MONROE — The Green County Board of Supervisors recently elected new officers, welcomed new members and approved a $5.8 million bond sale to continue funding restoration of the historic courthouse downtown.

That’s according to Jerry Guth, who was named chair of the county board during a recent meeting May 10.

“As a chair I have a few extra duties, but it’s still the board who makes all of the decisions,” he said, adding that priorities he’d like to emphasize going forward include ongoing maintenance and facility-related issues at the county jail and highway buildings.

At the county organizational meeting, Guth was picked from among the nominees Kristi Leonard, Barb Krattiger, Michael Furgal, Russ Torkelson, Roger Truttmann, Richard Thoman, Harvey W. Kubly, Harvey Mandel and Jody Hoesly. Leonard was elected as county board first vice-chair.

The ongoing courthouse renovation is at something of a crossroads, Guth said, with the full board still to decide whether to increase spending for the clock tower portion of the project by about $2.7 million.  The original project cost of about $800,000 for the courthouse rose to about $1.7 million as structural issues discovered within the building led to major change orders and additional work.

 If not approved, he said, the protective scaffolding erected around the 130-year-old building might have to remain for safety reasons. That would not only be an unattractive option, he said, but also could impact county operations.

“It’s an important and iconic building, and we need the office space,” Guth said of the downtown courthouse. “The idea of tearing it down was never, ever considered.”

Another issue facing the new board under his term as chair is the question of how to spend about $7.2 million of funds distributed to the county from COVID-19 related assistance from the federal government.

An ad-hoc committee has been meeting for a few months to establish priorities, Guth said. The money can generally be earmarked for a number of projects including to replace public revenue loss, public health, premium pay for essential workers, water and sewer work; and broadband access.

Once the ad-hoc committee makes its report it will forward it for review by the county finance committee, and then the full county board. Guth said steps have been taken to ensure the money has an impact on Green County.

“We need to get the biggest bang for the buck possible,” he said, noting that the same rule applies to any future tax issues that may be reviewed by the new board.