LEE COUNTY – In another move to reduce the Lee County Supervisors' building inventory, Supervisors opened up a dialogue on possibly selling another county building, this time the Newberry Center in Fort Madison.
The center is currently home to the Fort Madison senior center and the UFCW Local 617. Lee County Recorder Nancy Booten, who sits on the county’s Building Study Committee, tabulated that the county is spending more than $34,500 a year on the building including insurance, while collecting $4,800 in rent.
“Our study committee has suggested you may want to do a month-to-month lease with the union and look to off load that building,” Booten said.
She said Milestones Area Agency on Aging, which shuttles meals to home-bound seniors out of the facility, could look for space at community church. Milestones doesn’t cook the meals at the Fort Madison facility, but they coordinate the once-a-month local deliveries from there.
“Why are we in the rental business anyway? There are vacant properties there whose owners would love to have the union’s business,” said Supervisor Chuck Holmes.
Booten said there were also liability issues if anyone else is doing repair work on the building.
Penny Logsdon, a representative of the union, said union members had done repair work on the upper floor at their own cost.
Supervisor Tom Schulz said the center is still a viable place for seniors to gather and play bingo, and for dance classes and crafts.
Lee County Auditor Denise Fraise said the senior organization at the center has been dissolved.
“Maybe we need to look at the utilization numbers to see how much it is being used,” Schulz said.
“Every time I’m there, there’s always people in there. They’re playing cards, playing pool, it’s a get-together spot. They’ve got tables in there that they exchange stuff up on and do crafts.”
He said at some point the county needs to take care of the people that don’t have the resources to do it.
Holmes said there are other locations the seniors could gather.
Supervisor Matt Pflug said the county should be looking after its seniors.
“At the Heritage Center in Keokuk, it’s the same scenario. A lot of those people look forward to that every day. Getting together and, if we off load that property now, we sit with possibly an empty shell with nothing happening,” Pflug said.
Booten said the $34,500 didn’t include what taxes the county would have to pay due to renting the facility out.
The county’s current state auditor’s report indicated the county is required to pay taxes on buildings it owns and rents to a private entity. The audit alert prompted a review of market conditions in downtown Fort Madison and information from area realtors showed the county should be charging $1,000-$1,200 a month. The county currently charges the local union $400 per month and doesn’t charge the senior center anything.
Lee County Supervisor Chairman Garry Seyb said the conversation Monday about the rent is just what he wanted to kickstart some debate about what the county should be doing with properties and how the public can get involved in the discussions.
“I would love to hear the public’s thoughts on how the building is being utilized. I think this serves as a good catalyst going forward as the building committee goes from building to building,” Seyb said.
“I like this discussion. This is exactly what the county needs when it comes to discussing the buildings. What’s it costing us… What’s happening in the building… What are the financial liabilities of the county.”
Board member Tom Schulz, whose district includes the Newberry Center, said he would be holding a town hall at the senior center Wednesday, July 31 at 5:30 p.m.
“The people of the community can come talk to me about what they think should happen to that building, what the use of it is, and how valuable they think it is to the community,” Schulz said.
“If we have people show up there, that will be an opportunity for them to voice their opinion.”
Supervisor Ron Fedler suggested putting the building up for sale, but continue to rent to the union. Holmes said he would be in favor another one-year lease at $700 a month.
“If we put it at $400 a month, that would make the property more difficult to sell because that would not be a very alluring prospect for a potential buyer,” he said.
Lee County Attorney Ross Braden said the board could accept sealed bids for the property or possibly donate it to a non-profit organization.
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