PIC makes plea for city help
by Emmitt B. Feldner o_f_ t_h_e_ R__e_v_ie_w__ s_t_a_f_f
PLYMOUTH — The last hurdle is looming large and the Plymouth Intergenerational Coalition is looking for help from the city to clear it.
“We really are under a time crunch right now and we have to find out if we have the support to build this,” coalition Director Martha Laning told the council at their Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday.
The coalition needs to raise another $429,000 to break ground for the $4.2 million Plymouth Intergenerational Center. And, Laning said, construction has to start by April 15 or the group will lose a $1.01 million federal stimulus community development block grant.
“If we can’t raise the money with $1 million coming in, we can’t raise the money. If by April 15 we don’t make this, the project is done,” Laning stated. “I write checks to our donors, we tear up the pledges and I start looking for another job.”
She presented several requests for in-kind donations from the city to help the coalition to its goal. They were:
Waive the city’s portion of the building inspection fees.
Allow the center to connect to city water off Douglas Drive instead of extending the main down Highland Avenue, as the Plan Commission required in its approval of the site plan last fall.
Pick up the cost of installing city utilities to the center instead of billing the coalition.
The water line change could save the coalition $45,000 to $58,000, Laning said, and the group would pledge to share in the cost of extending the Highland Avenue water line when development takes place to the north of the center.
The donation of utilities installation could save the coalition another $96,344 to $141,131, Laning estimated.
Laning added that Larry Gentine, co-chair of PIC’s fund-raising campaign, would be willing to meet with the council next Tuesday to discuss the coalition’s requests.
Mayor Donald Pohlman said he had discussed the request to change the water main connection with Fire Chief Ronald Nicolaus. “There is a good chance that could possibly work out,” Pohlman said.
City Attorney Ronald Damp noted that the change in water main service would have to be approved by the Plan Commission as well as the council.
Laning stressed that the city will benefit from the new center, which will house the Plymouth Senior Center. The seniors will get 1,831 more square feet of dedicated space than it presently has, as well as use of 4,159 square feet of shared space in the center at no additional charge, along with the outdoor facilities at the center, something not available to the seniors presently.
The coalition will charge the city $8 per square foot for the dedicated space, as opposed to the $9.61 per square foot the pays for the current senior center.
Laning said the current market rate for similar space is $15 per square foot. She said the city could save as much as $840,290 over the next 25 years by renting space for the senior center at the below-market rate the coalition has agreed to.
“We want to save the city money. That was always our intention. We want to support our partners, we want to strengthen those partners by giving them low-cost facilities,” Laning explained.
“You have to decide where you feel your support can fall in there. Weight this against the other projects you have supported over the years and decide, what is the Plymouth Intergenerational Center project worth to you,” Laning concluded.
