County approves Monticello, Cascade library requests

     The Jones County Supervisors approved two funding requests from the county's Library Capital Improvement Fund.

   During the Dec. 13 board of supervisors meeting, the board discussed both requests from the Monticello Public Library and the City of Cascade on behalf of the new Cascade Public Library. Monticello requested $1,375; Cascade requested $50,000.

   The Jones County Supervisors adopted a resolution in 2002, establishing the Library Capital Improvement Fund. The resolution allows for the fund not to exceed $50,000 per project. County funding of a library project cannot exceed 25 percent. A maximum of $50,000 may be made available to county libraries each year. The fund works on a reimbursement basis, with the library submitting project invoices for reimbursement from the county fund.

   The resolution also states that funding requests will be considered after Jan. 1; however, County Auditor Whitney Hein felt that timeframe was outdated.

   “That was 20 years ago,” she said. “I’m not sure the reason for it. We need to include this information in our Fiscal Year 2024 budget if you choose to move forward with the requests.”

   Hein reminded those present that the board of supervisors does not budget for these expenditures every year unless requests are made.

   Supervisor Joe Oswald asked if the Cascade request could come from the county’s ARPA funds.

   “This is a one-time ask,” he said.

   Hein said the decision to pull the money from ARPA lies with the board. She said there is no issue with using ARPA funds.

   “In the past, though, this (the Capital Improvement Fund) is how we’ve funded library projects,” noted Supervisor Jon Zirkelbach. “I prefer to stick with it.”

   “It effects the budget either way,” added Supervisor John Schlarmann.

   Cascade is not only requesting $50,000 from the county, but also a letter of support to accompany a CAT grant application. That deadline is Jan. 15, which is why they are wanting a pledge from Jones County sooner rather than later.

   “It’d be great to know what you’re thinking today,” urged Lisa Kotter, Cascade city administrator. “County supervisors’ support ranks higher (with the grant) versus individual pledges. “$50,000 would be awesome.”

   If the county used its ARPA funds, Oswald noted that the deadline to expense the money is 2026. He asked if the new Cascade library would be built by then.

   “Our project will be done,” Kotter said.

   She explained that construction would start at the end of 2024 and into the beginning of 2025, with bidding at the end of 2023. They already have over $800,000 in pledges and donations. They are applying for the maximum of $500,000 from the CAT grant.

   “In most cases, they’re giving $400,000,” Kotter said of grant awards.

   Schlarmann suggested dispersing the Cascade funding over multiple fiscal years.

   “We don’t need to put the money out there until they (Cascade) needs it,” Schlarmann said.

   Supervisor Ned Rohwedder said the county did just that in their financial support of the Jones County Youth Development Center.

   “If we give Cascade $50,000, the other requests get nothing,” Oswald said of emptying the fund.

   Schlarmann made the motion to give Cascade $25,000 in FY24 and $25,000 in FY25, with the funds coming from the Library Capital Improvement Fund. Rohwedder seconded the motion. The motion was approved by the board.

   Oswald stated that initially, he was not in favor of funding the Cascade library project in the same fashion as the Monticello or Anamosa library projects. However, noting the rise in inflation right now, he was agreeable to the request.

   The board also approved the funding request from the Monticello library.