City Council Minutes 2021 09 28 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes September 28, 2021 Page 4 of 5 Catherin Wessling, 514 West Fir Way, member of History Foundation, urged Council to fund the schematic design so we have the needed information for determine how best to move forward. Jessica Spanerella, 1515 Main Street, stated the museum has a great positive impact on the town and its residents. She urged the Council to fund the schematic design. Dan Mellish, 590 West Willow Court, agreed with earlier speakers that this is an important project for the community and he urged the Council to fund the schematic design. He stated this new building would be a great addition to downtown. Missy Diehl, 941 St Andrews Lane, stated investment in a museum expansion would be a great community asset. She urged funding for the project. Mayor Stolzmann stated everyone sees the value in the museum and Council has always supported expanding museum services. She would happily support expanding museum services or work on the existing buildings, However, she feels additional design work will not get us any closer to building the expansion. The cost estimates and inflation show this to be a very expensive proposal. She stated she supports the expansion if the Foundation can raise the majority of the building fund. Councilmember Fahey stated she supports funding further schematic designs of the expansion. She stated the museum is the heart of downtown and we should move this forward. The design work is needed to help the Foundation raise the funds and the City should pay for this to keep the project moving forward. Councilmember Leh stated funding the schematic design will help the City and the Foundation raise money. The museum is an important asset and he supports the funding. This is worth doing. Mayor Pro Tem Maloney stated he fully supports the museum and its programs, particularly moving things to the digital front. However, we can't do everything and we have to prioritize. He stated he doesn't see how we can afford the expansion without a ballot issue to fund it but the timing is not right to do that. He is not comfortable going forward with the design work without having a plan to fund the project. Councilmember Brown stated he would like to see a sustainable path forward and a commitment from the Foundation that they can raise the necessary funds. Director Nemechek stated previous council's wanted this schematic information as a way to determine the sustainable path forward. Henderson stated a clear City investment needs to be made before private donors will step up.