Supervisors hear of success of Boone/Greene County Probation program
~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
The Greene County board of supervisors, chaired by supervisor Dawn Rudolph in the absence of John Muir, heard a resolution at their meeting on Oct. 31 to support Operation Green Light in support of veterans.
The resolution recognizes the accomplishments of veterans in “maintaining freedoms and way of life enjoyed by citizens” and ways veterans continue to serve in communities after leaving the military.
The resolution also calls attention to high levels of stress often experienced by veterans during transition to civilian life and higher risk of suicide in the first year after leaving the military.
The board of supervisors voted to make Greene County a “Green Light for Veterans County” and designated November 7-13 as “a time to salute and honor the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform transitioning from Active Service.”
To observe Operation Green Light, the resolution asks residents of the county to display a green light in a window at their homes and work “to recognize the importance of honoring all those who made immeasurable sacrifices to preserve freedom.”
All supervisors present voted to approve the resolution.
Veterans Day is observed on November 11 each year.
In other business, the board heard an update of the Boone and Greene County Probation program by Diane Hinderaker, director of the program.
Hinderaker reported the program served 99 Greene County adult clients in 2021. She said 69 percent of the clients were male and 31 percent were female. The rate of clients re-offending was 2 percent, according to Hinderaker, making the program “highly successful.”
Greene County Medical Center can do drug testing, and New Opportunities can do substance abuse evaluations and drug classes, according to Hinderaker.
County attorney Thomas Laehn also spoke of the program as a “huge success.”
“Recidivism rates are down 50 percent, according to sheriff Jack Williams and (Jefferson chief of police) Mark Clouse,” he said.
“We still do informal probation to the sheriff,” Laehn said. “Violent crime is 80 percent down from 2016.”
Hinderaker said a current problem is “the opportunity to do (court imposed) jail time” due to lack of space.
Hinderaker said her program will need to re-negotiate the contract with Greene County for services. She said the pilot program in 2020 was with 20 clients from the county and Boone/Greene County Probation was paid $8,515, and the number of clients has grown to 99 since then.
“We need an expanded service agreement,” she said.
Attorney Laehn agreed, and said the board will be asked to approve an expanded program and funding.
Laehn also spoke of new, part-time employees needed to oversee the program and of an adult and youth community service program.
“Community service is a wonderful intervention for both adults and juveniles,” Hinderaker said.
The board heard a request from Frank Huseman of NEW Cooperative for approval of a second 45,000 gallon anhydrous ammonia (NH3) storage tank at its site 1.5 miles east of Churdan.
Huseman said the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has approved the second tank and now approval is needed from the board of supervisors in order to proceed.
The board unanimously approved the request.
Michelle Fields, information technology and drainage departments, reported working on an update to the phone system. Fields said she will put together a request for proposal and would like a committee of courthouse employees to help with the proposal and selection of vendors.
Fields requested a board member attend a meeting this week to discuss the impact of a carbon pipeline on drainage districts. She also discussed hiring a jetting company to advise about drain tile repairs in some drainage districts.
Chris Durlam gave the board cost estimates for the Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower lighting project discussed at previous board meetings.
Durlam said white LED lighting would cost about $10,000. A color-changing option would cost an estimated $21,250.
The Bell Tower Community Foundation favors the color-changing option, Durlam said.
He discussed the need for controllers and additional wiring but said, “Color-changing gives a lot of possibilities.”
Supervisor Pete Bardole, board representative to the Foundation, spoke of the need to check public art policies in regard to lighting.
The board took no action and said further discussion with the Foundation about sharing costs of the project is needed.
Engineer Wade Weiss reported city bridge funds have been approved for the Grimmell Road bridge project in the secondary roads plan in an amount more than $1 million. Weiss said county bridge funds are needed for the project. He thinks acceptance of the city bridge funds will be next year.
He also spoke to the board about on-going work to remove trees in the county’s right-of-ways.
County attorney Laehn told the board a trial expected to begin this week has been delayed and will be re-scheduled. He also said he is working on a draft for a courthouse building and grounds policy.
Sheriff Jack Williams asked the supervisors if he could hire two fulltime dispatchers. Williams said one fulltime dispatcher position is currently vacant and a second position could be open soon due to retirement.
Williams spoke about the time required for the training of new dispatchers and said he thinks he has two qualified applicants. Williams said he would like to hire them as soon as possible.
The supervisors agreed.
In a different action, the board unanimously approved the appointment of Ashley Miller as Hardin Township clerk.
