T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Arts+Culture Alliance Executive Director Amber Danielson, right, asks for a show of support from the audience during Monday night’s Marshalltown city council meeting. The council voted 4-3 to provide $125,000 annually to the organization for creative placemaking efforts and the implementation of the Arts and Culture Master Plan.

In front of a packed house, the Marshalltown city council spent over 40 minutes considering a proposal to enter into a five-year contract with the Arts+Culture Alliance and contribute $125,000 in Automated Traffic Enforcement (ATE) revenues to the organization annually before voting 4-3 to do so during Monday night’s regular meeting.

Arts+Culture Alliance Executive Director Amber Danielson stood before the council and provided something of a recap of her February presentation on the Master Plan for new Councilor Greg Nichols, who was elected in September. She discussed how the contract would accomplish three of the four strategies laid out in the plan — expanding and improving development, enhancing Marshalltown’s public image and partnering with citizens, for-profit and nonprofit (organizations) and others to improve quality of life.

Danielson acknowledged, however, that the ask was not an easy one with the city’s limited financial resources.

“We understand the challenging financial situation of the city and respect the decisions surrounding budgets. We also believe this is an investment in expanding and maximizing the city’s capacity to accomplish its mission and vision,” she said. “We believe our portfolio of work in Marshalltown along with our longstanding partnership with the city shows our dedication to impactful and results oriented projects.”

She explained that the funds would be entirely dedicated to the implementation of the Master Plan — 15 percent toward creative storytelling, 35 percent toward the creative placemaking process and the remaining 50 percent toward creative project elements. According to Danielson, the Alliance will also assist the city in grant writing, project design, process management, project execution and implementation, specific creative and unique elements and marketing and communications.

She also cited the renovation of the 13th Street District as an example that could be applied to the rest of the community and noted Marshalltown’s Net Promoter Score, which indicates how likely someone is to recommend a place to someone else, at -12 on a scale of -100 to 100, with -100 being the worst and 100 the best.

After Danielson wrapped up her initial presentation by repeating a quote from Councilor Gary Thompson during the February meeting and imploring the council to think about funding the plan as a “necessity” over a “nicety,” Nichols asked her what her previous experience in grant writing was, and she reported that she had helped the city obtain over $4.7 million in grant funding since taking her position.

As the discussion then moved to the individual councilors and the public, a familiar divide emerged between those who feel the city should be spending money on amenities as part of a larger growth strategy and others who contend the focus should remain on roads and public safety.

Councilor Mike Ladehoff, who supported the proposal, said he felt the request was actually “cheap” considering how much positive momentum has been building around town in the last few years as a result of the Alliance’s efforts. Thompson sought clarification on if the money would go directly to artists, and she said some help cover the “process” of getting projects done.

Thompson, who said he was “willing to commit some money” but felt that $125,000 annually was a hefty amount, also wondered if requests for proposals (RFPs) should be sent out to other organizations to see if they would be interested in performing the same services.

“I don’t know what, legally, our cap is that we can authorize without putting this out for bid, and I wish our city attorney was here tonight to answer that because if we don’t have it in writing, we have set a precedent on dollar figures that go out for RFPs,” Thompson said.

Fellow Councilor Gabe Isom then asked Thompson if he felt RFPs should be sent out for economic development services and said he didn’t feel that what was being proposed was anything new. City Administrator Joe Gaa felt they were “fine” because they were engaging with a nonprofit organization as opposed to seeking engineering services or other consultation from a for-profit company.

Councilor Barry Kell praised Danielson and the Alliance for setting “a new standard” with the presentation and then sought to make a personal statement to the council and Mayor Joel Greer about the fact that of those on stage who have adult children, very few have stayed in Marshalltown.

“When we ask ourselves and are looking at what’s best for Marshalltown, why aren’t we reflecting personally? Why aren’t our children in Marshalltown? Why aren’t our siblings in Marshalltown?” Kell asked.

He went on to recount some of his own conversations with friends and relatives about why they aren’t in Marshalltown anymore and brought up recent council conversations on garbage hauling rules and roads.

“Based on national data, I’m sure they have toters at their house. That’s the way the garbage industry’s going,” Kell said. “I don’t deny the data on the roads, but I’ve never once heard roads as the reason why people choose not to live in Marshalltown. A theme I hear is vibrancy, amenities, sense of belonging, we need things to do. That’s what this plan does.”

Nichols responded that five of his six children have opted to live elsewhere because the jobs they want simply aren’t available in Marshalltown. With the floor opened up to the public, a number of commenters stepped forward to weigh in, with Kathy Steinberg complimenting sculpture work in Mason City and hoping it could be replicated here.

Aimee Deimerly-Snyder, the owner of Lillie Mae Chocolates, said she had seen Marshalltown “at its dirtiest” and felt the art initiatives had made the community a better place to live.

“This is exactly what makes Marshalltown cool,” Deimerly-Snyder said. “All cities have terrible roads. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve been in a city that doesn’t have road problems, but I have been in a lot of cities that don’t have anything special. And we are on the path to making Marshalltown great.”

Aaron Buzbee, who co-owns Zeno’s Pizza and Wayward Social with his wife Michele, shared a bit of his own personal journey and how it led him back to Marshalltown. He admitted that after moving to Des Moines upon graduating from MHS, he didn’t think he’d ever return.

“We started coming back and visiting my family on the weekends, and just for something to do, we started poking around Marshalltown’s amenities,” Buzbee said. “And we found out that we actually fell in love with the uniqueness of Marshalltown, the culture (and) the creativity that Marshalltown offers. It was a huge attraction for us, and we said ‘This is gonna be our home.’ So that’s one of the huge drivers of why we landed here. If we didn’t have all these things, if we didn’t see the potential in all these things, I’m not sure if we would’ve come back and invested in the community.”

He added that Marshalltown should view all other cities in central Iowa as competition as part of an effort to recruit residents and workers.

Serina Stabenow said the city should focus on cleaning up its drug problem and decrepit properties before worrying about artwork, and Linda Clark said she did not feel comfortable walking out on the streets at night due to safety concerns and was not a fan of efforts to build bike trails in the community. Mark Eaton expressed his opinion that Marshalltown has a “tax problem” and a “drug problem” and opined that the money should go toward essential functions like roads and public safety while other local nonprofits could fund initiatives like the Arts and Culture Master Plan.

“We really need to prioritize what we’re gonna spend taxpayer money on. Taxpayer money needs to go to things that everyone needs as their basics — roads, sewers, police enforcement. It doesn’t need to go to this,” Eaton said.

He cited Marshalltown’s ranking as the 17th poorest community in Iowa and said he hoped to see the community grow “organically” and not just by a marketing campaign. Harold Lanning of rural Marshalltown said he was “ashamed” of the way the city looks today, and he didn’t feel art should be a priority when so much of the retail base has been lost to larger cities like Ames and Des Moines in recent years.

Marshalltown School Board Member Karina Hernandez offered her strong support for the Alliance, and John Hermanson of Hermanson Orthodontics shared his experience with the renovation of 13th Street and a barb he heard from a high school classmate — “While Hermanson diddles on 13th Street, Rome burns.” He went on to remark that he was glad he didn’t give up then and hoped others saw the potential in Marshalltown.

“If we don’t invest in our community — measured investments, they need to be the right kinds of investments — I think we’ll be looking back at the good old days when we were only the 17th poorest community in Iowa. We have to make smart investments,” Hermanson said. “We have this master plan that provides the roadmap for us to balloon this creative placemaking concept and accomplish all sorts of really cool things for Marshalltown, and we happen to have Amber Danielson and the Arts+Culture Alliance perfectly positioned and poised to lead us in this effort.”

Leigh Bauder wondered if the camera revenue, which Gaa estimated could come out to about $500,000 in the first year, would hold over time and reiterated her belief that the focus should remain on roads and code enforcement, and Jim Shaw asked if money could be spent on installing more street lights in city neighborhoods.

Erin Carpenter, the final public commenter of the night, sensed some “heat” in the room due to the strong feelings on both sides of the issue, but she thanked everyone who attended for caring about the city they call home and wanting the best for it. Ultimately, she shared that she and her husband had finally made the decision to move to town a few years ago (he had previously commuted from Ames) because of creative placemaking efforts and amenities.

“The community made progress and became the kind of place where we wanted to live here. I am very proud to call Marshalltown my home now,” she said. “I don’t think those words could have come into my brain let alone out of my mouth a decade ago, and I am so enthusiastic about the work that Amber and the ACA is doing in this community and other organizations that are pushing us forward and making a difference in the quality of the community that we have.”

A motion to approve the contract passed by a split 4-3 vote, with Isom, Kell, Ladehoff and Jeff Schneider in favor and Al Hoop, Nichols and Thompson — who prefaced his vote with “unfortunately” — opposed.

In other business, the council:

Approved the consent agenda with the final two items pulled for discussion.

Approved the annual street financial report.

Approved a resolution to award general obligation corporate purpose bonds in the amount of $9,840,000.

Approved the conveyance and transfer of title for a portion of vacated alley to the adjoining property owner at 1110 W. Church St.

Approved the plans and specifications for the Peterson Park improvement project.

Approved Urban Renewal Plan amendments for Area No. 3 and Area No. 4 in separate motions after public hearings.

Approved an ordinance change amending the city code on speed limits to correct a previous error and subsequently waived second and third readings.

Approved an amendment to the city’s parking schedules for snow removal and subsequently waived second and third readings.