Supervisors advised of financing hurdle for new Waukon fire station, reject a second offer for Makee Manor

by Bob Beach

During its regular meeting Tuesday, April 1 the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met with Tony Baxter, Chairman of the Waukon Area Fire Protection District Board, who explained the need for the Board of Supervisors' help in financing the construction of a new fire station in Waukon.
Baxter said that the Waukon Area Fire Protection District, a 28E organization, is comprised of the City of Waukon and eight area townships. He said that the Fire Board had been working towards the construction of a new fire station for over two years and had voted to proceed with the project at a cost of $1,500,000, half of which would be paid by the City of Waukon and the other half by the townships. Baxter explained that the townships had expected to secure funding for their portion of the project cost through loans, but had recently learned that neither 28E organizations nor townships are legally authorized to borrow money directly from lending institutions.
Baxter said that Allamakee Clayton Electric Coop is prepared to submit a loan application for a zero-percent interest USDA loan of $680,000 for the project (half of which would be borrowed by the City of Waukon) and that Waukon State Bank has expressed willingness to loan the fire district the remaining portion of the project costs, $410,000, at 3.25% interest. He explained that the recent revelation that neither the Fire Board nor the townships are legally authorized to enter into those loan agreements now has the Fire Board searching for an authorized entity, such as the Board of Supervisors, to apply for the loans on behalf of the townships.
Baxter said that the City of Waukon is unwilling to act in that capacity due to concerns about its debt limitation, which is already nearing the maximum legally allowed after borrowing $750,000 for the City's half of the project cost. He further explained that the townships generate sufficient revenue annually to pay back the loans and that a substantial amount of money will be lost if the project is not funded and completed within a certain timeframe.
Allamakee County Attorney Jill Kistler said that she would work with City Attorney Jim Garrett and the City of Waukon's bond attorney to come up with a solution. Later in the week, Kistler reported that the Board of Supervisors will need to hold a public hearing in order to issue bonds on behalf of the townships, but before that public hearing can be scheduled the townships will need to make a formal request to the Board to issue the bonds. Kistler said that no special election or bond referendum would be necessary.
The Board also met with Stacie Cooper of Sweeney Real Estate to further discuss the offer made by Richard and Liz Seibert to purchase the Makee Manor building and surrounding property for $70,000. Cooper said that the Seiberts feel that the Board is "not committed to selling the property." She said that the Seiberts do not want to submit a business plan to the Board until after their offer has been accepted because doing so would make their plans for the property a matter of public record and could be used by others to submit a competing offer. Cooper added that while the offer made by Bob and Kristi Hager had been officially rejected by the Board, the Hagers have made a verbal offer to negotiate the terms of their offer further.
Supervisor Sherry Strub said that she could not justify accepting an offer of $70,000 when the Board had already rejected the offer of $80,000 from the Hagers. She said that at this point, she would like to see the County get rid of the building and keep the land. "The bottom line," she said, "is where are we going to put the justice center?"
Supervisor Dennis Koenig said that he believes that the Board's expectations were too high going into the listing of the property for sale. He said that the Seiberts' offer brought to light more negatives than positives about the property, but at the same time, he has had many people tell him, "if you sell that property for $70,000 you gotta be crazy." He added, "It's not about the money, it's about the jobs," and without a business plan, he would vote to reject the Seiberts' offer.
Chairman Larry Schellhammer said that the Board's hopes to create jobs by selling the property haven't been realized. He said that he is also concerned that the building represents a liability and that it would "morally not be a good thing to pass the liability on to someone else." On that basis, he said, he would be inclined to reject the Seiberts' offer and to allow the listing agreement with Sweeney Real Estate to expire. Schellhammer added that he appreciates the efforts by Stacie Cooper and Jack Sweeney to find buyers for the property.
The Board then voted unanimously to reject the Seiberts' offer and to take no action with regard to renewing the listing agreement with Sweeney Real Estate, which expired April 7.

In other business, the Board met with Sally Leibold of the River Agency, which provides services to victims of sexual assault in northeast Iowa. She said that April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and informed the Board that one in five women will be sexually assaulted at some time in their lives. The Board agreed to sign a proclamation declaring April to be Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Allamakee County and encouraging all citizens to learn more about how to prevent sexual violence.
The Board also met with County Engineer Brian Ridenour, who presented the Board with a plan for a concrete overlay of Prairie Drive from the Waukon city limit to West Ridge Road (about two miles). The Board approved the plans for the project, which Ridenour said should begin this summer.