County, Imagine the Possibilities discuss ownership, future of Hope Haven campus and Can Redemption Center

A lengthy public discussion on Aug. 12 put the future of multiple buildings on the former Hope Haven campus — now operated in part by Imagine the Possibilities — before Des Moines County supervisors, who were asked to consider gifting some parcels the nonprofit said it had occupied and improved for decades. County staff and the nonprofit agreed to pursue title checks and a work-session site visit before any transfer; supervisors indicated they would consider selling the Can Redemption Center parcel and possibly donating the proceeds back to the nonprofit rather than gifting the land directly.

Imagine the Possibilities representatives said the nonprofit and its donors had invested more than $1 million in buildings and improvements over recent years and that some donors and board members had long assumed the nonprofit owned certain structures. Tiffany, the nonprofit’s CEO, told the board, “it's obviously our intention to continue to provide, like, services, but we can't we can't necessarily control the narrative right now with what specific services are being, you know, done in those buildings.”

County legal staff said their preliminary research indicates the county holds title to the parcels in question; the county attorney warned that donating county real property to a private entity is legally permissible only when it serves a legitimate government interest and that selling property requires following statutory disposal procedures so the county does not “usurp” statutory sale requirements. The attorney advised using sealed bids or other statutory sale methods, then allowing the board to decide how to use proceeds. The attorney also noted heightened scrutiny from the state auditor’s office on charitable transfers of public property.

Supervisors and Imagine the Possibilities agreed to a follow-up plan: county staff will provide title searches for the principal residential and program buildings, examine the parcels that make up the Can Redemption Center (sometimes called the Can Barn) and arrange a site visit; the board discussed scheduling a work session and suggested a target of early September for a more detailed meeting. Megan, a representative for Imagine the Possibilities, told supervisors she would support moving forward with liquidation of the Can Barn parcels if the organization no longer needs the building.

Key clarifications raised in the meeting: the nonprofit said it had relied on donations and some federal ARPA funding for improvements — funds that can carry restrictions on permitted uses — and that several residential program homes require large, future capital investments such as new roofs. County staff warned that continuing to treat the county as the capital-asset holder preserves one layer of stability for community services, while the nonprofit said uncertainty about lease ownership complicates its board’s decisions on making large capital expenditures.

Environmental and maintenance issues were also raised. County and nonprofit speakers referenced historic water-quality testing in the campus lakes that identified industrial contaminants and said a future dredging project could present substantial environmental and regulatory work and costs. Supervisors and private providers said those liabilities would be important to resolve before transferring ownership of water features or lakeside parcels.

Next steps noted during the meeting: county staff will deliver title reports to nonprofit and supervisors, schedule a site review and return to the board with recommendations on whether to pursue a statutory sale of the Can Barn parcels (sealed-bid or equivalent) and whether to direct any net proceeds toward continued community programming.