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Council hears timeline and contractor roles for Corn Palace decorations; staff says city will remove corn after event
Summary
City staff and council members discussed logistics for the Corn Palace decorations, including who will install grass and corn, the schedule for contractor work, and the number of staples and nails used to secure the ears of corn.
Council members and staff discussed operational plans and schedule for Corn Palace exterior decorations during the meeting.
Councilmember questions focused on timing and responsibilities. A councilmember asked whether the Corn Palace work would start in August or October; staff said they would reach out to the contractor to set a pre-construction meeting and aim to finish by Thanksgiving. Councilmember inquiries about whether the city or contractor would remove corn after the event received a staff response that the city will remove the corn to prepare surfaces for the contractor to reinstall designs.
Public-works staffmember Dave described installation details and quantities used in the Corn Palace program. "So the grass will be done by the city personnel and the corn by the contractor?" a councilmember asked. Dave replied, "Correct. Yes, sir." He later described the fasteners used: "So we use about a million of them a year, just short of a million, staples go on to hold out the 325,000 ears we use, to cut. So they get about 3 average of about 3 nails apiece. So, we're just short of a million." Staff said removing staples and nails carefully is important so the tie-back can sit flat and the projected designs line up correctly.
Council members offered minor operational comments, including concerns about landscaping in roundabout centers and whether heavy truck traffic would damage plantings; staff said the design includes truck buffers and a rolled curb that allows trucks to pass without upheaval.
No formal action was taken on these logistical points; staff said they would coordinate with the contractor and bring details back to council if members wanted further review.
