GREENE PRAIRIE PRESS
75¢
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INSIDE NEWS White Hall installs new alderman. See page A4
LOCALS
Welcome, baby Reed. See page A8
SPORTS
Alexis Pohlman breaks long standing discus record at Greenfield. See page A3
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Carrollton mayor appoints new treasurer By CARMEN ENSINGER Greene Prairie Press As one of his first major moves in his mayoral position, Carrollton Mayor Mike Snyder appointed Diane Hendricks as the new city treasurer to replace Debbie Dunlap, who has held the position for the last eight years. The position of city treasurer, as well as the positions of director of public works, chief of police and city attorney are all mayoral-appointed positions with advice and consent of the council. David Stendeback appointed Dunlap when he took over as mayor eight years ago. Dunlap replaced Suzanne Roundcount, who had held the position for many years. Mayor Joe Montanez then kept her in the position when he was elected four years ago. Hendricks has worked with city governments and municipalities for the last 18 years through her role as office manager with the Greene County Highway Department. For the last six months, on top of her duties as office manager, she has also been acting highway engineer after Highway Engineer David Marth resigned. The Greene County Board has yet to find his replacement, and she has been filling in for him until they do. “She has extensive knowledge of how things work, and I think she is going to be a good fit around here,” Snyder said. “I have every confidence that she is going to be a great asset to the city, just as she has been to the county for all these years.”
Prior to announcing his appointments, Montanez swore in Snyder. This was a very special moment for Snyder, and he brought two very special items to the swearing in ceremony. “The Bible I brought to place my hand on during the ceremony belonged to my mother,” he said. “The flag that I brought was given to me by Gene Baker on the day he left city hall as mayor of Carrollton. It hung in his office and it will now hang in my office.” Also sworn in were new Aldermen John Banghart, Gary Witt and Alderwoman Bernie Faul as well as the new city clerk, Donna Nonneman. Prior to the swearing in ceremony, Mayor Joe Montanez had a few parting words. “I have thoroughly enjoyed being your mayor and I have had a tremendous council to work with,” he said. “I would like to personally thank our police chief, public works director and city treasurer because they have all made this job really easy for me. They have been good leaders, and we have accomplished a lot in this city, and I know under the leadership of Mr. Snyder, things will continue to roll smoothly. He brings a lot of experience to the city. I leave with a hard heart, but that is what elections are all about.” One of the first items on the agenda for the newly seated board members was a request from Library Board Member Joe Harness. Harness explained that last year, when the state was offering the municipalities COVID relief money, they ini-
Carmen Ensinger/Greene Prairie Press
Carrollton Mayor Mike Snyder takes the oath of office Thursday night, May 13, from former Mayor Joe Montanez in front of a packed council room. Snyder brought his mother’s Bible to take the oath on and an American flag, which former Mayor Gene Baker gave him. Holding the Bible and the flag is Snyder's wife, Rebecca.
tially wanted it to be used for COVID-related expenses. The city had been awarded around $100,000 but had to come up with matching expenses to obtain that amount. They asked each entity within the city, including the library, to come up with possible COVIDrelated expenses, which could be used to obtain this money. The library did – to the tune of around $2,200. But then,
when the state discovered it was almost impossible for the smaller municipalities to come up with expenses to match what they had been awarded, they decided to let them use police salaries as a COVID expense, thereby letting municipalities qualify for the entire amount in one-fell swoop. Well, Carrollton took this option. While other departments have received some of
this money for items – the city hall has a new $7,000 phone system and several items were purchased for the police department, etc. – the library has been left out on any of the requests they have submitted. The bulk of the money, $60,000, at the request of Dunlap, was put into the city’s Equipment Replacement Fund. (See, TREASURER, A3)
Health insurance a bone of contention with county board By CARMEN ENSINGER Greene Prairie Press
T
ensions were running high Wednesday night at the Greene County Board meeting when it came time to discuss the county’s health insurance. Representatives Dan Snodgrass and Anne Clayton from Employee Benefits Solutions were present to discuss with county board members a less expensive insurance option for county employees that would allow the county to sustain comparable benefits to what they are providing now,
but at a much cheaper price. “The plan you have right now costs $1,108 per person for 58 employees, which comes out to a little over $64,000 per month or $771,168 a year,” Snodgrass said. “If you add in the $500 deductible you pay for each employee, it comes out to over $800,000 in insurance premiums that you are paying. So how do we become part of the solution as opposed to part of the problem?” Snodgrass said the answer is what is called a HRA or Health Reimbursement Arrangement. By implementing an HRA, the county could save $259,000 a year. The county would be paying $778 per employee for the 58 employees
for a monthly cost of $45,124, which comes to an annual expenditure of $541,488. This would save the county approximately $259,000 a year in insurance premiums. The deductible would be raised to $3,500 instead of $500, but instead of the employee paying the deductible, the county would be paying the deductible. “The way this would work is that you would take that $259,000 you would save by implementing this insurance plan and you would set it aside,” Snodgrass said. “Then, when an employee has a claim, you would pay the deductible out of this money until they reach their deductible. After that, the insurance will pay 100 per-
cent. So, in reality, the employee is out nothing.” Doing the math, if each of the 58 county employees reached their deductible, which was paid by the county, the county would expend $203,000 of the $259,000 saved by switching to the HRA. This would cut the savings to the county to $56,000. However, if only 18 of the county’s employee’s max out their deductible, the county would realize a savings of around $196,000. Greene County Clerk Debbie Banghart asked if the county could change insurance midstream and was told they could. (See, INSURANCE, A2)
School superintendents weigh in on district problems
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North Greene Prom royalty crowned Hailey Thompson and Jacob Suttles were chosen as the 2020-21 King and Queen of the North Greene Prom, which was held at Greene Gables Inn Saturday afternoon, May 15.
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By CARMEN ENSINGER Greene Prairie Press At the meeting called of the various leaders of Greene County on Thursday, May 6, at the Roodhouse Fire House, all three school superintendents were invited to share some of the good things going on in their districts along with some of the challenges they were facing. All three districts will be receiving a substantial amount of stimulus through the ESSER program. North Greene will be receiving approximately $2.7 million while Carrollton and Greenfield will receive approximately $900,000 each. With three times as much money to spend as the other two districts, North Greene can do much more than Carrollton and Greenfield. In addition to offering a summer school to give students who are lagging behind an opportunity to get caught up with instruction, they will also be providing meals to those students and door-to-door transportation to get them there. North Greene Superintendent Mark Scott said he had been talking with Greenfield Superintendent Kevin Bowman and Carrollton Superintendent Mark Halwachs about the possibility of sharing some kind of vocational center. “When it comes to vocational centers, we are far enough from Lewis and Clark and Springfield Community College to pretty much be on our own, so we have been working
together to get something set up where we can share some type of vocational center or trade back and forth between the three districts,” Scott said. “Because there is really nothing geographically close to us to take advantage of vocational classes. The trouble is, we don’t have a place to hold those classes. We will be offering dual credit classes through Lewis and Clark next year in welding, though.” Halwachs said it is an opportunity that many students really need. “We have the opportunity to help get students employed right after they get out of school, so they don’t have to leave the area when they get out of school,” Halwachs said. “A lot of students aren’t college bound when they leave high school and plan to go right into the workforce, so we would like them to be prepared.” Scott said the district has also received a mental health grant that will allow them to offer mental health services. “We are trying to get mental health services in our school district, specifically for the students,” Scott said. “We have two social workers, one at each building, but with COVID and a lack of socialization, we are seeing more mental health issues than ever. I know Mark and Kevin are, too.” Scott said if there is a mental health issue, it takes quite a while for students to get help. (See, SUPERINTENDENTS, A2)
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