Five-year lease for COA

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 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 last week (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 Three Rivers City Commission approved the lease during its meeting last week (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.”