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Monona Council gives blessing for bandstand improvements

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The Monona Council, at its regular meeting March 6, gave its blessing for a proposed $31,695 in improvements to the 100-year-old Monona City Park bandstand. City administrator Dan Canton said improvements will include foundation work, painting, new shingles on the roof and sidewalk repairs around the bandstand. (NIT file photo)

Hotel/motel feasibility study looks promising

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

The Monona Council, at its regular meeting March 6, gave its blessing for a proposed $31,695 in improvements to the 100-year-old Monona City Park bandstand.

City administrator Dan Canton said improvements will include foundation work, painting, new shingles on the roof and sidewalk repairs around the bandstand. 

Chris Schlee and Gary Goyette, whom mayor Fran Passmore said have considerable knowledge and experience with restoration projects, will perform the work.

“We’re comfortable with the work these individuals would do,” she assured the council. “We’re doing it the right way.”

Half the funding for the project has already been secured, said Monona Chamber and Economic Development Executive Director Rogeta Halvorson, who’s part of the bandstand restoration committee along with Passmore and other individuals in the community.

Passmore said fliers, seeking contributions from city residents, are ready to be mailed. Significant donors will be recognized with a plaque inside the bandstand, once improvements have been completed, she noted.

“The chamber will help promote it and make everyone feel like they’re a part of it, as a community,” Halvorson said of the project.

Councilman Dan Havlicek said he anticipates a good response from the community, quipping, “I think you’ll be surprised how fast you’ll raise the money.”

Passmore agreed, stating, “I’m confident. A lot of people have wanted this project done for a long time.”

Work on the bandstand is anticipated to begin this spring, Passmore said, in hopes that it will be completed before summer, when several events are set to take place in the city park.

Hotel/motel feasibility study

After evaluating initial research, the signs are positive that Monona would be a good fit for a hotel or motel, said Mike Linder, with Hotel R&D, LLC, whom the council hired last month to perform a hotel/motel feasibility study for the city.

“All the signs are there,” Linder told the council. “Right now, it’s looking pretty good.”

Linder said his hopes are buoyed by increasing occupancy rates and strong room tax data from nearby hotels in communities like Marquette, Prairie du Chien and Decorah—places travelers might go since Monona does not offer lodging accommodations. 

“Clayton County is definitely an up-and-comer,” he said.

Linder said he gleans some information by talking with other hotels, estimating the percentage of their business that comes from people visiting Monona, whether it’s for business, a family function or recreation. 

He also speaks with the city’s and surrounding area’s top employers, to learn about the business demand for modern lodging. In order to gauge the needs of the community, “I will talk to local businesses and people in the know,” Linder mentioned. “We’re looking at people who have no place to stay, where they’re staying and how the area hotels are doing.”

The information Linder is gathering is for the first phase of a hotel/motel study. Since he is not finished, Linder said he could not definitively say whether a hotel or motel would work in the community, just that it looked promising. If the first phase shows positive results, the second phase could tackle the type of hotel, the number of rooms and other more specific details, Linder stated.

Subdivision lot development

The council approved utilizing Fehr-Graham, of West Union, to perform engineering  for a street extension in the Gordon Residential Subdivision. 

The infrastructure extension, said Canton, would include sewer, water and curb and gutter, allowing for development of lot 19 in the subdivision. Plans would be to create a cul de sac of five residential lots out of the larger lot, he explained.

Canton said the estimated cost for the extension is $126,000. Jim Moritz, with Monona Enterprises, said Monona Enterprises plans to give the city $5,000 for each lot, to help pay for the infrastructure costs. That leaves a $100,000 investment for the city.

Canton said the city could borrow the money from itself, then use a tax increment finance (TIF) district to capture revenue once homes are built in order to pay off the debt.

The council was on-board with the idea, with councilman John Elledge noting that infrastructure needs to be created in the area anyway.

“To do this small cul de sac is reasonable,” Havlicek said.

“You get a lot of bang for your buck,” Canton added. “You get five lots on a very small investment.”

Halvorson was also pleased with the plan, sharing that Clayton County plans to add between 155 and 175 jobs this year.

“We need to be ready with some homes,” she said. “I think it’s great to be on the front end. We don’t want to lose out.”

Moritz said a contractor has already expressed interest in constructing a home this year.

Casey’s General Store

Canton said he received notice from Casey’s General Store that the convenience store it’s currently constructing on Falcon Avenue/Main Street, next to Birdnow Chevrolet, plans to open on Wednesday, April 12.

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