Mound City Council reverses motion on purchasing welding shop
- Roger Sims, Journal Staff
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Roger Sims, Journal staff
MOUND CITY – In a special meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 10, the Mound City Council voted to rescind a motion made at its regular Feb. 3 meeting. The original motion was to draw up a contract to purchase the JRK Mobile Welding shop at Seventh and Walnut streets.
The original motion came after the council met with business owner J.R. Kerr in a closed door session to iron out the details of the purchase. Last fall the council acknowledged that it had tentatively agreed to purchase the shop for $175,000.
City officials planned to move the current city shop from its current location next to the splash park to Kerr’s building and transform the vacant building into a community center. The $175,000 price tag drew criticism from some community members, but Mayor Wade Doering defended the decision saying that the cost to build a similar structure would be considerably more expensive.
Neighbors to Kerr’s business have also attended council meetings expressing concern about noise. However, city maintenance supervisor John Bruns has told them that while much of Kerr’s operations are on site and begin very early in the morning, most of the city’s work is offsite and done between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Following the Feb. 3 meeting, Doering said the city looked to take possession of Kerr’s property in September 2027. That would give the city time to raise enough money for the purchase and to begin working on converting the shop into a community center.
However, at the Feb. 10 meeting, discussion revolved around using the 2026 budget to purchase the building, including dividing the $175,000 total into three payments with the final payment being made in December. The discussion also included purchasing the building and leasing it back to Kerr until September 2027 so he would have time to complete work on his new facility.
City Attorney Mark Hagen suggested the council could lease the building with an option to purchase, with the amount paid for leasing being deducted from the purchase price. However, he also pointed out that the city wouldn’t be able to actually take possession until Kerr moved his business.
The mayor talked about using capital improvement funds, including money that would be used for paving streets, to make the purchase. Mound City annually repaves a portion of its streets, giving residents city streets that other Linn County cities should envy.
But Councilmember Shayna Lamb said she was concerned that making the purchase with this year’s budget would cut city finances too close. “I’m concerned about spending every single cent we have,” she said.
When making the motion to rescind the earlier motion, Councilmember Shayna Lamb said it would enable the council to go back to the table and renegotiate the deal. She also pointed to a Kansas statute that forbids a municipality from committing funds it doesn’t have to make a purchase.
Unlike a business or individual, a city or other local government cannot take out a bank loan for a purchase and would rely on either a bond on larger amounts or lease-purchase agreements, which are used by cities and the counties for large-ticket equipment purchases.
While the financing could be problematic, there was also a question of whether the city’s current shop building would be suitable for a community center.
Lamb, who returned to a council seat last month following a brief retirement from city government, said although it had been a while since she had been down to the shop she wondered whether it would be a suitable use for the metal building.
City Clerk Shelby Murray said that John Bruns had said he was concerned about the feasibility as well.
Josh Baldwin, council advisor, suggested that a study was needed on the issue.
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