MARSHALL - Leaders of two substantial Marshall projects said this week they're not letting a lack of state funding stop them from reaching their goals.
Roger Madison, co-chairman of the Southwest Regional Amateur Sports Commission - the group behind the proposed $12.9 million regional amateur sports complex - and Stan Brewers, board chairman of the MERIT Center, continue to stand behind their respective projects because both believe they will benefit not just Marshall, but the entire region as well.
"As a group, we have to continue to move forward," Brewers said. "We've been working with MinnesotaWest and they're on board with the MERIT Center to help us get this thing rockin' and rollin'. The chances of us getting anything now are slim to none, but you never know; never say never."
"I don't think (not getting state bonding money) will change our game plan at all," Madison said. "We went to the state with the intent of trying to get some funding but knowing it wasn't anywhere near a for-sure deal. We went and asked for it and didn't get it.
"We knew when we started on this path that if we do get the local sales tax piece we would be able to fund this project with that and thought if we can do something with the state that would be great," he added. "We know we can still have the vote come out in our favor."
That vote will come in November when Marshall residents have their say on an increase in local sales taxes to help pay for the projects. The two proposed local sales taxes are a .5 percent general sales tax and a 1.5 percent "hospitality tax" on food and lodgings which would pay for the construction and operation of the sports complex.
Fact Box
Marshall residents will vote in November on local sales taxes that would go toward the proposed regional amateur sports complex and MERIT Center. A breakdown of the current tax base in Marshall and how it would change in relation to the sports facility and MERIT Center expansion:
LODGING (current)
State tax: 6.875 percent
Local CVB tax: 3.0 percent
Subtotal: 9.875 percent
PREPARED FOOD & BEVERAGE (current)
State: 6.875 percent
LODGING (pending vote)
State: 6.875 percent
Local CVB: 3.0 percent
City sales and use tax (capital construction only): .5 percent
City hospitality sales tax (operating primarily): 1.5 percent
Subtotal: 11.875 percent
PREPARED FOOD & BEVERAGE
(pending vote)
State: 6.875 percent
City sales and use tax (capital construction only): .5 percent
City hospitality sales tax (operating primarily): 1.5 percent
Subtotal: 8.875 percent subtotal
"There is a certain momentum going around that the projects are dead; they're not,"?Marshall Police Chief and Public Safety Director Rob Yant said. "Both projects will be much more competitive next year if we get the vote this year."
Planned expansions at the MERIT Center would also be benefited by the local taxes. The MERIT Center made a bonding pitch to the Legislature this year, asking for $2.5 million for the construction of a driving course. The Legislature approved $300,000 in bonding for the MERIT Center in 2008 and $1 million of a $2.14 million request in 2010. That same year the MERIT Center received a $100,000 grant from the Otto Bremer Foundation for an ethanol prop.
But it's the proposed driving course that Brewers is most excited about.
The track would be a roughly 2 1/2-mile track located in an 85-acre dry wetland area across the road from the MERIT Center and would include simulators and classrooms. And Brewers said it wouldn't be just for emergency personnel. He said driver education could take place there, as well as other driver training like the 55 Stay Alive senior driving program. Another aspect of the course would be night driving.
"The beauty of the facility is that it can run seven days a week, day and night," Brewers said. "We could do some behind-the-wheel out there. The simulators the kids use would all move out there."
Brewers said the closest driving course to Marshall is in St. Cloud; there's also one in Sioux City, Iowa.
"If people want to train in Marshall now they have to find a big parking lot," he said. "Slayton rents out the airport, but the FAA might put the kibosh on that. So these little departments in the area don't have a place to go to send drivers to do basic training. With this, they can do their training and go home that night."
Both Madison and Brewers are looking forward to a busy summer campaign for their respective projects with a goal of bringing to the voting community a detailed outline of every aspect of the two projects.
"There's going to be a lot of stuff coming out slowly the next few months," Brewers said. "In late July, maybe August, you'll see a lot of information going out to the public right up until the vote in November."
Brewers noted that similar-sized cities like Worthington and Willmar utilize a city sales tax to pay for special projects, and if the sales tax votes pass in Marshall, the city wouldn't have to pursue any local bonding or worry about relying on a property tax increase of any sort.
Madison is encouraged by the public's support for the project - one reason he's so optimistic about the November vote.
"We've gotten support from booster clubs, the business community, individuals; I get a call at least once a week from someone saying, "I'm willing to help out, tell me what I can do.' We have very strong leaders in this community, people who have been involved in the past and worked to get initiatives pulled together. I literally have had no one come up to me saying, 'Are you sure about this,' or "I don't think this is the right thing to do.'"
That community support, he said, is what makes local projects go - with or without help from the state. Madison found that out four years ago when the state said no to the same $4 million request.
"To some degree, that's been Marshall's strength - when we're turned down by the politicians we find a way to do it ourselves," he said. "The first time we went to the state and asked for money to design this thing we were turned down, so we raised it ourselves. That shows the strength and character of the Marshall community. I don't think we're going to run into concerns about our project because the state didn't participate in it."
The sports complex and MERIT Center's exclusion from the bonding recommendations are examples of the lack of funding proposed in this year's bonding bills for outstate projects. Of the 10 bills authored this year by Republican Sen. Gary Dahms, only three survived the first cut and made it onto the Senate bill - money for the recycling facility in Redwood Falls, and money for science lab renovations at Southwest Minnesota State University and Reinvest in Minnesota.
Even so, Brewers said he won't give up on attaining money from the state in future years.
"We just have to continue to wait our turn," he said. "We understand the state not wanting to give away too much money, but I'm going to continue to go back up there (St. Paul) for the city of Marshall. We were kind of left out in the cold here in the bonding bills, but it's kind of our reality."
Madison said a community meeting on the sports complex will take place in May. At that point, he said, the SMASC will be better able to highlight how the financial picture for the complex and MERIT Center will play out.
An open house for the MERIT Center will take place May 23.