Supervisors extend contract for Boone County probation services

By Rick Morain
Jefferson Herald

The Greene County Board of Supervisors on Monday approved a general service agreement with Boone-Greene County Probation.

The probation organization has provided those services to Greene County for more than a year. The number of probationary individuals served has grown sharply during that period, and the new agreement reflects that growth.
Greene County will be charged $21,134 a year for the organization’s adult probation services program, an increase from the past year’s amount. In addition, the county will pay $14,477 a year for a new program for Greene County: adult/youth community services.

CAPITAL LOAN APPROVED FOR COMM TOWER

In other action, the board approved distribution of a preliminary official statement in connection with offering $3.3 million in general obligation (G.O.) capital loan notes to finance the new communication tower and peace officer communication equipment in the county.

Prior to approval of the resolution at the meeting, Heidi Kuhl of Northland Securities reviewed the project’s finance plan.

NOTABLE ACTION     

• The board also approved an updated investment policy proposed by county treasurer Katlynn Mechaelsen. She said she will continue to invest county funds in certificates of deposit (CDs) to earn the highest possible rates for the county’s funds. Her goal is to earn at least $100,000 in interest for the county over the next two years.

• County engineer Wade Weiss told the board he would like to opt into a new all-system overweight permit for specific county roads. He also reported that Chris Durlam would like to get the new colored LED lighting for the Mahanay Tower exterior ordered soon.

• The board approved assessed/taxable values of utility companies in Greene County for the 2022 valuation year, as presented by Pam Olerich of the county auditor’s staff. Total assessed valuation for utilities in the county is $174,442,029, with taxable valuation of $91,9l9,379. After the state rollback is figured in, the actual taxable value is $87,118,253. Utilities in the assessment chart are electric companies, gas and pipeline companies, and railroads.

• The board heard funding requests for the 2023-24 fiscal year from five organizations. The groups discussed their activities for this year and some of their proposals for the new fiscal year. As is its practice, the board took no action on the requests pending their consideration of the 2023-24 budget.

Groups requesting funding were as follows:
    - Becky Wolf for Greene County Public Health, requesting $300,000, the same amount as the current year.
    - Sid Jones and Ken Paxton for Greene County Development Corporation, requesting $50,000, the same amount as the current year.
    - Rick Hunsaker and Matt Cleveland for Region XII Council of Governments, requesting a total of $48,394.21 for various programs, a slight increase from the current year.
    - Bill Allen and Linda Ross for Elderserve II (congregate meals), requesting $11,000, the same amount as the current year.
    - Cherie Cerveny and Bill Monroe for the Children’s Center (formerly Early Learning Center), requesting $5,000, the same amount as the current year.
The board normally meets every Monday at 8:30 a.m. in the board room on second floor of the courthouse. Next week, however, the meeting will be held Tuesday morning because Monday is an official holiday for the county.