South Lebanon Council approves emergency lease renewal for Joshua’s Place community center

The South Lebanon City Council on June 5 unanimously approved an emergency ordinance renewing the city’s lease with Joshua’s Place, the nonprofit that operates programs at the city’s community center.

Kevin Peyton, executive director of Joshua’s Place and senior pastor of Village Church, told the council the building needs immediate repairs and upgrades and that a federal grant — identified through “Congressman Lansman’s office” — could cover major work if Joshua’s Place secures matching funds.

Peyton said the building has suffered leaks and other failures and that the nonprofit has already invested about $402,000 into the facility since it moved into the former elementary school in 2012. “The roof is literally, I don't mean to exaggerate, falling in on us right now,” Peyton said. “It's ruined some flooring and things that are going on, but we need to get it going.”

The ordinance was amended on the council floor to emergency status so the lease could be finalized sooner and Joshua’s Place could begin fundraising and move forward with the federal grant process. City law director Chase Kirby said he had reviewed the lease and that, with passage of the ordinance, the city was in a position to sign the agreement.

Peyton described the scope of planned work and a broader vision for the site: the federal grant would focus on replacing the parking lot, roof and windows — a project he said had been estimated at roughly $1.2 million several years ago and is “probably gonna be higher than that” today. He also presented a concept for a front addition and a reoriented community auditorium that could bring total additional costs into the range of several hundred thousand dollars to more than $1 million; Peyton said the combined projects could push total future investment to about $2 million.

On annual operations, Peyton provided figures the council tabled for consideration: Joshua’s Place reported it spent about $43,227 last year on utilities and facility upkeep at the community center, roughly $62,000 on programming (food and camps) and about $35,000 supporting Celebrate Recovery, putting ongoing annual costs for the site near $139,000.

Council members discussed whether the ordinance could proceed as an emergency to speed fundraising for the capital work. Sharon Carmack moved to amend the ordinance to emergency status; the motion was seconded and carried. The council then voted to waive the two‑reading requirement and to approve the ordinance by title, authorizing the mayor and the director of finance to sign the related documents.

The ordinance (Emergency Ordinance 2025‑14) authorizes the lease renewal with Joshua’s Place Incorporated; the lease as approved was described on the record as starting in 2026 and the parties agreed the current lease will remain effective until the new term begins.

Peyton said Joshua’s Place serves roughly 1,300 people a month through its programs, with Celebrate Recovery and other offerings pushing the total monthly reach to about 1,900 people. He told council members he would continue to raise private funds to cover the nonprofit’s share of any capital project costs.

The council’s action allows the city and Joshua’s Place to finalize the lease immediately so the nonprofit can pursue grant administration and donor solicitations connected to the planned capital work.