The Mount Vernon City Council approved a vote in support of funding the sculpture trail project until the LOSST fund sunsets in 2034 on a 3-2 vote, with council members Mark Andresen and Paul Tuerler dissenting.
The vote, city administrator Chris Nosbisch said, was mostly symbolic, as the council can not take a vote to spend future dollars if they are not borrowing money from the fund. A $50,000 commitment is not enough to tie future council’s hands or borrow against the LOSST funds. The parks and recreation commission and Mount Vernon Area Arts Council (MVAAC) would need to come to the council to make a request for $10,000 every other year.
Bob Campagna, president of the Mount Vernon parks and recreation commission, said the commission had approved language to commit $10,000 every other year until the LOSST fund sunsets to support the sculpture trail. The commission voted unanimously to support the sculpture trail.
Campagna said alongside the funds from the City of Mount Vernon, MVAAC continues to raise funds in other years to support additions of sculptures to the trail as well.
Campagna said the first trails in the sculpture trail were highly publicized, and as the trail grows, it adds another element of economic development to the city that may attract more people to the town to see the unique sculptures.
“We know we have the money in LOSST to support this over the next decade and still complete other trail projects,” Campagna said. “It isn’t draining the coffers, but continues to offer community support in this endeavor.”
Council member Paul Tuerler asked how much private fundraising would be done over that same period that the city would be committing roughly $50,000.
Campagna said that is being organized by MVAAC and he is not able to speak on what that amount is. Council member Scott Rose said the funding from the first year of the trail project helped parks and recreation and MVAAC raise $10,000 in grants from the state for the funding of the second year of the trail, and continued support would bolster additional grant applications.
Council member Mark Andresen said he was opposed to the funding, noting the need for other trail projects that will need work in the future.
“I hear more from constituents about a bike trail connecting Mount Vernon to Cedar Rapids than I do about the sculpture trail project,” Andresen said.
Tuerler said he was not in support of this due to not enough hard planning being in place on the project.
“I struggle with LOSST funding with this sculpture trail project as it is,” Tuerler said. “With all the other expenses we’re looking at, I’m just not there.”
Tuerler said he has become more comfortable with the ask every two years by the parks and recreation commission and MVAAC, but he would struggle putting a burden like this, even symbolic, on future council’s backs.
“The sculpture trail is a nice feature, but there’s no study for the economic windfall it brings,” Tuerler said. “We have examples of how these recreational trails impact communities like Ely, or what the impact is for more ball games in our community.”
Tuerler also asked how much work has been completed on other portions of trails to make more safe routes to schools. Campagna said work is ongoing on some of those projects, but some logistics are hampering some of those trails, like a trail that connects to Davis Park.
“The crossing with Highway 1 is something that’s under the purview of the Iowa Department of Transportation, and we haven’t been able to address that with them,” Campagna said.