Funds contingent on CAT grant approval

The Crawford County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved an additional $83,333 pledge to the Crawford County Recreation & Wellness Center project.

The supervisors made the pledge dependent upon the project receiving a $1 million Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) grant from the CAT Committee of the Enhance Iowa Board.

The county’s new pledge would match identical pledges from the Denison Municipal Utilities (DMU) board and the City of Denison.

At a special meeting on December 21, the DMU board pledged an additional $250,000 to the wellness center project and offered an additional $83,333 if the city and county would each match those funds for a total of $250,000.

The City of Denison approved the $83,333 matching pledge at the January 2 city council meeting.

The supervisors covered a wide range of topics concerning the wellness center in a 50-minute discussion with wellness center committee members Tim Stuart and KR Buck on Tuesday.

Topics included the wellness center’s value as an attraction for new businesses, as a place for residents and specifically senior citizens to get exercise during the winter months, its value to area sports teams preparing for spring sports, and its economic value as a draw for events such as soccer tournaments.

Concerns were expressed last week and this week that actions by the Iowa Legislature have made the county budgeting process more difficult and that budgets will likely have to be reduced.

Supervisor Kyle Schultz made the suggestion that the new $83,333 pledge should be made as a lump sum out of the county’s general fund rather than as a pledge of about $20,000 in each of the years from 2026 through 2029.

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The supervisors spoke last week about not wanting to commit the county to expenses that had not been approved by future members of the board of supervisors.

“If we do this, it should be on our shoulders,” said Supervisor Ty Rosburg.

Chairperson Jean Heiden said the community has been working on getting a wellness center since the early 1990s and “this is the closest we’ve ever come…”

Supervisor Dave Muhlbauer, who expressed the deepest reservations among the supervisors on Tuesday, asked whether the additional pledge would make or break the project.

Buck said the funds could make or break the $1 million CAT grant that committee members will seek today (January 11) when they travel to Des Moines to make a presentation to the CAT grant board.

In December, the CAT grant board asked the wellness committee to close a $1 million gap in the funds raised to date as a requirement to be considered for the CAT grant.

Stuart said the $1 million grant could be jeopardized without the additional funds from the county, which could result in changes to the design of the facility.

Rosburg suggested making the $83,333 pledge contingent on the wellness center receiving the CAT grant.

He said it would be a good investment if it would lead to the project receiving $1 million.

The supervisors voted 4-1 to approve the additional pledge; Muhlbauer voted against.

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