City renews lease on Main Street parking lot

The Decorah City Council has changed its mind and approved a two-year lease extension for property at 406 West Main Street that is being used as a parking lot.

Last month city council members said they were not interested in renewing the lease at a cost of $650 a month.  The city had been making a payment of $350/month.

But property owner Marc Folkedahl had lowered his request to $500 a month--the same amount the city had paid in rent for the first four years of the lease.  Folkedahl had lowered the lease payments when the city was recovering from the 2008 flooding.

A group of ten neighboring property owners had signed a petition asking the city to continue operating the parking lot.  That response and the lower monthly rent were enough to persuade the city council on a 5-2 vote (Wanless, Schissel voting "no") to renew the parking lot lease.