Greenbelt ordinance moves toward public hearing; new development coordinator named

Eric Larson told the Jasper County council that the Greenbelt ordinance will have its second reading and public hearing Monday at 6 p.m. in the county chambers, with a possible third reading two weeks later.

"Second reading of the ordinance for the Greenbelt program is Monday night, council meeting 06:00 in this in this chambers, and it's also public hearing for the Greenbelt..." Larson said. He said staff is preparing an RFP for a program manager but will wait to advertise until the ordinance is certain.

Larson introduced Mandy Williams as the newly hired development services coordinator who will serve as the staff liaison for the Greenbelt program. "She is our newly hired, development services coordinator and amongst her many job duties is to be the staff liaison for the Green Bell program," Larson said.

Larson said the ordinance as drafted lists an April 30 application window for the first funding round, but he cautioned the date is subject to staffing and procedural readiness: "I'm shooting for that, but if not, the second window would be in the fall." He asked municipalities to wait on application procedures until the program manager and scoring rubric are in place.

No formal vote on the ordinance occurred at the work session; the public hearing and next formal votes are scheduled at the council meeting announced for Monday evening.