The City of Mount Vernon will be investigating a potential addition to the Lester Buresh Family Community Wellness Center that could add a community daycare to the space. OPN Architects will be investigating potential designs and costs for adding a daycare to the center.
City administrator Chris Nosbisch said that the look to add the daycare center began after the recommendation for the new pool concluded and ruled out an indoor pool at the LBC as an option.
The city, Mount Vernon School District and Cornell College have continued discussions on the need for more daycare options in the community.
Nosbisch said that after speaking with mayor Tom Wieseler and a visit to Mahaska County YMCA in Marshalltown, who has a daycare attached to their fitness center, the idea started getting more traction to at least investigate.
“The challenge for any daycare option is always catering to infants to toddlers,” Nosbisch said. “We know that any childcare solution in these communities is going to need to be subsidized to a degree.”
Nosbisch said if the option only houses 50 children, at a cost of a few million, it might not be worth exploring.
The goal is to see the square footage that can be used to the northwest of the LBC. There is a possibility for some grant funding for the project.
Nosbisch said the city is not excited to be in the daycare business, but feels that researching this option for housing a daycare is worth looking at.
Council member Craig Engel said that the school system continues looking at a fourth building that will help them expand their own childcare options. Mayor Tom Wieseler said that discussion happened at a work session of the school board a few weeks ago, and it might take them four to five years to have the funding for another building project.
Nosbisch said even if that continues, there is probably still going to be a need for another daycare option as well.
“We’re looking to cater to different ages of kids,” Nosbisch said. “They may be looking to increase the number of 3-year-old and 4-year-old daycare options.”
Council member Stephanie West said she is glad to see the city investigating this option.
“The need in the community is so great, and this would be money well spent to discover if it is feasible,” West said.
Nosbisch said he expected LBC staff to be more resistant to the idea, but both Sarah Boots and Matt Siders saw this as a great potential addition to the center.
“As long as we’re involved in governance for the common good, we need to engage in this issue,” Wieseler said.
Nosbisch said that this is also a connected issue in this community.
“We need to see some growth in our community to sustain valuation increases for our tax base,” Nosbisch said. “You can’t convince families to move to a community without daycare options or opportunities. If you can’t convince new families to move to the community, you’re going to continually see issues in enrollment numbers.”
Engel said that a survey conducted this spring showed 34 businesses and 344 individuals felt an investment in child care would be a good investment in the community.
“This is a huge source of stress for many in our community, and this is an opportunity to make something better for the community,” West said.