Cities, school district unite with cost-saving plan

Someone was thinking outside the box in 2008.

The thought was: the cities of Kasson and Mantorville are always in need of outdoor equipment, as is the Kasson-Mantorville School District, so why not combine forces?

Thus began the KM Joint Venture, a financial collaboration on outdoor equipment that benefits each of the entities and their stakeholders, reducing costs.

Annual payments to the Venture totaling $25,000 have helped purchase a soil seeder, an aerator, scoreboards, portable bleachers (for festival in the park, moved for diff baseball tournaments; moved around as people need it), portable soccer goalposts, fencing, signage, a batting cage, and outdoor basketball hoops, among other things.

“Number one, it’s been great for us as a school district, and I would think that the other two city entities would say the same,” K-M Schools Superintendent Mark Matuska said. “And it’s saved the taxpayers an awful lot of money because we’re sharing equipment that, in a lot of places, everybody has their own. And now we’ve got the ability, and with a little communication between all three entities, we can all use it at different times. So it’s been fantastic.