Vintage Red Oak funding imperiled by attorney’s advice

RED OAK — After the city attorney recommended the Council not agree to terms of a Iowa state historical society grant, the Vintage Red Oak celebration scheduled for this fall now stands on tenuous ground.

City Attorney Thomas Stamets stated in a letter to the Council that the City would be exposing itself to too much potential liability by agreeing to accept the $6,900 grant.

“This agreement proposes to have the City of Red Oak obligate itself to hold the state harmless from any damages ‘in any action arising from the performance of work described herein.’” Stamets wrote. “…the city undertakes responsibility to host a state-wide conference and sponsor both workshop and social activities for the attendees. This is potentially significant liability exposure … the potential for loss to the city is much greater than any potential gain to be realized from this grant.”

Under terms of the agreement, Red Oak would host the state’s annual historical society conference in the fall. In addition to offering several historical preservation-themed workshops, a committee has been planning a variety of activities, highlighting the town’s heritage.

The Vintage Red Oak celebration would also take place in conjunction with the Touchstone Arts Council’s annual home tour.

Architect Darric O’Neal, who authored the grant application, warned the City Council about possible long-term effects of refusing to accept these funds.

This really, really, puts us in a bad position,” O’Neal said. “We have applied for the grant, they said ‘okay, here you go’ and then we say ‘no thanks,’ we can pretty much write off any future grants from them.

City Administrator Brad Wright said the city is also in a bad position.

“It puts us also in awkward spot I believe when we have legal counsel advising not to do something, and if this body says ‘oh, we are comfortable with it, we are okay with it, we are going ahead and do it,‘” Wright said. “That concerns me greatly, when an elected body does something contrary to what legal counsel is advising.”

Mayor Ted Schoonover worried the City could expend more in legal fees than what the grant is worth.

“He (Stamets) hasn’t read those statutes, those codes,” Schoonover said. “So, if we tell him to go ahead and read those statutes and update himself on those codes and statutes, they could end up costing the city $6,000 in attorney fees to get a $6,900 grant.”

O’Neal asserted though this grant could very well open doors to much larger ones.

“This establishes that relationship of: ‘you apply for the grant, you do what the grant says, everybody is happy,’” O’Neal said. “Then when there is a $50K grant to help us study old buildings in downtown or to put the downtown on the national register or any other item related to that, you have that working relationship with the agency.”