(Okoboji)– The Okoboji City Council voted unanimously last night to contribute money to the YMCA and Lakes Art Center projects.
The YMCA funding request drew a discussion that went on for well over an hour…with a standing room only crowd jamming their way into council chambers. Several said the city should NOT give money to a non-profit organization…saying it could harm private enterprise. But councilman Jim Delperdang said the city has contributed to non-profit organizations in the past and there’s no evidence it harmed the private sector.
There was also concern on where the 25-thousand dollars a year over 10 years is going to come from. Councilman David Thoreson said a portion would come from the marketing portion of the city’s lodging tax. That drew fire from Chamber of Commerce Executive Tom Kuhlman. He said reducing tourism through decreased marketing would send the whole area backward. Council members said they don’t want to get involved in that argument right now. They say they’ll discuss where the money is coming from during budget time.
The funding request from the Lakes Art Center didn’t receive nearly the discussion. After hearing a presentation from the center’s director, the council voted unanimously to contribute 100-thousand dollars over 10 years. The original request was for five years.
A request for the city to pay 14,600-dollars to extend a sanitary sewer line to the art center was rejected. Council members said it’s city policy for developers and property owners to pay for such extensions.
