Alcona County community hub plans on hold; residents say take care of seniors – Alpena News

At a three-hour meeting on Tuesday, board members heard from residents who say that a board proposal to build a community center and housing units in the next two years fails to honor the wishes of the county’s senior residents.

Others said the proposed project would benefit the 35.5% of residents older than 65 in a county with the second-oldest median age in the state, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Board members eyed a new community center as early as 2012, an idea that has evolved into a proposed community hub, to be built under a budget largely delimited by a $12.5 million allocation from the state through its Economic Development and Workforce Grants program, approved this year.

Earlier versions of the planned hub called for upward of 80,000 combined square feet in housing units and a community center designed to meet the needs and interests of all ages, with space allocated for seniors.

News Photo by Julie Riddle
Gerry Merrick, of Lincoln, speaks to the Alcona County Commission on Aging board during a special meeting at its senior center in Lincoln on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the Commission on Aging board was to vote on a revised proposal for a 32,000-square foot community center with an emphasis on senior services, with housing to follow, but commission members postponed the decision after several members said they had been “blindsided” by an addendum to the plan they had not seen before they meeting.

After three hours of heartfelt but polite public comment, commission member conversation, and presentations, with no resolution except a delay of at least a month, some audience members prodded the commission and residents to find consensus so the project can move forward.

“Take a chance, people,” said resident Marjorie Tate during the meeting’s final public comment period. “Just work with each other.”

The county needs more housing and other amenities for its non-senior residents, but the board disregards its mission and endangers its tax-exempt status by not focusing its project on the needs of its primary target, many in an audience of about 30 at the special meeting said during two public comment periods.

They called for the board to reconsider its push to create housing and to focus its efforts on building a senior center, rather than trying to accommodate all demographics with a community center only partially dedicated to seniors.

News Photo by Julie Riddle
Marjorie Tate, reflected in mirror, addresses Alcona County Commission on Aging board members, seated from left, Rolland Lynch, Mike Maturen, and Will St. John during a special meeting at its senior center in Lincoln on Tuesday.

Some expressed frustration that multiple surveys conducted by an outside group as part of the project planning process did not intentionally target the county’s many seniors, instead asking leaders, entrepreneurs, and students what they would like to see in a community center.

While early versions of the plan called for investors funding part of the project, the most recent version includes no investors, and the commission hopes to not have to use tax dollars to cover any of the cost of the build, Board President Mike Maturen said.

The company contracted to help plan the new construction will work within the county’s scaled-back budget and adjust the plan to cut costs as needed, commission Executive Director Lenny Avery told the attendees.

The board could have saved money had they adopted a less ambitious plan using land that was offered for the purpose but deemed a bad fit, said Judy French, of Harrisville.

According to a Q and A document provided by a subcommittee responsible for the project, the land did not meet criteria to qualify for funding for a building project.

Like others at the meeting, French worried the commission couldn’t keep its promises of building the complex under budget.

“You’re all going to come boo-hooing to the county,” she told board members. “And we ain’t going to give it to you.”

Board member Will St. John reminded attendees that the economic development grant money comes with strings attached, requiring that the money be used as described in the grant application by September 2024 or “the money doesn’t exist.”

“The state is not interested in giving us money for a senior center,” St. John said. “It is interested in giving us money for a hub. We can get the senior center we want, as long as we are willing to do a few other things.”

The dangled carrot of state money might not be adequate reason to build what many in the county don’t want, said Lincoln resident Pam MacKinnon.

“Just because you build it, they’re not going to come,” she said. “I feel like you’re selling our soul for a building.”

Some in the audience urged the commission to move forward with the project as planned, taking advantage of the millions offered by the government to add as much value to the community as possible.

“Whatever we can get, whatever we can conjure up, whatever the sources are, let’s work together and listen to the plan,” Tate said. “All of us are going to benefit from anything that happens in Alcona County.”

Presenters from a company contracted with the commission shared the rationale behind their suggestion, several years ago, that the commission consider adding housing to a planned senior center upgrade.

Studies conducted for the project showed that the 44 housing units once planned for the hub would prove too much for the project, which has fluctuated widely in its planning stage, said Tim Miller, presenting on behalf of Sidock Group.

The current plan calls for 10 senior units and 16 family units.

Some noted that more housing options, both for seniors and for families, would help the region as a whole, especially given a current shortage of housing for some populations.

The housing units, as proposed, would provide separation between younger families and seniors, and proposed outdoor facilities like basketball and pickleball courts would serve seniors and also give their grandchildren something to do during visits, Miller said.

In community surveys sent to more than 1,000 county residents falling into certain demographics, nearly all respondents wanted a community center that included senior services, a representative of another consulting company reported, clarifying that surveys did not suggest the option of a center dedicated to seniors only.

The Q and A document said social research shows that seniors benefit from interaction with younger people, such as would be found at a community rather than a dedicated senior center.

If commission members can approve a proposal soon, Miller hopes the county can break ground on the new buildings at the end of next summer, with construction to be completed within 18 to 24 months.

Whatever the commission decides will be an improvement on the current, outdated senior center building with inadequate space and little handicap accessibility, said commission member Rolland Lynch, surrounded by some of the equipment stored there by groups who use the small space.

Avery reminded those present that the clock is ticking on the state’s money, pressing for commission members to accept the proposal as presented.

“This is a blessing, not a curse,” he said. “We should be celebrating as a community.”

A subcommittee will study the latest proposal, which will come before the full commission in January for a vote.