Will the City of Decorah rent the Folkedahl parking lot for another two years? Stay tuned!

Two weeks ago, the Decorah City Council voted 4-3 to offer $400 a month to rent a parking lot on Main Street from Decorah businessman Marc Folkedahl.  The amount was $100 a month less than the city had been paying.

City Clerk Chad Bird says Folkedahl has rejected the city council's offer.  However, that isn't the end of the matter.  An anonymous donor has paid $100 for August to keep the payment to Folkedahl at $500 a month.

Bird has been looking for subsidies from other community groups.  The Decorah Area Chamber of Commerce rejected a request for $100 a month contribution, saying it did not fit their mission statement.  The Self-Supporting Municipal Improvement District Board, which spends money raised from downtown and West Side property tax payers, will discuss the city's request on Wednesday morning, while the Downtown Decorah Betterment Association will meet August 20th to discuss the request.  Decorah businessman Benji Nichols has volunteered to try to raise private donations towards the cost of the parking lot rent.

Bird says he wants to have answers by the end of the month.  If the money isn't raised by then, the parking lot rental is probably a dead deal, says Bird.