The senior center limbo

City leaders hesitate to contribute money for construction of a senior center, lacking design models and precise figures associated with construction and long-term facility maintenance.

Folks asking the city for help say it’s impossible to raise money to pay for those details without a pledge of support from the city.

Such is the stalemate between the City Council and the Mill Creek Senior Center Foundation. And, based on a Jan. 5 discussion among members of the mayor’s appointed senior center advisory committee, little progress has been made in resolving the issue since foundation members approached the city in September for $2 million.

The advisory committee is finalizing its recommendations for the council on several options available to finance construction of a senior center. Among them will likely be the foundation’s proposal to build a senior center on land available for lease to the organization by the Mill Creek Community Association.

But several committee members, including those representing the foundation, are still searching for answers to questions raised by the council three months ago.

Among the questions:

• Are the cost estimates for construction and facility maintenance reliable?

• How long will it take the foundation to raise $500,000 for a reserve fund should projected revenues from renting space for parties fall short, and is that enough money to keep taxpayers off the hook for long-term maintenance and operation expenses?

• Will Northshore Senior Center, the Bothell-based agency that operates the Mill Creek program, furnish the facility since that expense is not included in the foundation’s cost projections?

City leaders are demanding more than a shoulder shrug in response to their concerns.

“I’d feel more comfortable if the foundation had someone on its board with some expertise in development and project management,” committee member and councilman Mike Todd said. “I look at what’s happened in Snohomish, the effort to build a senior center there started much like ours with a really cool idea, but it wasn’t until some people with a background in building and development got involved that things there really started to take off.”

But foundation members say it’s difficult to lure those experts to volunteer their time and services when city leaders appear less than enthusiastic about the project.

“It’s a catch-22,” foundation and committee member Bill McElroy said. “We on the foundation have gone as far as we can with this proposal, and now we need to the experts to fill in the blanks. We need the partnership with the city to energize the community and get those resources.”

In addition to the foundation proposal, placing the senior center on MCCA property, the committee’s recommendations will likely include options to build a senior center on the city-owned Cook property on North Creek Drive, or to renovate an existing facility or build a new one at McCollum Park. Financing for construction and facility maintenance at all three locations could come from property tax levies in a parks and recreation service area or a metropolitan parks district approved by voters.

There also is an option to utilize the City Hall Annex as a senior center, though most on the committee say the building is only suitable as a temporary home for senior programs while a facility is built at another location.