Mower County will not be a part of the project to build a new Hy-Vee grocery store at the Oak Park Mall site.

The county board voted 4-1 Thursday to approve a motion to deny the city’s request for the county to loan $250,000 for the project. The money would have been used for site preparation: retaining walls, retention ponds, the parking lot and other such things.

Commissioner Mike Ankeny was the only commissioner who voted in favor of the loan.

Commissioner Jerry Reinartz, who serves on the finance committee, recommended the board deny the request. In the county’s 2015 budget and levy, the finance committee recommended freezing all funds given to outside agencies and to deny all new requests for funds. With that freeze, Reinartz said he couldn’t support the additional request for the mall project.

“In my own mind, I can’t justify lowering our reserves,” Reinartz said.

However, he noted it was a difficult decision, because the board wants to work with the city whenever possible. Despite voting down the request, commissioners spoke favorably of the project.

“It’ll be good when it’s done; good for everybody,” Reinartz said.

In October, the Austin Port Authority reached a general agreement to buy the Oak Park Mall Property for $3.3 million, thanks to a Hormel Foundation grant. Now, Hy-Vee and the city are working to finalize that deal, which would allow the company to build a 60,000- to 90,000-square-foot Hy-Vee grocery store.

Had the county voted in favor of the loan, it would have been paid through a businesses development fund, not the county levy. It would have been paid back over 25 years.