Mt. Union asks board to ?save our park?

By Brooks Taylor, Mt. Pleasant News

Save our park!

That was the plea of 20 Mt. Union residents visiting with the Henry County Board of Supervisors Tuesday morning, urging the board to have the city park saved.

The park ? called Eagle?s Landing Park ? is one of the city?s assets and members of the Imagine Recreating Mt. Union Committee (IRMU) fear the park will be sold to satisfy debt incurred by the former city. Kim Fenton serves as IRMU chairperson.

The State of Iowa City Development Commission granted Mt. Union?s request to unincorporate during its March 8 meeting, and now city assets must be sold to pay community debts.

Supervisors, which will host a public information meeting tonight (Wed.) at 6:30 p.m. in the Mt. Union United Methodist Church, told the group that there isn?t much they can do about city assets until the city development board relinquishes control of the former community on Sept. 23. The city development board will act as the governing body of Mt. Union until that date, accepting claims against the town and paying community debts.

?As of this time, we can?t make a decision,? stated supervisor Chairman Marc Lindeen. ?It is in the hands of the city development board. We won?t have any say on decisions made until Sept. 23. I understand your concern.?

IRMU is a non-profit 501c3 organization, and Mandi Mullin, treasurer of the committee, said the committee has spent countless hours writing grants, fund-raising, coordinating volunteers ?and finally orchestrating the erection of the park we had envisioned.?

Mullin noted the group started with nothing and raised over $30,000 through the aforementioned avenues to build the park in 2006. ?The Mt. Union park isn?t just used by the residents of Mt. Union, there are families from other towns and county residents that utilize our park as well.

?For instance, last year an art teacher taught a summer art class in the gazebo, families meet there for reunions, two daycares from Winfield came to use it, as well as Kim?s (Fenton) daycare, and the Mt. Union United Methodist Church hosted a Vacation Bible School and those kids enjoyed the park, too,? Mullin said.

Along with extensive playground equipment, the park also has a gazebo, donated by three Krieger brothers in memory of their parents. The brothers were raised in Mt. Union, their parents had a store in the community and their father was a longtime postmaster.

Dennis Krieger, one of the brothers, said the siblings have $30,000 invested in the gazebo, which also serves as a small picnic shelter. ?After our parents passed away, we wanted to do something for the city. The committee came to us and said they would like a gazebo. We wanted a remembrance of our parents so we donated the gazebo. It is a high-quality structure and built to last. Never in my wildest dreams, did I think it would last just eight years. I hope something can be done to retain it.?

Krieger said he talked to Matt Rasmussen, city development board administrator on Monday, and Rasmussen indicated he was interested in working out a solution. ?He said he would like to defer some decisions to the county. I hope something can be done.?

Mullin reiterated the park?s importance to the community and said the committee would ensure the area is maintained. ?We are well aware of the relationship between Henry County and the City of Mt. Union. We ask that you please consider not allowing events that have happened between city officials and yourselves to erase the park that people have donated money and time to help make a dream a reality.

?There are a lot of good people in Mt. Union who have had to pay the price for the actions of others,? continued Mullin. ?The people who volunteered their time and those who donated money toward the project deserve to be heard and see this park remain in Mt. Union for years to come. The park has been a bright shining star in our community and especially now when everything else is in such disarray.?

Randy Wilkinson, who was a city council member at the time of unincorporation, said while he has sympathy for the Kriegers and IRMU, he feels all city assets ? including the park ? should be sold if necessary to pay city debts.

Wilkinson noted that he made a motion, which passed unanimously at the November 2016 city council meeting, to auction city properties. However, much to his frustration, nothing was done by the then city mayor John Marek. He (Marek) said he talked to Steffes (Auction) and was told that they won?t have auctions in December or January. Since that conversation with Steffes, Wilkinson said he has attempted to talk to Marek, but has not had his phone calls returned.

?In my opinion, the city council took the position to fight the Regional Utility Service Systems (RUSS) in court, lost and ran up debt,? Wilkinson said. ?It is a nice park but if it takes the park to be sold to pay off the debt, the park needs to be sold.?

Krieger asked, but did not receive an answer, whether the park could be ?grandfathered? in because no cost was incurred by the city and the equipment and improvements all came from private donations.

?There is more now that we can?t do than can do,? said Supervisor Gary See.

IRMU asked if it could continue to maintain the park until a decision is made on its future, and the supervisors instructed the committee to talk to the city development board.

Supervisors will meet again in regular session Thursday at 9 a.m., in the courthouse.