Iola City Council members were urged Monday to continue the city’s relationship with a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm.
Iolan Jim Gilpin spoke about the benefits Iola has received over the past several years by hiring Van Scoyoc and Associates.
Council members voted last summer to reduce by about $14,000 from the $60,000 spent annually to Van Scoyoc for its consulting services.
“It seemed like for every dollar we spent with Van Scoyoc, we get back $10 or more in return in federal grants or awards or other assistance,” Gilpin said.
Hiring Van Scoyoc was an example of Iola’s meeting challenges of recent years by creatively leveraging scarce resources and creating visionary leadership.
Gilpin recalled other examples, such as the formation of Iola Industries in the 1950s with private funding, which led to the removal of a rat-infested city dump on the east edge of town and the creation of a strong corporate partner with the city that has since helped attract other industries.
Another example of creative vision came from the late Thomas Bowlus, whose trust funded construction and ongoing maintenance of the Bowlus Fine Arts Center, replacing an outdated community auditorium, Gilpin said.
Gilpin also pointed to the ridicule the city received when it purchased about 80 acres of farmland and built a hard-surfaced road “seemingly to nowhere.”
That land and road was a key factor in attracting Russell Stover Candies in the 1990s, Gilpin said.
Finally, Iola was able to more rapidly recover from the 2007 flood that destroyed more than 120 homes and several Riverside Park amenities through the assistance of Van Scoyoc, which helped recoup millions of dollars in federal funds.
“With the list of infrastructure projects the city has on its plate in the years ahead, there should be ample opportunity for Van Scoyoc to help us access the federal funds that are out there for small towns like ours,” Gilpin said.
Gilpin noted that Van Scoyoc could assist the city in a pending transportation enhancement grant, which the city could use to further develop North Kentucky Street, near where a new Allen County Hospital will be built. Preapplications, however, for the grant are due next Monday.
Council members took no action on Gilpin’s recommendation.
IN A RELATED matter, councilmen gave their blessing to a grant application spearheaded by the Iola Fire Department to receive up to $400,000 in federal stimulus monies to hire as many as three firefighters and ambulance personnel over the next two years.
Fire Chief Donald Leapheart and firefighter Mark Michael spoke about the grant, designed to help departments such as Iola’s rehire lost employees due to budget constraints.
