LAKE COUNTY ? Much-needed replacement for the Live Oak Senior Center in Clearlake Oaks will be included in an application for a $1 million state grant after a unanimous vote by the Lake County Board of Supervisors Tuesday.
Rena Nunn, president of the board of directors for the senior center, told the board the senior center was in bad shape and in need of the money.
“Currently we are holding our 80-year-old building together with Duck tape and J-B Weld. And as you might imagine, this does not bode well for continuing our goal of providing nutritional sustenance to the many senior citizens that we serve,” Nunn said.
Limited to one project under the state grant guidelines, the board chose the senior center to include in its application in order to make the application more competitive. Lake County Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Cox told the board architects were working on plans for the new senior center and local funds were earmarked for the project. Approximately 20 supporters of the senior center greeted the decision with a standing ovation.
“It”s shovel-ready ? and it”s needed,” said District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing, whose district includes Clearlake Oaks. “I think this will push us to the level we have been hoping for, for so long for Clearlake Oaks.”
The state provides federal money to small cities and counties through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to benefit low-income groups and eliminate blight. Under the CDBG general allocation category, Lake County is eligible to apply for up to $700,000 for one project and $300,000 for a program.
Administrative Analyst Doug Willardson said the county hadn”t been notified that the grant funds were available yet, but wanted to know what to put on the application in anticipation of a possible May 1 deadline for a general allocation grant.
The decision came after the board weighed other uses for the grant money, including the Meals on Wheels program, and a contribution to Freedom House, a new shelter in the works for battered women.
District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington asked the board to make the Freedom House its $700,000 project, saying Lake County has a high occurrence of domestic violence. District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith noted that other senior centers in the county could use assistance, as well.
Clearlake Oaks pastor Hank Bushel, whose church neighbors the senior center, noted that 23 senior citizen housing units being built in the community will increase the demand on the senior center, which is already inadequate in size to accommodate current demand.
“I realize there are issues of balance, and I know that we as a county have put a lot in to the Oaks. I think this is that last push that will get us to a community that I think everyone can be very, very proud of,” Rushing said.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636 ext. 37.
