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"I actually think the community is where the council is," Poch said. "We're neither for it or against it. "The answers we have got back are not the final say," he said Wednesday.

Riverside and Pella are finalists for the 3.5-acre indoor rain forest project. The Earthpark board of directors could decide the project's location at its Sept. 28 meeting in Grinnell.

The city submitted a list of questions to Earthpark Executive Director David Oman in early September and received responses this week. Poch and the city council will review the responses, written by Oman, likely next month, Poch said.

The questions focused on the project's financing and what would happen if the project were to go bankrupt.

Because the city would be responsible for requesting state grant money through the Vision Iowa program, officials wondered if the community would be responsible for repaying the money -- about $20 million -- if the park failed.

In the response, Oman offered a simple answer -- no. Later in the document, the city asked who would be financially responsible if Earthpark failed.

"If Earthpark were to go into bankruptcy, the first claim on any of Earthpark's remaining assets would likely be to those who loaned money to the project. Any remaining residual value left over after paying off creditors would accrue to the not-for-profit organization," Oman wrote in a response. "It is possible that any remaining fund balance would be transferred to another charitable purpose consistent with Earthpark's Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws."

Part of the financial package Riverside is offering includes revenue from a hotel/motel tax, which currently the city doesn't have. The issue is on the November ballot. The city also pointed out in a question that it doesn't have any hotels or motels, other than the one in the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort.

"This is understood," Oman said in his response. "However, with up to a million visitors coming to Earthpark each year, it is likely that Riverside would see the development of a variety of new motels at various price points to service visitors coming to the area. The overwhelming portion of this tax revenue would be paid by non-residents."

If the tax were approved, half would go to the city and county and the other half would go to Earthpark, Oman wrote.

Poch said he doesn't think the Earthpark board will make a site decision on Sept. 28, leaving the council more time to review the responses and ask more questions.

Poch said Wednesday that he and the council hadn't studied the document.

"(The responses) will be available for the council to pick up whenever they want to see them," he said.

Councilor Mariellen Bower said she has briefly read the answers. She said they were a good start.

"It will have a cushion built in," she said, referring the concerns about the park failing.

She said the council and the city are supporting the project's concept but wished the board would pick a site so more concrete plans could be made.

"I'm sure it would work out if they would just pick a site," she said. "Iowa should get behind this."

Bower said she wants another town meeting to discuss the project.

Poch said the city will seek assistance in getting information on the project's financing.

"We need a financial expert to help mediate this for us," he said.

The questions the city asked focused on the project’s financing and what would happen if the project were to go bankrupt. Since the city would be responsible for requesting the Vision Iowa grant, it wondered if the city would be responsible for paying the money back, approximately $20 million, if the park failed. In the response, Oman offered a simple answer – no. Later in the document, the city asked who would be financially responsible if Earthpark failed.

“If Earthpark were to go into bankruptcy, the first claim on any of Earthpark’s remaining assets would likely be to those who loaned money to the project. Any remaining residual value left over after paying off creditors would accrue to the not-for-profit organization,” Oman wrote in a response. “It is possible that any remaining fund balance would be transferred to another charitable consistent with Earthpark’s Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws.”

Poch said he doesn’t believe the Earthpark board will make a site decision at its Sept. 28 meeting, leaving the council more time to review the responses and ask more questions.

Poch said Wednesday that he and the council hadn’t gotten a chance to look at the document.

“(The responses) will be available for the council to pick up whenever they want to see them,” he said.