MASON CITY – The Mason City council met at noon at city hall on the second floor and voted to move forward with the downtown Renaissance project.
There were four items on the agenda; all were approved by a vote of 4-0. (At-large councilman Paul Adams was not in attendance, and one seat on the council is open, but will be filled after an election on Tuesday, September 19.)
The meeting and affirmative votes paved the way for bid on the hotel / skywalk construction, museum construction and renovations to Music Man Square connected to the Renaissance project. Bids will be accepted until October 17. Gatehouse of Mason City, LLC has already been selected as the developer of choice for the hotel by the city council and the Mason City Foundation as the developer of choice for the museum and renovations to Music Man Square. But, if any other bids are better, the council may consider those.
ARTIST RENDERINGS SUBMITTED TO NIT:
…I see by the pictures of the proposed “build”, that the traffis will be flowing both ways ie: north and south on Delaware when this is finished???
They’re just renderings where not everything shown is true to life. These are far from construction documents
I admit I’m a simple man. This downtown stuff is more than I can digest but from what I read this is not a good thing for MC. The mall was a travesty and now the politicians are doubling down. A few out of state people will get rich. Even if I have to pay more in property taxes, it’s a big no for me.
What have you read and where have you read it? Whatever the previous investment in the mall was is immaterial. It’s a sunk cost. Don’t let emotional investments if the past cloud opportunities that are in front of you now.
Your right, let’s just build another money pit.
Sunk cost fallacy. One of a few key reasons this town doesn’t grow. That and the demographics of our workforce and the unprofessional conduct that occurs at city council meetings. We work dilligently at fixing these 3 things, and this town will grow again.
I have been hearing that for years. I heard it when they first built the mall. Then I heard it with the Park Inn, then I heard it with Northbridge. The only ones that benefit are the rich. The rest of us pay for it and get zero benefit. The Chamber of Commerce should be disbanded. They are the force behind all this wasteful spending.
Real LVS- I am still undecided on this issue so help me out if you can. How much money out of pocket have you had to pay for the mall, Northridge and the park inn. By knowing that it will help me decide…..Thanks for your help
27 million in taxpayer dollars went to pay for the mall only to have it all given away in bankruptsy and now they want to give the rest away on a ice rink. Northbridge is still being paid for by the taxpayers. Cost overrun after overrun on this project. It damn near shut down the North End for months and dozens of small business went under because of it. Then you have Central Park that was tied into the park Inn, budgeted for $500,000 and actual cost of over one million due to change orders by the administrator. Then of course the Park Inn. Just how much money have you seen in your pocket due to all these save the town projects?
We see that this is where all the haters in mason city hang out. matt better send you all a Christmas gift with the money he garnered from the city. hope no prospective companies read all this garbage the citizens post from this area
Who’s “we”
who’s anonymous?
Well said MR FOSTER .
Penny wise, pound foolish best describes your financial strategy.
Unfortunately, there is a common misunderstanding of just what taxpayers will be stuck with on this mega million-dollar project. I keep hearing the comment that it won’t be a direct cost to the taxpayers, or the project isn’t being funded by property tax dollars, both of which are misleading.
Who do you think will pay the interest on the 20-year, $3.5 to $4.3 million bond loan to Gatehouse Capital to build their hotel? TAXPAYERS!!
Who do you think will foot the $2.5 million cost for construction of the skywalk between the hotel and Music Man Square, plus yearly maintenance? TAXPAYERS!
So, I hope taxpayers will demand an accounting from City Officials on exactly how much this project will cost them over the next 20 years.
PS: After all, none of them will be in office by that time!
Lionel, the citizens of the city fail to realize with a just completed real estate property appraisal adjustment of the properties in the county it is inevitable that property taxes will be increasing in the near future. so keep that in mind when deciding on how to vote
Your point is unrelated. The increases in property taxes are because Iowans kept voting Terry Branstad into office and supported his commercial property tax breaks to corporations because they erroneously believed this program would somehow equate to increase in jobs.
A fun stat…When Chet Culver left office, Iowa was in the top 15 for job growth. Today? Iowa is ranked 40-something for job growth.
Vote NO TO MAX WEAVER, YES TO MASSON. TIME FOR NEW PEOPLE, NOT RECYCLED POLITICIANS
VOTE MAX WEAVER, THEN VISIT HIS PARK, AND WITNESS SOME MC HISTORY. A GOOD TIME WILL BE HAD BY ALL.
Vote for the guy that opposed the target distribution center and casino, yet endorsed strip clubs?
At Anonymous September 16, 2017 at 6:23 pm
Are you sure about that, you have proof of course.
hey dude, think the point of the post is that property taxes will be going up in the near future, not political affiliation. where do you think the grant money is coming from? it’s coming from the state coffers which in turn is paid for by state taxes and that includes property taxes. the increases are not just a political party exclusive but is from all elected representatives spending the tax money foolishly on things not needed like this handout to communities around the state
I have no political affiliation. I’m just stating facts. This latest round of property assessments (and this is occurring everywhere in Iowa, not just in Mason City) is ALL because of Branstads commercial property tax cuts. So when your property tax bill goes up, you can thank Branstad voters and sleep well knowing that corporations like Walmart and Target have reaped the greatest benefit.
Those are both very small numbers compared to the $35M in investment that would be leveraged from it. A pretty good deal if you ask a reasonably intelligent person.
Where’s the eight thousand people in support of this, chime in anytime, jump on the band wagon, give your two cents.etc
why should we? we know how we are voting
I’m talking about the eight thousand people that (you) say that you have that support this. You know, your comment in the whiners den, (our group has surveyed over 8000 mason citizens who will vote yes) Where’s their support on this topic. I’d figure that they would have jumped on this site to show their support, like you have.
Merkel said it will be goood for you !!!
Just call it T. I. F. = Stiff the general public ! They say it will cost you nothing -Something for nothing is a bald face lie – Ebay – item is 1.00 + 5.00 shipping. These elected officials are not to be trusted – ever heard of bribes/lobbyists/corruption/stupidity ??
In your personal finances, if you could get $100k in assets for $25k cash, you wouldn’t take that deal?!?!
( if you could get $100k in assets for $25k cash) if, is the key word. If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.
I think with a worthwhile, big ticket project I and most citizens would be glad to support it BUT THIS IS NOT IT!!! This is a bad deal and voting NO does not make you a bad citizen, just a smart consumer.
Janet Solberg needs to work on her “look”
Here she looks like:
grow up and start acting like an adult instead of a teenage bully. what an a-hole you must be in real life
Lighten up little Mary.
you must be a real gem too if you support degrading comments about someone? act your age instead of your i.q. dude
So where have you been when the owner of this site has degraded so many people.
Selective support perhaps?
Get real “dude”.
Hey dude the person with so called bully comments can do what they want when they want and that’s toooooo sweeeeet!
People don’t we still get to vote on it?
This outta really bolster the tourists between the ages 60-75
Yes, the baby boomer generation, they are the only generation that can afford to travel, because they actually worked for a living.
OR the only ones who care about all these really cool tourist “attractions”
Leaders that care nothing about the taxpayers who get stuck paying for all this nonsense.
According to a lot of what I’ve read and heard taxpayers will not be footing this bil directly
So which is it are the taxpayers paying for this or are State grants and private dollars paying for this?
I am still undecided on this issue.
Yes, It is funded largely by private investment and a state fund.
Don’t believe that lying crap. It always comes back to the taxpayer footing the bill. Where do you think state funds come from? They said the same thing when the mall was built and we ended up paying 27 million dollars of taxpayer money. Then they pulled the same crap with Northbridge, and we are still paying for that. They lie to get what they want and then disappear and we are left with the bill.
You are so misinformed on so many levels LVS.
I sincerely doubt the accuracy of these numbers. Source?
You couldn’t understand it if I told you. Suffice to say it came from previous council members that were involved.
Good morning LVS, you lily-livered, mindless and imbecilic old goat.
Another fine day is ahead for you to get out there, delete comments and prove to the world what useless old POS that you are.
You should be celebrating today as it is National Dumbass day, a day set aside for stupid old geezers just like you.
And cheer up as next week is Nation Ass-Kissers week, a week that acknowledges butt-kissing boot lickers of which you are so proficient at.
So here is a a double shoutout to you LVS, you Dumbass Ass-kisser!
So in other words, you just made those dollar amounts up
Don’t believe that lying crap. It always comes back to the taxpayer footing the bill. Where do you think state funds come from? They said the same thing when the mall was built and we ended up paying 27 million dollars of taxpayer money. Then they pulled the same crap with Northbridge, and we are still paying for that. They lie to get what they want and then disappear and we are left with the bill.
Whenever you hear the words GRANTS will pay for this, stop and think where the grant money comes from. And then you hear it doesn’t have to be paid back!! It comes out of your paycheck in the form of taxes you pay if you are a worker bee.
OK, good information. Now can anyone answer me this question have those taxes already been taken out of my paycheck? If I vote yes on this and we get state grant money is it money I’ve already paid that will go to some other city if we don’t use it? Or is it money that I will pay in the future out of my paycheck so if I vote no that state grant money will never come out of my paycheck?
The state money already exists and the funds will go to another city if Mason City doesn’t use them. There are no ‘new’ taxes needed for this state money.
why not let the money go back to the state? it’s time to stop such foolish spending of the state’s taxpayers money with this silly state government program. put the money back in the state coffers for needed items of the citizens of the state.
OK, so if the money is already there and we either use it or lose it to another city and the rest of the project is by private funding then somebody give me a reason why I should vote you no.
State funds for quality of life enhancing projects are badly needed. Without these investments, Iowa will continue to lose jobs to states which are better able to attract the workforce that new economy employers require.
I highly doubt that a hotel is considered a “quality of life” feature for current residents. furthermore, if you look back since the start of this boondoggle, the change in the original plan to the current plan shows no real thoroughly thought out consideration for future downtown restorations or additions. the layout has been hastily put together with the sole intentions of grabbing state money. not a good approach to enhancing the quality of life for the future of the city
VOTE NO TO MAX WEAVER
A hotel is not a quality of life enhancing amenity. But a multi purpose arena where residents can see shows and sports absolutely is. This project isn’t about a hotel. It’s about the multi purpose arena and millions of dollars in state funds are only available if private investment accompanies the project. The hotel is the private investment needed to access the state funds.
A narrative the town curmudgeons try to run with (because they are trying to be misleading) is calling this a ‘sheet of ice’. This isn’t a hockey arena. It’s a multi purpose entertainment venue where the main tenant happens to be a hockey team. The tennants (the hockey club and the traveling shows/concerts) pay the operational expenses.
The key word here is, directly.