TEE OFF DELAYED: Jasper County tables city’s clubhouse URA request

More information was needed Tuesday, Feb. 2 before the Jasper County Board of Supervisors gave the City of Newton permission to create an urban renewal area for two parcels at Westwood Golf Course, which, if approved, could help finance the long-awaited clubhouse reconstruction project.

Construction of a new clubhouse at the municipally owned golf course has been debated by city staff and elected officials for several years. Oftentimes, the grandiose designs were deemed too expensive and rejected. Recently, city staff decided a downsized clubhouse with an open-air shelter was an optimal choice.

Newton Community Services Director Brian Laube said in a Nov. 16 presentation with council members that the new clubhouse design was roughly estimated at about $1 million and is scheduled to appear in the city’s fiscal year 2023 CIP plan. Laube also wants to draw private investments to offset project costs.

In December, the Newton City Council decided on another approach to financing the clubhouse project: an urban renewal area.

Urban renewal areas have been used in Newton to make improvements to numerous properties, including ones that are owned by the city. For instance, $100,000 assisted the Newton Public Library renovations while $300,000 was used for tenant improvements for the new city offices at Legacy Plaza.

Other times urban renewal areas assisted with project funding including the Hotel Maytag renovation, the transformation of the old Scoreboard building into Esther & Co., construction of Lions Gate Apartments, facade improvements and second story housing throughout downtown Newton.

Theoretically, this same method could be used for the new clubhouse construction, but county supervisors were not completely sold on the idea.

Doug Cupples, chair of the Jasper County Board of Supervisors, is a citizen of Newton, and from that perspective asked if establishing an urban renewal area will raise taxes in the city. Newton Community Development Director Erin Chambers said it would be “premature” to answer that question.

Especially considering the city is only looking to be approved for the mechanism — the urban renewal area — in which to carry out the clubhouse project. Chambers said the city has not come up with any plans or has a strong idea of what costs might be at this time.

Regardless, Cupples wanted to wait until more information was gathered.

“Because just with the way things are looking I don’t want to approve something that’s going to affect city taxes right out of the gate,” Cupples said.

Even though the city owns Westwood Golf Course and its clubhouse, they technically reside two miles outside city limits. To exercise its urban renewal powers and finance the redevelopment of the two parcels making up the clubhouse, the city needs consent from the county, according to Iowa Law.

In the past, Jasper County Supervisor Brandon Talsma has repeatedly advocated for personal property rights. In May 2020 he stood up for Goldfinch Growth wanting to use its 101-acre parcel for residential development, and in December 2020 he sided with a Mingo resident to rezone his property despite opposition

Even so, Talsma, like Cupples, was hesitant to approve the city’s request without receiving more information, but he wasn’t saying “no” either. However, he questioned why the city wanted to create an urban renewal area for the clubhouse renovation/reconstruction project, rather than hold a special election.

Why not leave it up to the people to vote on whether they want this project, Talsma asked. Cupples had the same sentiments, drawing comparisons to the county’s decision to leave the construction of a new administration building in the hands of taxpayers via bond referendum.

Chambers couldn’t speak for why the city chose one method over another. Rather, she was directed to pursue an urban renewal area as an option.

“And it is a very viable option for the city to move forward in this manner,” Chambers said to the board supervisors. “It is a quicker process … The bond rating — all of that — is a lot quicker than an election, so I think that’s the intent and the desire on the part of our city council.”

For the time being, Talsma echoed Cupples’ feelings on the request.

“I don’t necessarily want to take an action in this board meeting today that’s going to arbitrarily raise people’s taxes in the City of Newton,” Talsma said.

Cupples added, “Honestly, we had that same option. We could have potentially done something just like that, Erin, for our bond project. And we decided as a group that we weren’t going to do that.”

Newton City Administrator Matt Muckler told Newton News that the city has considered all of the ways in which it could fund the clubhouse project, including a bond referendum.

“Our starting point for the proposed project is that it would be a public-private partnership and that fundraising from the community would pay for a portion of the project,” Muckler said. “In the cast that the city proceeded with a bond referendum, it would likely also include other park improvements in town as well.”

With the exception of road projects, fire trucks and some other capital purchases, city projects over $700,000 require the vote of the people, Muckler noted. Current estimates have the city spending just slightly more than $700,000 on a new clubhouse, he said.

“If fundraising efforts were successful, the city might be under that threshold,” Muckler said.

If the council wants to construct a new clubhouse at Westwood Golf Course at some point in the future — which Muckler acknowledged has yet to be decided — and it would cost the city more than $700,000, creating an urban renewal area does not necessarily mean the project would proceed without the people’s vote.

“Rather, it would provide a streamlined process,” Muckler said. “Residents would still have an opportunity to put the matter to a vote of the people through the reverse referendum process by collecting signatures to put it on the ballot.”

Muckler also told Newton News that creating an urban renewal area has no impact on the tax levy. If a new clubhouse is constructed, it would be paid for with the combination of private donations and bond funds, he said; these bonds would be paid for in a manner that would not increase the tax levy.

Newton Mayor Mike Hansen suggested citizens’ input would be considered if the project gets the green light.

“Should the clubhouse project move forward, public hearings would be held to introduce the specific clubhouse design and the amount of financing that would be required,” Hansen said.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com