Decorah City Council votes to enter into real estate purchase agreements

In a special meeting on Monday night, the Decorah City Council voted to enter into Real Estate Purchase Agreements for two separate properties in the vicinity of the Decorah Dog Park. The first real estate property is 20.82 acres owned by Allan and Patricia Dahlen with a purchase price of $800,000. The second property is 9.5 acres owned by the Dahlen Family (Allan and Patricia Dahlen, Helen Wise, Roger Dahlen, Arnold Dahlen, Jr., Howard Dahlen, and Wanda Dahlen Lurke and their spouses, as applicable) with a purchase price of $475,000. The total combined cost is $1,275,000. After a brief discussion, the council voted six to one in favor of entering into the Real Estate Purchase Agreements for the Dahlen properties. Ward 1 council member Randy Schissel, the only council member to vote against entering into the purchase agreements, expressed trepidation about the amount of the purchases and the potential effect on taxpayers. Ward 3 council member Kirsten Olson agreed with Schissel's point, particularly as related to the total cost of the purchases, but ultimately voted "a hesitant yes" in favor of entering into the real estate purchase agreements Mayor Lorraine Borowski and At-Large council member Ross Hadley addressed the concerns. Mayor Borowski said that she felt "in good faith" that the City would be able to work through what it needed to in order to come to the best conclusion possible. Hadley was also optimistic that the eventual outcome would be positive. "I think things will become clear in the long term. It's been a long-term project and it's been a long time coming and…stay tuned," Hadley said. According to Decorah City Manager Travis Goedken, the council will not take any additional action as to the purchase of these properties. The closing date for the real estate purchases will be on or before December 20, 2023. Editor's Note: The potential use of the properties has not yet been made public. DecorahNews.com will continue following this developing story and will provide updates as they become available.