEW Cooperative recently added a feed-pelleting operation at that same location.
In other business, engineer Wade Weiss updated the board on several issues and requested agenda time at the next meeting to discuss these in depth.
One topic will be wind turbine maintenance and the effects of the wind turbine personnel transporting the heavy parts over secondary roads. Another topic will be the sale of two Freightliner tractor trucks, trade-in of trucks, and purchase of two semi tractors.
Weiss also spoke of the need to vacate the old brick Scranton secondary roads structure on County Road E-53 and find other structures for storage. The building has been used only for storage since a larger metal building was constructed one-quarter mile to the north.
In a related action, the board unanimously approved payment of $48,122.88 to Sioux City Foundry Company for plow and grader blades.
Attorney Laehn and supervisor Pete Bardole reported on progress toward the Bell Tower Foundation writing of policy for Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower music.
Laehn said, “The policy to be drafted would require Mahanay Maestros be appointed by the Greene County board of supervisors. The Foundation could nominate Maestros for approval.”
Laehn said Maestros would be able to play whatever they chose, but outside requests for music would not be allowed, according to current discussion as the draft policy is written.
Under budgetary discussion, supervisor Dawn Rudolph reported on a meeting of Central Iowa Community Services (CICS) where the per capita request for funds from the FY2022 for mental health services was dropped from $22.20 to $19.
This means the Greene County mental health services levy now comes in at $168,872.
County treasurer Katlynn Mechaelsen requested the board’s approval of a service agreement with Professional Office Services to outsource the 2020 tax statements.
Mechaelsen spoke of saving staff time and said, “The cost in-house is about $3,869 and the cost to outsource will be $3,872.50.”
The supervisors unanimously approved the service agreement with Professional Office Services.
“The cost comparison sold me,” said Muir.
