Disagreements over the future of a senior center and housing complex in Alcona County led four board members of the county’s Commission on Aging to resign Tuesday afternoon.
Three of the four members, Vice President Will St. John, Secretary Pamela Ashford, and one of the board directors Jacquelyn Schwanz, walked out of the meeting after resigning from their positions. They cited frustration over the direction the board was taking regarding the facilities and its handling of internal matters.
Board President Mike Maturen, who was not present at the meeting, cited health issues in his letter of resignation.
Toward the end of the meeting, the remaining board members decided to put the executive director of the commission, Lenny Avery, on administrative leave without pay.
The turnover in administration is rooted in disputes over a $12.5 million grant the commission received from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in October as part of the state’s record setting $76 billion annual budget. According to the commission, it’s the largest grant the county has ever received.
Since receiving the grant, the board has not been able to reach agreement on how to move forward with its architectural contracts and the function of the facility.
As it’s drafted currently, the facility would function as a multipurpose “community hub.” The 30,000 square foot facility would include a community center, for both the public and seniors, along with 10 townhouse units exclusively for seniors that are both handicap accessible and barrier free. The “community hub” would also provide an additional 16 housing units for both seniors and those who would qualify as “missing middle.” The plan also includes several outdoor amenities.
During an interview with WCMU, Avery said he’s been working on the facility project for three years and learned early on during the process that no state funds are available if the commission had pitched their project solely as a stand-alone senior center. Avery said the housing component was vital to the project getting funded by the state and would benefit not just seniors, but the wider population of Alcona County.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau ranks Alcona County as the fourth oldest county in the country, with 57% of its residents over the age of 65. The county also ranks fourth in the state of Michigan for student homelessness by fifth grade, according to a study from the University of Michigan.
During the public comment period at Tuesday’s meeting, Joe Lukasiewicz, chair of the Alcona County Democratic Party, said his party gives “unequivocal support” for the “community hub” project proposed by Avery. Lukasiewicz said this isn’t a partisan issue and the project funding could have been stopped at multiple stages of the process by Republicans. “For this board to impede grant progress now would be nothing less than malfeasance,” said Lukasiewicz.
“Seniors want a senior center,” said Karen Sharboneau of Lincoln. “That’s what we need, that’s what we want.” Other public comments cited concerns over how the commission would fund the “community hub” in the long term and maintain a 30,000 square foot facility. “We need to know what the grant says,” yelled a community member during the public comment period.
Over the past several months, board members have called into question whether or not the commission is authorized to build housing and cited concerns over how the construction of housing units would impact their non-profit 501(c)(3) status.
During Tuesday’s meeting, board members Robert Turek and LeRoy Perrin accused Avery of withholding information from them on the project and called into question several aspects of the architectural contracts, a survey that was conducted for the project, and argued the project could leave the commission in dire straits financially.
The estimated project cost is $19 million. Over the course of the three year planning period for the project, the commission has already spent $140,000, including the purchase of the land for the “community hub.”
“Work within the budget,” said Perrin while presenting a revised plan for the facility to the board. Perrin, who said he has a background in building projects, wants to eliminate the townhouses and instead build villas that would be for seniors only in order to meet the stipulations set in the grant. Perrin also cited concerns over the “community hub’s” plan to be finished in full and wants more emphasis placed on the senior center aspect of the project.
During the meeting, St. John said the details and final price of the project will get done during the design process and will have an impact the final cost to fit within the $12.5 million budget.
The commission’s attorney looked over the contract and did not cite any reasons that it would be damaging to the commission if the contract was finalized by the board, Avery emphasized during the meeting. The contract has three years of work and preparation behind it, Avery argued during the meeting, “this is just a starting point to keep the process moving.”
Avery went on to add that the “community hub” project will have a contract manager at risk as opposed to a general contractor. A contract manager risk is limited to 6% of the project, and if they go over the price, they must pay the additional costs accrued.
Several board members during Tuesday’s meeting, not including Turek and Perrin, admitted they have not read the current architectural contract. Avery pushed back against the board for wanting to vote on revising the contract when they haven’t read it. “We can’t get out of our own way,” said Avery.
But Turek said he can’t imagine signing the contract in its current form and advocated for a motion to make Perrin the primary liaison with the architects for the project to consider revisions to the contract and facilities. The motion passed.
After three members of the board resigned and walked out, the meeting reached its climax when the board began to consider the removal of Avery as executive director of the commission.
Turek accused Avery of not working 40 hours a week and claimed there’s video evidence of Avery making threats to the Lincoln planning commission to approve the zoning for the “community hub.”
Delores Schlicker, one of the directors of the board, asked Avery toward the end of the meeting if he sold some of the commission’s kitchen equipment, and if so, where that money went.
“I’m not going to participate in this foolishness,” said Avery in response to Schlicker’s question. “My Mom told me not to argue with fools,” he added.
Soon after, Turek asked for Avery’s resignation. Eventually, the board voted to seek legal counsel and put Avery on administrative leave without pay.
Avery called the board’s allegations against him “meritless” and said six of the commission’s nine employed managers are considering handing in letters of resignation following his suspension.
The board said Perrin will be leading meetings on the building committee with the architectural firm to revise the contract and will present a new plan for the facility at the board’s February meeting.
With four members of the board resigning, the suspension of the executive director and potentially more resignations from staff, there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the day-to-day operations of the commission. Perrin said there is no contingency plan in place to manage the operations, but said he knows people are going to step up. He did not specify who, outside of his wife.
After the meeting, Avery said he’s concerned about the commission’s ability to run the day-to-day operations, like meal deliveries to seniors, without him and the potential of more members of his staff resigning. Avery added the “community hub” project is no longer his concern.
“They chose to make this decision,” Avery told WCMU. “Because they thought that they could make it better than the people who have been working for the last three years.”
