The council approved the contract for the $12.1 million deal with M and M LLC of Ankeny. The sale is expected to close April 30.

When M and M LLC struggled to get private financing, the City Council stepped in because it deems the facility critical to the success of Corridor Plaza. It bought the building from 3 and 1 LLC, of Fort Dodge, with plans to quickly sell it to M and M, which proposed the project and first owned the building.

The city government borrowed the money to buy the building, then negotiated a contract in which payments from M and M will retire the city’s debt.

“The buyer is making the city’s debt payments,” City Manager David Fierke said Monday. “They’re really paying for the building.”

He has said previously that even if the payments from M and M can’t cover the debt service, the city has other options available, such as sales tax revenue generated at Corridor Plaza. He said it is very unlikely that the city’s property tax payers will have to pay off the debt.

The contract includes a payment schedule listing the specific amounts M and M must pay each month from now until June 1, 2030.

Councilwoman Lydia Schuur was absent from the otherwise unanimous vote to approve the contract.

One citizen addressed the council about The Pavilion. Dr. Ed Touney asked about some specific dollar am ounts in the contract and about how the city’s debt would be paid.

Fierke replied by explaining how the payments from M and M LLC would be used to pay off the debt. He added that sales tax revenue and tax increment financing will be used if the payments from the firm aren’t enough.

To answer some of Touney’s questions, Fierke and Mayor Matt Bemrich referred him to the contract, which can be found on the city’s website at fortdodgeiowa.org. To find the contract, select agendas and minutes on the home page, then click on the agenda for Monday’s council meeting.

The Pavilion, located on the west side of Corridor Plaza, will include a five court basketball/ volleyball arena, three pickleball courts, a restaurant and three retail spaces.

It will be the site of basketball, volleyball, wrestling, pickleball, craft shows, corporate events, concerts and adult combat sports.