The Mason City City Council met Tuesday evening and OK’d an agreement with Cargill to provide financial incentives in return for Cargill creating new jobs and expanding their plant. The meeting was chippy early and often, and then adjourned early before a grant for the NIACC Pappajohn Center’s Micro-Enterprise program could be voted on.|
The Mason City City Council met Tuesday evening and OK’d an agreement with Cargill to provide financial incentives in return for Cargill creating new jobs and expanding their plant.
Cargill will make a total new investment of $12.55 million in building improvements, machinery and equipment. This is in addition to the $3 million cost for the expansion of the existing facility.
Cargill would also be required to create 20 new jobs, maintained throughout the life of the agreement.
Click here for more info on the Cargill expansion.
The meeting started at nearly ten minutes after seven o’clock, the regular starting time, as the council and mayor were in a closed session meeting and it ran late. In that closed session meeting, the council and mayor agreed to move item 19, the Cargill agreement, up one place on the agenda, ahead of item 18, which was a grant request of $9,750 for the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center for a Micro-Enterprise Program, brought forward by Council member Scott Tornquist.
That item was never discussed, as three council members, Jeff Marster, Max Weaver and Don Nelson, got up and left the meeting when the meeting reached the item. That move effectively ended the council meeting, as a quorum is required, and the meeting was adjourned. The Micro-Enterprise issue failed on this night, but “we’ll just bring it back on the next agenda,” Council member Scott Tonrquist was heard saying as the meeting ended.
This is all a part of a political game being played between proponents of funding the Micro-Enterprise program and those against funding it. The council is split 3-3 in support of the issue, but Mayor Eric Bookmeyer favors funding the program. By asking for a grant size of under $10,000, the mayor can vote and break the deadlocked council. By ending the meeting and walking out, the three council members against funding the program stalled the issue by not allowing it to come to a vote.
In other business, the council deadlocked 3-3 on whether to help out a Mason City citizen whose shed was demolished by city workers digging in his back yard. The city would have paid $1,000 to help re-build the shed. Council member Janet Solberg moved to postpone the issue, despite the fact that the man has been waiting months for a resolution to the issue. Council member Scott Tornquist seconded her motion. Mayor Bookmeyer broke that tie, voting to postpone. The council and mayor will hold a work session to work out a policy on paying claims to citizens not covered by insurance.
Everything else on the agenda passed with little or no discussion.
Watch video of the entire city council meeting:
