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The latest issue of "The Horn" newsletter about Decorah politics includes a "City Council/Decorah Real Estate Fund Timeline." The timeline, created by Martin Refsal and Nathan Preus, is based on a review of emails between City Council members and members of Decorah Real Estate Fund, articles from www.decorahnews.com and other information passed along by council members. "The Horn" received emails from council members after submitting a public records request to the city. The following is an approved reposting of the timeline, with one of our own additions to the timeline. · "Beyond questions of transparency, other concerns about the proposed development have come up. They include obstructed bluff views, loss of parking, loss of the pocket park adjacent to the lot, and changing the character of downtown. Alternate designs and locations have been suggested. At the same time there seems to be broad consensus in support of more downtown housing." ·&emsp;&emsp;Background - "Several studies and reports conducted in Decorah, including a Community Visioning study sponsored by the Iowa DOT and ISU (2018), an ISU housing study (2019) and an Iowa Economic Development Authority study of Decorah's downtown (2020) point to either housing or parking management, or both in the IED study's case, as acute issues for the city. These issues become priorities at City Council. One particular concern that comes up is what to do about the parking lot to the west of the Oneota Co-op, which is in need of repairs but has to be brought into ADA compliance at great cost if repairs are to be completed." ·&emsp;&emsp;September 20, 2021 - Members of Decorah Real Estate Fund (DREF), including Brett Reese of Rebound Partners as well as a handful of Decorah-based investors, make a presentation at a meeting of the city's Economic Development Committee about pursuing a 'community fund' model of development with housing in downtown Decorah as its centerpiece (the minutes include a list of participants). The apartment building proposal that council will eventually sign a Memorandum of Understanding about is first introduced here. Mayor Lorraine Borowski appoints three council members, Steve Luse, Emily Neal, and Ross Hadley, as liaisons with the investment group. Council members clarified that this group is unrelated to the Ad Hoc Housing Committee, a primarily research oriented committee which has not had any involvement with the DREF proposal. ·&emsp;&emsp;February 2, 2022 - The council liaison group participates in a zoom call with members of DREF, and are given an update on investor meetings. ·&emsp;&emsp;April 21, 2022 - The council liaison group participates in a second zoom call with members of DREF, at which the group seeks to confirm the council's interest in the apartment building project. This triggers the Memorandum of Understanding agenda item at a council meeting the following month. Added timeline entry: May 9th, 2022 The Decorah Planning and Zoning Commission was asked by city officials to consider a change in the language of principal permitted uses--one week prior to a Memorandum of Understanding with DREF being introduced to the city council. Minutes from the meeting include the question: "Does the (Planning and Zoning) Commission want to consider a change to the language from requiring residential use only above a retail use; or do they want to consider a change similar to 'Dwelling units above the first floor'?" ·&emsp;&emsp;May 16, 2022 - DREF presents and council approves a nonbinding Memorandum of Understanding that affirms the city's interest in a proposal regarding the development of 40-unit apartment building on the city-owned parcel to the west of the Oneota Co-op, the parking lot that some council members see as a priority for the reasons mentioned above. The brief description of the project in the MOU proposes a mix of public and private parking on the building's first floor. ·&emsp;&emsp;May 24, 2022 - DREF purchases three buildings further east on Water Street. ·&emsp;&emsp;May 24, 2022 - The Oneota Co-op Board discusses the proposed apartment development and assigns a board member to reach out to DREF. The Co-op has confirmed they've had an introductory meeting with members of DREF. A link to the latest issue of "The Horn" is posted here: https://mailchi.mp/5c7b03e35c2f/issue-9154900

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Martin Refsal and Nathan Preus have published a "City Council/Decorah Real Estate Fund Timeline" as part of their latest issue of "The Horn."