I want to thank Alexis and the Enterprise for the excellent coverage given this story in the past few weeks. It has been a long road for the seniors of this community and they finally have the attention of the City Council and the community thanks to you.
In regards to the last article, the urgency has little to do with whether or not the space at McCollum Park remains available to the senior program. This space is just an office for administrative staff. This program has existed for over seven years and has thrived, growing to a participation group of over 1,200 folks. All of this, without a building. Classes in a church several miles away from McCollum Park, no place to have a social event or just gather to connect, support or share memories. This City Council has put them off for more than three years.
A committee was formed in 2005, to look at the options and available properties and come up with some alternatives. At that time the MCCA property was chosen as the best alternative and a foundation board was formed to make it happen. The result of that was the presentation put before the council asking for $2 million to begin the project. The result would have been a building in about two years with a reserve fund to sustain it and a renewable lease with MCCA for the property. Remember that the city has a reserve fund and this year alone they are adding nearly $1.5 million.
The formation of another committee to begin the work again seems redundant. Expecting county support is ridiculous. The county has no money in their current budget for any changes at McCollum Park and as a matter of fact have cut Mr. Tiegen’s budget a considerable amount for the next biennium. When is the city going to step up and support it’s seniors?
Candie Lambert
Mill Creek
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