Full house advocates for FM Senior Center

FORT MADISON – A downtown Fort Madison senior center could be on the chopping block if county officials decide to put the building up for sale.
At a town hall meeting Wednesday night, Lee County Supervisor Tom Schulz, whose district includes the downtown Fort Madison area, said it was his intention to support keeping the building under county ownership. He also gave a warning that the building is a burden for the county financially and steps should be taken to less that burden going forward.
Schulz spoke for about 30 minutes at the Newberry Center in downtown Fort Madison to about 80 people in attendance. He said the county spends about $35,000 annually on the property, and now will have to pay additional property taxes on the property, per a state auditor finding.
If the county owns property it collects rent on, it must pay a property tax on that property, according to the 2024 audit finding. Lee County Auditor Denise Fraise said that would amount to an estimated $2,600 additional cost per year. However the county would get about 30% of that back. They also have to insure the building. Right now the only revenue is $4,800 per year - the amount collected from UFCW Union Local 617 who leases the upstairs space from the county.
Schulz said the market for that space is closer to $1,000-$1,200 per month and supervisors had hinted at raising the rent.
The county assembled a Building Study Committee to review all county facilities and come back to the board with recommendations on each building, and potential savings to the county.
“We all know this is a valuable part of our community, but I do need to be real honest with you, it’s not something we are statutorily required to provide,” he said.
“So as funds shrink, we have to make sure we have money to provide the things we are required to provide by statute. And the things we want to provide would have to come later.”
He said he was a strong advocate for keeping the facility open and in existence. Others on the board didn’t have the same mindset.
“The main purpose of this meeting is so I could illustrate to others the significant public support we have for this facility. And the fact that this is a vital part and a long historic part of our Fort Madison community that we should keep intact,” Schulz said.
But he said the future means the county needs to look for alternatives, including reforming a non-profit organization that takes over the ownership with some potential county assistance. Another option he presented was moving senior citizen activities that currently take place at the center, to other social service clubs in the city.
Milestones Area Agency on Aging provides meals onsite for seniors. In April, the non-profit organization prepared and delivered more than 500 meals to seniors in the community. The meals are prepared at the Heritage Center in Keokuk and delivered to Fort Madison for seniors in this area.
Fort Madison City Manager Laura Liegois said all governmental agencies are facing budget constraints under the weight of new property tax caps. She said she's not aware of any invitations for the city to be part of the conversation about the senior center, but agreed that it may take more than public officials to keep it going.
"The city has been made aware of the county inventory of their buildings from the Board of Supervisors' agendas and meetings, which is a good practice for all organizations to do," she said.
"I understand that Lee County, just like the City of Fort Madison. is facing challenges forced by state legislation in our budgets this year and over the next few that are making all of our organizations make hard decisions of where our funds are spent.
"To my knowledge, the city has not been formally invited to a discussion of the Newberry Center’s future. There are many organizations that should be part of this discussion for the future of the Center and the services it provides for our senior citizens in the community."
Kelly Mahoney, a Milestones staffer in Fort Madison, asked Schulz and Fraise why the county had pulled the listing of the property off of Beacon, the assessor’s online property listing in the past week. She also claimed that a news article in a center scrap book that outlined the purchase of the property back in 1981 was now missing from the book.
Schulz said the county would have nothing to gain by pulling that listing down or taking something from the scrapbook. One official from the Assessor's office said the listing was inadvertently taken down. On Thursday, the listing was active, but had no prior sale information or valuation listed.
Lee County Recorder Nancy Booten chairs the Building Study Committee. She said utilities alone cost more than $14,000 per year with increases expected in the future.
“This building has no security. We don’t know who comes in and out here and that’s a liability for the county. It’s been left open more than once. If we were to get sued, the first $25,000 comes out of the county’s pocket for an attorney,” Booten said.
She said the committee’s recommendation was to sell the building.
“We felt that this building wasn’t something that provided the county with what we need,” Booten said. “I’m a senior and I’m not against seniors and I’m not against unions either. But that’s what we were charged with and that’s what we’ve done. That’s our recommendation to the board. It’s the board’s decision. Not our decision.”
Schulz said he’s received more than 300 emails in support of keeping the center open, with just one person suggesting giving it to a non-profit organization.
“I liked the one suggestion. I would love to find a non-profit to take over this facility, to manage the facility, to run the facility. But as far as I know, there isn’t one. Unless we build something up from the ground that doesn’t exist today,” he said.
“I think it’s where we should go. But I think we should continue to keep this facility while we look for a long-term solution.”
Supervisor Ron Fedler said he’s always voted to support the Newberry Center and suggested that fundraisers be held above and beyond the scope of a non-profit to offset some of the costs to county taxpayers.
“I continue to support wanting to keep this open because it obviously does a great job for the elderly and we can’t forget them just because we’re older,” he said.
Fraise said that fundraising dollars for the senior center could be allocated to the expenses through the county. She said the previous Newberry Center board used to donate funds through BINGO and other fundraisers to the county which paid for new flooring and some maintenance.
“They used to give us some money each year. That is possible. You can do that, but are you interested in organizing again like you used to be? That was the problem - nobody wanted to step forward and do it. Those ladies aren’t able to do this anymore and that’s why it dissolved,” Fraise said.
The consensus in the room was to keep the facility open, but Schulz said the effort needed to get underway to find a long-term plan for the facility.
In the event the building were to be sold, according to Fort Madison City Code, the building is required to provide commercial space in the front half of the first floor.
Currently the center has activities including Silver Steppers, BINGO, Pool, Euchre and other cards, health clinics, craft classes, jigsaw puzzles, dominoes, congregate meals, and home-delivered meals.
Those looking for more information on the center can reach them by phone between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at 319-372-3147.