St. Joseph Council Extends Contract with Fundraising Consultant

ST. JOSEPH (WJON News) -- The St. Joseph City Council has agreed to extend the contract for another year for a consulting service in charge of raising money for a new community center.

Kinetic has been in charge of the capital campaign for the past two years with a fee of $17,500 per month. The extension for 2024 is at $20,000 a month plus expenses. The total cost for the professional services will be over $660,000.

Mayor Rick Schultz says the contract states that money will come out of the funds they raise.

Some council members raised concerns there has been a lack of timelines and progress reports on how the fundraising is going. The contract extension has more defined objectives.

Schultz says they are making good progress but only the members of the fundraising committee know exactly how much money they've raised, so only two city council members know that number. The city administrator and a few other individuals directly involved in the project also have specific totals.

The total cost for the project is estimated to be about $24 million with $4 million coming from state bonding money, $6 million from the city, and the other $14 million from the capital campaign.

Get our free mobile app

The bonding money was awarded to the city in October of 2020 and some lawmakers have expressed concerns that money hasn't been spent yet. Schultz says the city is going to ask the state legislature if they can start spending it on preliminary work for the community center instead of having to wait until construction can begin.

The city has an agreement with the St. Cloud YMCA that once the facility is built the city will own the building and the YMCA will operate it.

READ RELATED ARTICLES

Come Visit St. Joseph, Minnesota in Pictures

Source: St. Joseph Council Extends Contract with Fundraising Consultant

Categories: St. Cloud News