The sculpture would have complemented his house while providing a huge public benefit by his offer to install it on the roadside outside the apartments, he said.
However, importantly, he was not interested in the council's request for him to put the sculpture in a better location for public viewing.
If the council opposed putting the sculpture on the corner he would spend about a quarter of the amount on a scaled down and probably different sculpture placed on his property.
It was, in effect, an all-or-nothing offer.
It still won the support of the council's newly formed Public Art Advisory Group which backed the application, saying it was a great piece of art.
"No aspect of the work is objectionable," it concluded.
However, councillor Steve Morris said it had been put to the council as a deal or no-deal situation.
The sculpture would be privately owned on public land, raising the question of whether it was public or private art. "Good on the resident for having a go, but I don't buy it."
For his part, Mr Morgan said the council had "looked a gift horse in the mouth".
Mount Maunganui residents, art enthusiasts and councillors hope that an agreement can be reached to place it somewhere else although, at this point, that looks unlikely.
As reported in today's paper, Mr Morgan is to meet with three of the six councillors who tipped the balance against his offer but they are steadfast he will have to compromise on the location.
I understand the concerns over public versus private benefit but I think those who voted against the proposal got the balance wrong in reaching their decision.
The private benefit was far less than the public benefit.
It is an impressive work of art, and it would have added, rather than have subtracted, from the natural beauty of the area.
It had the potential to become a major attraction for the area.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Some may have felt it was ugly but that is to be expected - good art divides opinion and challenges us.
So what impact can public art have on a community?
Tim Smedley, in the UK's Guardian newspaper, cites the the most famous modern example in the UK, Anthony Gormley's Angel of the North.
Before it was erected in 1998, objection from local opposition councillors and residents almost succeeded in stopping it.
Now the Angel is viewed as iconic, a unifying symbol for the community in which it stands proud.
An ongoing study by Durham University using the Angel of the North as a case study found that 72 per cent of local residents felt the Angel of the North made them feel good whenever they saw it, and it made 64 per cent proud of Gateshead.
Opportunities like the one Mr Morgan presented do not come along very often. The council, it appears, has let this one slide by.
