Agenda - Council - 08/12/2024 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

events. She added that she knows it will likely not bring in a ton of money, but she does not want to see the City lose the building. Mayor Kuzma said he is not looking to spend any more money than they need to; however, he thinks they need to at least get the building fixed, so it is usable. Councilmember Woestehoff asked if building maintenance funds would be able to be utilized to take care of the door and other safety issues with the building. City Administrator Hagen said any fund could be used, including building maintenance funds. He added that if the desire is to do the minimum work to secure the building and make sure it does not fall further into disrepair, then Staff can come back to the Council with the numbers for just these repairs. Councilmember Howell said that the funding for this could either come from the EDA or Park Dedication funds so it will not affect the overall budget. She noted that she would rather do the whole renovation project to get the building back into use than just continue to limp the building along. She stated that if the funding for this would increase the levy, then she would not support it; however, with funding sources outside of the levy, she is in support of the renovation. Mayor Kuzma shared that he would like to see the City have a Mississippi River Visitors Center and this building could be utilized for this. He noted that it would no longer be considered a historical building if they move forward with this. Councilmember Specht shared that he would be in favor of spending whatever they need to in order to bring the building back into use. Councilmember Musgrove said she is leaning towards using EDA funds for the renovations. She said there is a lot of potential for businesses to lease this space. Mayor Kuzma said they can send this idea to the EDA to see if they have an interest in moving forward with the renovations utilizing EDA funds. Councilmember Howell asked if the EDA were to not want to move forward with this project using EDA funds if there is an appetite from the Council to move forward with this project using Park Dedication funds. Councilmember Woestehoff said he would not be in support of using Park Dedication funds for this project. Community Development Director Hanson asked if the EDA were to oppose this if the Council would at least want to move forward with getting the door repaired and taking down the trees around the building to clean it up. Mayor Kuzma said he would be in favor of this. City Council Work Session / July 23, 2024 Page 10 of 12