Resolution to senior center dispute in the works
By Kathryn Reed
A lease or outright ownership of the senior center. That’s what South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County officials are tasked with negotiating.
City Manager Nancy Kerry, all city councilmembers except JoAnn Conner, and Ken Sands from the senior center attended this week’s Board of Supervisors meeting in Placerville. The goal was to explain to the county electeds and staff the importance of changing how the senior center is operated.
The county since 1929 has owned the land in the middle of town that also houses the museum, art building and visitors center. The city leases the land and then handles who the tenants are.
The problem is the county hasn’t been investing any money into the facilities and has basically been an absentee landlord. The seniors feel at a loss because they have money to invest, but can’t get the county’s ear. The city, which has been doing upkeep, wants complete control.
The city has written checks totaling $2.5 million in a 15-year period to maintain the facilities located there. It has taken in revenue of about $300,000 in that time from weddings and other rental fees at the senior center.
Sands spoke Jan. 26 about how the seniors have money to invest. He gave the example of when the group attempted to put windows in, but the county stopped the process. Then there is the well-documented time a few years ago with the county against the seniors’ better judgment put the mental health office in the same building. This was in an area of the building the seniors had paid for in an expansion.
Both sides have been talking for months, which some people, including Supervisor Shiva Frentzen, thought were the formal negotiations. Not the case.
The supervisors in closed session agreed to enter formal negotiations.
Supervisor Sue Novasel told Lake Tahoe News the negotiations will resolve: “How do we get to where we want to go?”
She added, “For the county we want to try to create opportunities where we can go as county, whether it’s transfer or sell or whatever. The details need to be hammered out.”
Kerry told Lake Tahoe News, “We either negotiate a new facility-use agreement for all properties or we negotiate a transfer of the assets to the city so the city can negotiate with the tenants for long-term improvements.”
There is no time line when this will all be settled. The disagreement dates back to the 1990s.
We pay County taxes also… The County should just transfer ownership of the land to the City for the Senior and Community Center, period! The County has been taking advantage of the City Seniors by not being a decent landowner or landlord. The SLT seniors deserve to have a facility they can improve and enjoy.
“Fingers Crossed”
Finally, a light-in-the-tunnel pertaining to the City/County negotiations regarding our SLT-Seniors and the senior-center/buildings/area/etc. It would be nice not to have replacement-windows and mental-health or building issues problems ‘asking for permission’ to complete or resolve. It is about time that the County enters ‘formal-negotiations’ so that the City of SLT can work out its long-term improvements and at the same time keep our Tahoe-Seniors happy! Our City deserves a ‘win-win’ situation for all the maintenance and up-keep it has rendered for all these years. Will have to state that our SLT-Seniors are a happy, close-knit group that deserve better. The last two-years have been hitting all the high-notes with an expanded-membership, more in-house programs, and a notable Newsletter to share with all the Community. In fact, even the ‘Commission on Aging’ (COA) headquartered in Placerville, has the Tahoe-Seniors Newsletter in their correspondence-folder for all to see and enjoy. They too have offered positive-input and would like to see final-resolution on this settlement matter. Thanks also to Mr. Ken Sands and Sue Novasel,(Dist-5 Supervisor)along with City Manager Nancy Kerry and Staff, for telling the El Dorado County Staff about this resolution and who we are!
2016 will be our positive-year. While we all wait in-the-wings, our “fingers are crossed”. It is about time! Regards,…
Ron B. Zehren COA-Commissioner (Dist-5)
South Lake Tahoe, CA.
Ron…Thank you for the info!
Now at the risk of offending some other posters
Let’s hope the light you see in the tunnel is not a train!
Robin Smith,
Ha ha ha ha etc etc etc……
So funny! Way to sh@t all over what that man was trying to say.
Proud of your intellectual capabilities, aren’t you. :-)
Like it or not we all become Seniors.
Some accept it as the fact it is and make the most out of however much life they have left. They stay active, become involved with the community in a way that only someone with the time, knowledge and patience that they have acquired can.
Others plant their butts in front of a computer screen, act like the biggest know it all of all time, cry when they get pointed out and probably have horrible lives until they too are caught up in the clutches of Father Time.
Mr. Zehren, thank you.
Ms. Smith, Go Find Yourself
CT…The FIRST thing said to Ron by myself was a sincere Thank you.
Unfortunately ALL do not reach senior status…too many leave this earth far too soon:( and for those who do make it to senior status they realize that…
Ageing is not for sissies;)~
P.S. In case you haven’t noticed this City and County are train wrecks.
“Go Find Yourself”
What a bunch of hippie DMT smoking nonsense…
oh wait…. hahaha.
Robin what percentile were your GRE scores in?
What is the highest level math you learned?
Or did you opt out for an BA…
You act dumb now, that is what counts.
billy…Snubbing Bachelor of Arts(BA)is not conducive to higher education which as we type many people are encouraging their youth to pursue.
Local Lisa(Mrs Bob)Maloff recently donated over $5,000,000.00 to LTCC and the community hopes that many of the local ‘oldsters as well as youngsters sign up for classes.
billy….Miller Analogies Test remember, try it you may like it, What was your score?
Robin,
I bow to your expertise on train wrecks. ;)~
Billy, did autocorrect really turn that into Go Find Yourself? Who knew?
CT…GOOGLE says GFY is acronym for Government Fiscal Year
Have you all forgotten what this story was about?
Back on topic or find something else to do.
LTN staff
Oh, come on Admin. For those of us not willing to pay to play it is our last day to pick on Robin.
See Robin, you CAN use google!
CountryGal, right on!
Admin., Government Fiscal Year!