Green proud of foundation built for Lone Tree’s future

Posted 12/26/19

Jon Green takes pride in the rapport he and the City Council has with Lone Tree residents.

Green steps down Dec. 31 after two years as mayor of the southern Johnson County town.

“I feel …

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Green proud of foundation built for Lone Tree’s future

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Jon Green takes pride in the rapport he and the City Council has with Lone Tree residents.

Green steps down Dec. 31 after two years as mayor of the southern Johnson County town.

“I feel like I have a real good rapport with the citizens of town,” he said in an interview last week. “We were approachable, and everybody felt that they were heard.”

Green looks at his two years as a start, not a finish.

“I think we have made some good progress. We have a lot of stuff started,” he said. “You can only get so much done in two years.”

He added that he takes a long-term view of his accomplishments.

“It’s like planting a tree,” Green said. “You plant a tree for your kids.”

One of those long-term projects is the renovation of the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

“That’s something that started long before my term,” Green said. “Hopefully, they will be breaking ground on it next spring.”

Tied to the wastewater treatment plant work is the increase in sewer rates to help pay for the $6 million-plus project. Those increases were not popular.

“I think we really set a tone that even when we did things that folks might not have agreed with in terms of increasing sewer rates or whatnot, we were transparent, we were approachable, and everybody felt that they were heard,” he said.

Another long-term project is hiring a city administrator.

“I think its time is coming,” he said.

He said the council was gun shy on an expensive hire given that the final costs on the wastewater treatment plant are unknown.

“Six million bucks, that’s a hell of a lot of money,” Green said, noting its three times the city’s annual budget.

Earlier this year, Green urged the council to consider hiring an administrator to take on some of the tasks currently done by the mayor.

“It’s a difficult job to do when you have another job,” he said.

He sees an administrator being able to advocate for the community better than “a part-time, non-professional mayor.”

He said his employer – Cambridge Investment Research in Fairfield – gave him a flexible schedule that allowed him to devote close to 40 hours per week to the mayor’s job.

“I feel I have been able to attend more meetings than someone who worked full time out of town would be able to do,” he said.

Still there are things he wishes he would have been able to do during his term. He wants to see Lone Tree develop a comprehensive plan that looks decades into the future.

He regrets not getting further on having a community discussion to develop a strategic plan for the city.

“What I hope is that the mayor-elect and the council moving forward will allow me to stick around and help in whatever way I can,” Green said. “I hope I am able to help with the follow-through even when I am no longer in office.”

Green has met with Mayor-elect Joanne Havel numerous times.

“Fortunately, Joanne and I have a good relationship,” he said.

His advice for her: “The most important part of the job is listening and consensus building.”

Important issues in the coming years include getting broadband Internet access available throughout town, economic development that could include expansion of the city to the north and getting a grocery store back in town.

“I think it would be significant for Lone Tree to have a grocery store in town again,” Green said. “This stuff takes time, but I hope that we have managed to set a foundation that subsequent administrations can build upon.”