Marion City Council met to discuss a federal grant awarded the City to pay for energy efficiency upgrades to City Hall. Before the discussion ended, voices were raised and tempers flared.
The grant comes from the federal government and is to pay for upgrades to public buildings. The proposal from the City Administration is to use the $153,000 to pay for new main doors for City Hall as well as retro-fitting all the light fixtures in the building. The fixtures would allow for the use of higher efficiency fluorescent light bulbs. The new doors would include a revolving door, plus a new powered door to make the entrance ADA compliant. The upgrades are expected to save the City about 20% on their gas bill.
Several Council members questioned the use of money from the grant to pay for monitoring. City Service Director Jay Shoup said the grant requires the City to show the savings caused by the upgrades. To pay for that monitoring, some of the grant has been earmarked for the General Fund, not construction.
Councilman Ryan Schertzer said he felt that over $200 seemed like a lot of money for read the electric bill.
“It sounds like we are robbing Peter to pay Paul. I would rather see more of the money go into more energy efficiency,” commented Ryan Schertzer.
Mayor Scott Schertzer explained that administrative costs are mandated by the grant, set at a certain percentage. He said that since City employees are spending time working on the project, there should be some reimbursement to the City’s General Fund.
“This is just a small way that grants are a good thing for the General Fund,” commented Schertzer.
Councilman Jim Gilsdorf said he is worried about the strings attached to the money. He said he sees the City taking more and more federal money and is concerned about the consequences to the City and the country as a whole.
“I’m getting a little wary about all this free money from the federal government and what may happen later on,” explained Gilsdorf, saying he doesn’t have anything against the project the grant would pay for.
Another source of contention with some council members is the time frame of the grant. The grant proposal needed to be passed by Council immediately to secure the funding. The work paid for by the grant must be completed by September to fulfill the grant requirements.
Following about 30 minutes of discussion, the Council called a vote to suspend the rules, which would allow for an immediate vote on the proposal and bypass three readings. The measure failed to get the required number of yes votes when Schertzer, Gilsdorf, and Ayers Ratliff voted no.
Councilman Ralph Cumston asked Shoup if the delay caused by requiring three readings would mean the lose of the grant money. Shoup replied that it “possibly” could.
“Nice job,” exclaimed Cumston.
Near the end of the meeting, Councilman Mike Thomas made a motion to call special council meetings for Tuesday and Wednesday. The implied goal was to get through the three readings require and then pass the grant proposal.
At that point, Gilsdorf said he was willing to change his vote on the suspension of rules if the matter was raised again.
“ I don’t like the idea that we seem to be taking a lot of federal money,” expressed Gilsdorf, explaining he felt it would be “silly” to stop the grant process now.
Ryan Schertzer re-iterated a concern brought up earlier in the evening asking why did it come down to the last hour before council was presented this grant.
Mayor Schertzer said the City received several federal governments nearly at the same time and totaled around $20 million. He said the City administration focused on the larger grants first and this is the last one to be dealt with.
Thomas disagreed with Ryan Schertzers claim saying, “This is not the first time we have discussed this. It’s been in the committee. It’s been here before. We’re just beating something to death. For $153,000.”
“We’ve been working on it for a year, but we have to pass it tonight,” said a frustrated Gilsdorf. “This is happening over and over again.”
“I’ve said this for 4 ½ years. I’m tired of self created emergencies,” said Ratliff, agreeing with Gilsdorf. “I’ve hit the wall and I won’t vote for it. It takes away the rights of the public to discuss the issues.”
“I understand your frustrations and I share them. This is the way the grants are working. We don’t like it either,” said Mayor Schertzer.
“Government hasn’t gotten bigger under this administration, It’s gotten smaller. And the people left are still working to get things done,” explained Mayor Schertzer, raising his voice.
After several more back and forth moments, Council finally voted to suspend the rules and then passed the grant measure. The only council member who voted no was Ayers Ratliff.
“I think it’s great having these arguments on Council floor. Even if we fight and get pissed off, at the end of the process we come together to vote how we feel,” commented Cumston just prior to the final vote. “I think the debate is good. I think the fighting is good. It’s all about the process.”
Also just before the vote, a City of Marion resident stood and told Council that his wide is blind and disabled. He explained that making the main doors to City Hall handicap accessible is important to her and others in Marion, a point that had seemingly been lost in the evening’s debate.
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