Who owns the Community Resource Center, what are they and why is the building for sale? WTCA has some answers for you.
The property is owned by Community Resource Center of Marshall County Inc. a 501(C)(3) that was formed in 2008. The organization’s mission and goals are: – to provide for the delivery of social services to the Marshall County Community in an effective, supportive and uplifting environment – to support the social service agencies in Marshall County.
The CRC of Marshall County Inc. will utilize and lease space to various governmental and tax-exempt organizations. The purpose of the organization is to lessen the burdens of government and provide the community with great benefit in a centralized facility of governmental and charitable organizations. To provide a common building for a variety of social service agencies in order to make the delivery of social services in the community more effective and more effective and more accessible.
Board of Director members for the CRC of Marshall County Inc. are President, Sister Margaret Anne Hess from the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, Penny Lukenbill, Don Balka, Sarah Smith, Marilyn Feldman and Fred Webster.
Why is the Community Resource Center (510 W. Adams St.) for sale? In a letter to the Angle Investors it states, “Over the last two years, the Board of Directors of CRC have worked through difficult times meeting loan payments to the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development (RD) and for current operating expenses for the building. The Board was able to negotiate a consolidation loan from RD; however, it was not able to negotiate a lower interest rate.”
The letter says while most of the building is filled with tenants, the board of directors finds the “best option to satisfy Rural Development is to place the building on the market for sale. The listing price was determined by Rural Development to be $2 million. The letter says, “We are sorry for circumstances improved by RD that require us to tell the property.” The board hopes the mission of the Community Resource Center will remain for the new owner.
There is already one offer for the property and the County Commissioners have made known their interest in the building. Currently the Marshall County Health Department and Community Corrections are housed in the CRC. There have been ongoing discussions and a committee that has been investigating the option for putting Community Corrections and Probation in the same locations. The committee is looking at existing locations and the possibility of constructing a new building.
Marshall County Commissioner Kevin Overmyer said the county may have interest in the building but must have it appraised to see if it is feasible. When asked how he would fund the possible purchase of the CRC he said the Special Local Income Tax being collected for the jail bond payments has a substantial amount of money that could be used. His idea would be to move probation to the Community Resource Center, creating a larger judicial facility and use some of the $7 million being held in reserve for the purchase.
During last week’s County Council meeting it was noted that the law for the funds in the special LIT are only to be used for maintenance costs. Purchasing the building and adding security cameras and such would be an eligible expenditure for the funds.
At this point the commissioners have only agreed to hire an appraiser or two to survey the property and the tenants and provide them with an appraisal to see if purchasing the property was something they should consider.
