The Henry County Board of Supervisors held their regular board meeting on Thursday, August 22 at the Henry County Courthouse. The first item on the agenda was discussion on the TIF rebate and incentives for the developers of the Hershey Apartment Project located on the former Iowa Wesleyan Campus. The plans for the project include reconstructing Hershey Hall into a 22-unit apartment complex. Mike Norris from the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission (SEIRPC) explained the process and next steps in coordinating the TIF rebate, which include establishing the area as an Urban Renewal Area (URA). While there is ongoing litigation between the Henry County Assessor Board of Review and the developer on the valuation of the property, the Henry County Supervisors have asked SEIRPC to draw up a contract to complete the URA work on their behalf. The contract will be presented to the Supervisors at their regular board meeting on September 19, 2024.
Supervisor Marc Lindeen gave his subcommittee report on the most recent meeting of the Great River Regional Waste Authority. He noted the county is allowed to dump up to 50 tons at no cost to the county. He suggested if there were no major construction projects that needed to haul waste, the county should allocate those tons to Jake Hotchkiss, Henry County Engineer for cleanup on county roads.
Supervisor Greg Moeller led the discussion on a check request the county has received. The check in question was issued from the county to the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility on May 5, 2022, in the amount of $17, 822.50 for April 2022 meals for the Henry County Sheriff’s Department. The Superviors canceled the check on July 6, 2023, because it was not deposited by the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility. And, according to the Iowa Code, unclaimed checks may be canceled after a year has passed. While the time to request a reissued check has passed and the supervisors are not legally required to remit the payment, the discussion centered around whether they should pay the $17,822.50. There is a strong working relationship between the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility and the Henry County Sheriff’s Department which the Supervisors are considering. On the other hand, the money is not in the budget for this fiscal year and would cause headaches to adjust funds in an already tight budget. Supervisor Greg Moeller motioned they table this discussion until the next board meeting when Supervisor Chad White would be back and able to give input on it.
Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee presented a contract between the Henry County Sheriff’s Department and the New London Community School District for a School Resource Officer (SRO). The two parties had an agreement last year, however this year the school district requested a change in deputies and for the SRO to go to full time status versus part time. With the help of the Henry County Attorney’s Office, the Sheriff presented a contract to the Board of Supervisors for review. The contract has not been presented to the school district yet; that comes next. The Supervisors motioned to approve the Henry County Sheriff to present this contract to the New London School District and begin negotiations to place a full time Henry County Sheriff Deputy as a SRO in their buildings.
The meeting ended after the public comment portion, which included comments from citizens about the Hershey Apartment Project TIF rebate, overtime for deputies contracting out as SROs, and operational inefficiencies that can be found in the different offices of the Henry County Courthouse.