On the web this week..."Board to Vote on Gothic House"

This week an article appeared in the Ottumwa Courier by Cindy Toopes titled "Board to vote on Gothic House." The article begins as follows:

"Rather than create an entity to operate and maintain the American Gothic House Center, the Wapello County Board of Supervisors and the Eldon City Council have decided they can do it together."

This statement created a bit of confusion in the community, so I decided to write about it this week to set your minds at ease. In short, this really isn't anything new.

The Wapello County Board of Supervisors and the City of Eldon established a 28E Agreement back in 2006/2007 just prior to the opening of the American Gothic House Center. What the Board voted on this last week was a revised draft of that same agreement. The City of Eldon is set to vote on it in February.

After two and half years of operation, it was discovered that the City and County were not interpreting certain parts of the agreement the same way. The original 28E Agreement wasn't able to clearly answer certain questions that came up, so it was decided to have a committee review the agreement and make the necessary changes.

The revised draft not only cleared up these issues, it also put into effect the establishment of a fund that both Wapello County and the City of Eldon will contribute to annually for future major building repair and maintenance needs.

Other issues that were resolved are as follows: the City will plow the driveway and parking lot, the County will be responsible for all special landscaping needs (think flowers, bushes and trees), the City will mow the lawn on a regular schedule, and the County will pay the City water / garbage utility.