By Denise Lana,
The Decorah School Board approved a purchase plan for city-owned property shown here.
Discussing hot topics of the day in detail, this For The Record focuses on the possible sale of land between the City of Decorah and the Decorah School District, recently passed by city council following a public hearing. Below are the details of the issue.
For more than 15 years, the City of Decorah, Decorah Community School District, and numerous organizations and businesses have worked diligently to establish a new elementary school in the city. After ups and downs throughout the years, it looks like the project may finally come to fruition, with the potential sale of city land to DCSD and the city’s pending purchase of 30 acres (aka Dahlen Property) for sports facilities development.
The city-owned land up for sale to DSCD consists of one parcel of land made up of the high school’s softball field and part of the high school’s baseball field, and a second parcel consisting of the ball diamond between Claiborne and Heivly, one-and-a-half tennis courts and the 48-hour parking lot/recycling area. According to City Attorney John Anderson, the property is to be purchased by DCSD for $1.9 million and includes listed properties and all the utilities.
The facilities’ use agreement with the schools allows for the city’s park and rec facilities and program to continue to operate on the school facilities without any formal written agreement currently, for 50 years or until demolished. The city will be allowed to use school facilities as well as city ball field 1 (high school softball field), and city ball field 2 and tennis courts until they are demolished. If any utilities need relocating, it will be with the council’s approval and at DCSD’s cost.
City rules require any city-owned land sale be reviewed and approved by Decorah Planning & Zoning Commission and Decorah Parks and Recreation Commission, with the sale being approved by votes of 7-0 and 5-0, respectively. The last requirement before presenting the land sale to council for final vote was a public hearing, which was held during the regular Decorah City Council Meeting Oct. 16.
Public hearing comments
Decorah Mayor Lorraine Borowski oversaw the hearing, giving each speaker four minutes to be heard, with council members remaining silent until all public input had been received.
Ten community members came forth to address the council with their questions and concerns.
Herb Hageman, 300 Pleasant Hill Drive: “Will the tennis courts be moved or replaced? Where? Where is important, especially so kids can reach them by bicycle and walking. The same is true for the softball field. A lot of Decorah people donated funds to reconstruct the tennis courts not too many years ago. The current location is perfect for the Decorah tennis teams, the courts are used by many adults and families to play tennis, and certainly in recent years, pickle ball is really popular.”
Mark Lovelace, 305 Grove Street: “I’d like to commend and applaud the people involved … entering a very complex debate, and going through it in a solution-based way …I think we as a community need to trust the process … In March 2013, there was a proposal to address the John Cline West Side School, so we can’t vote on the bond until next November 2024, take a couple of years to build a school, so we are looking at 2026. We owe it to our teachers, our staff, our administrators, our kids, our community to get this done. I think it is a no-brainer.”
Mona Nelson, 505 Leif Erickson Drive: “We need to get accurate information out there, like where is softball going, where is tennis going, are you closing the street … the impact on taxpayers has to be very clearly communicated.”
Ron Fadness, 701 Day Street: “I think this will be the best, single piece of economic development the city of Decorah could possibly do, if we are trying to attract young families, we need outstanding elementary educational facilities. We have outstanding facilities from grades three up, all we need to do is complete the circle with grades Kindergarten, one and two. That means John Cline. That means West Side.”
Elliott Johnson, 106 Spring Street: “I’m a former teacher at the school district. I watched my peers struggle to do that [teach students] at the beginning of the year and the end of the year, as their days were often impacted by heat and early outs, not just at Carrie Lee but also at John Cline. Teacher shortages impact everybody… providing top-notch facilities will encourage teachers to not only come to Decorah, but also stay in Decorah.”
Aaron Zander, 112 Crescent Avenue: “My teaching career began at John Cline in 2008, working in the music room there. That classroom has no air flow in any way. It was hot by the time the second class walked in the room. I now have one of those children at John Cline, and things haven’t changed from 2008. I went in for a pre-orientation, meet-the-teacher day and walked into a room for my kindergartner that was 90 degrees. We can install a lot of outdoor air conditioning units, but it doesn’t really fix the problem. We are finally working towards a solution … the potential to build this new school is paramount in my mind and in so many of the minds of parents in the community. We know it needs to be done.”
Carol Sand, 706 5th Avenue: “One of the things I would like you to address is the city baseball and softball fields that we have in place. Do we have deficits in play that will be improved when we have the field or fields moved to a new location? I think people are particularly concerned about the road closures. I just encourage you to put out as much information to the public as you possibly can.”
Matt Beatty, 705 5th Avenue: “What happens if we don’t pass it this time? As you recall, it has been 10 years and now it has been brought back up. What happens if the plan is to continue as is with John Cline in its current condition? What are we gonna do if we don’t do it now? I see this as an exciting opportunity I fully support.”
Tim Cronin, DCSD Superintendent: “I have a folder in my Google Drive called “The Knot” reminding me of all the pieces that had to come together for us to even get to this point. That involved a lot of compromise between the city council and the school board, and I appreciate everyone for those efforts. We’re going to use the land to make a permanent home for softball and go for bond issue for a new school. It is a large space out at the Dahlen property, and I can tell you the school board felt good knowing that the city would now have opportunity for permanent fields in one area.
We know there is a lot of stuff to work out. We’re having discussions about where tennis courts go. Tennis is very important to our high school, so we are going to have to have courts! Where they will be isn’t quite determined yet, but we have a really good plan. We’re paying [the city] for the land, and [the city is] going to take that money and build fields with it. The agreement is the school will build the tennis courts and the city will be responsible for the lights for the tennis courts.”
Janelle Pavlovec, 1102 Nordic Drive: “I understand why [the council has] to talk about things in closed sessions, but once your decision is out, I think you should explain many, many things to us, including why you discarded some possibilities. Where are the recycling dumpsters and 48-hour parking going to go?”
Council discussion here
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