The St. Joseph County Commission on Aging (COA) has approved a new, five-year lease with the City of Three Rivers for the Three Rivers Community Center.
The Three Rivers Community Center, located in the rear portion of the Three Rivers Public Library building, serves as the headquarters for the St. Joseph County Commission on Aging and offers rental facilities to the public. (Click on photo to enlarge)
The Community Center, located at 103 South Douglas Avenue, has been the headquarters for the COA in recent years and that will continue until at least 2017 with authorization given Wednesday (July 18) by the COA Board to sign the new lease agreement.
In reporting on the matter, COA Executive Director Lynn Coursey said the new lease is the same as the previous agreement, including the provision under which the COA pays $500 per month into a building maintenance fund as a lease payment to the city and is responsible for managing the building. Regarding the new agreement, Coursey said, “All of the terms are the same.”
The agreement says, “The term of this lease shall be five years and shall automatically be renewed for two years unless termination of the lease is requested in writing, by either party, six months prior to the end of the lease.” The agreement also provides for early termination with language that says “either the City or the COA may terminate this agreement at any time, with or without cause, upon one hundred and fifty (150) days advance written notice to the other party.”
COA Executive Director Lynn Coursey with the new lease agreement between the COA and the City of Three Rivers for the Three Rivers Community Center.
The Three Rivers City Commission approved the lease during its meeting Tuesday evening (July 17) as an item of business on the consent agenda. In a staff report on the subject in which he recommended city commission approval of the lease, City Manager Joe Bippus said, “The Commission on Aging has extensively remodeled the COA building and intends to install a new drop ceiling in the near future. In order to benefit from their investment they would like to renew/extend their lease. We are not proposing any changes except for the length of the lease.”
During Wednesday’s meeting, Coursey reported that the building will be closed from September 13 through 21 to accommodate the ceiling replacement work in the public portions of the facility. The office areas of the building will not be affected by the ceiling project and COA staff members will be on duty during the period.
Earlier in Wednesday’s meeting – during a review of the Community Center financial report – Coursey indicated that rentals of the Community Center have been picking up since recent renovation of the facility.
