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Monona Council holds off on hotel feasibility study decision

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By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

The Monona Council continued its discussion on having a company perform a hotel feasibility study for the community at its June 20 meeting, but held off on making a decision until more information can be gathered.

The idea was first brought up at the last council meeting, on June 6, when mayor Barb Collins said a representative from Cobblestone Inn and Suites had approached the city with the suggestion.

City manager Dan Canton said he has names of several independent companies who perform studies, noting that a potential study would include two phases.

“If they get partway in and realize it doesn’t look good, they put a stop to it,” he said.

Councilman John Elledge was wary of the idea, stating, “We don’t have the pieces to go along with a hotel, like food and entertainment.”

“A study would look at all that,” Collins noted.

Canton said research and data is also available through Iowa State University. 

“A lot of traffic is going by [on the highway],” he said, wondering what people’s staying habits are when they come to Monona, whether they’re salesman or visiting family members.

Councilman Dan Havlicek, who said he was interested in what the first phase might reveal, recalled several community members looked into the hotel idea several years ago, but was unsure if a study was ever completed. He suggested the city find out if information has already been gathered, a move the rest of the council supported.

“If someone has done it, we’d like to see what they have,” Collins said.

New council member

Doug Bachman was sworn in as a council member during the meeting, filling the seat left by Jason Schubert in April.

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