EAGLE, Idaho — For more than three decades, Eagle Senior Citizens Inc. has served the growing senior population — but they've served the community inside a City of Eagle building.
Since 2006, the nonprofit has rented the building from the city for $1 each year. But that recently changed after city councilmembers terminated its lease with the senior center during their Feb. 14 meeting.
"It was a real surprise to us," senior center president Stan Ridgeway said. "There was really no discussion from the city. They just voted to terminate the lease."
Right now, Ridgeway said the city maintains the building while the senior center pays utilities. During the meeting, city leadership cited various financial concerns.
One city councilmember said [the city] "never knew the health of the senior center, which was a problem." The city is also concerned about a $5 million tort claim served to the city, senior center and Valley Regional Transit.
The wrongful death tort claim seeks damages after a man allegedly died because his wheelchair was not properly secured. The man's family said he was launched from his seat and hit his head after the driver made a sharp turn.
Pierce also said the city needed to take control of the city's senior population since the senior center hasn't been financially stable, especially over the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Between all those things, it's like, 'okay, where are they going to be,'" Eagle Mayor Jason Pierce said. "We don't know, and so we just can't take that chance with the seniors; the city can't."
Ridgeway believes the senior center shouldn't be on the tort claim in the first place since they historically contract out with VRT. Additionally, he said the senior center doesn't have any of the financial issues the city claims and has more than $100,000 in the bank.
He also said the city acted outside of its scope and tried to control the senior center's record keeping even though it's an independent organization.
"We've had an ongoing savings account that we've used and replenished over the years where we bought buses and turned those over to VRT for transportation and provided services for our seniors," Ridgeway said. "So, that information about financial crisis is all false."
Starting in June, the city's Parks and Recreation Department will run senior activities. Pierce said they're planning on expanding programming to several buildings and adding various services.
Ridgeway said he's concerned Parks and Rec staff won't be able to meet seniors' needs. He's also worried the transition will disrupt many seniors' weekly schedules, something many rely on.
"We've got a lot of hard-working Parks and Rec people at the city," Ridgeway said. "But they're not used to dealing with people who are 70,80,90 years old who come here for lunch. A lot of people who come here might be suffering from dementia; we just provide so many services, and I can't see the city doing that."
Pierce said they are up to the challenge and will set up meetings this spring with the senior population to address some of their concerns about the transition. The city is also gathering input about various activities seniors want added.
Eagle Senior Center Inc. is currently looking for another place in town to run its senior programming, meaning there might many more options for seniors in the upcoming months, Ridgeway said.
But in Ridgeway's view, and many other life-long senior center attendees, there isn't anything wrong with the nonprofit in the first place, and the city building they've used for the past 30 years should stay as is.
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