Council approves five-year lease with Knights of Columbus for senior center after tied vote; residents raise space and kitchen concerns

The Washington City Council on Jan. 21 approved a five-year lease for the city’s senior center with the Washington Knights of Columbus Memorial Association, after the council vote ended in a tie and the mayor cast the deciding vote in favor.

Councilors and staff said the move would be temporary while the city studies a permanent senior center location as part of its parks master plan and potential capital projects. The lease ordinance passed at second reading following public comment from seniors and service providers who urged the council to reconsider or to seek more information on space, kitchen facilities and parking.

City staff presented a cost comparison the council had received: the Knights of Columbus proposal showed a first-year estimated city cost of $33,200, while the Elks Lodge’s revised proposal totaled $48,463 for the first year once utilities and other maintenance were included. City staff said utilities are included in the Knights’ proposal; the Elks’ proposal had a lower base rent but higher utility and maintenance costs. Aging Ahead, the nonprofit that operates the senior center’s meal and program services, currently provides $12,000 annually in program rent to the city.

Supporters of the KC lease, including Jacob Dobbs representing the Knights of Columbus, said the organization is prepared to host the senior center and offered to coordinate with nearby schools for community service and volunteer help. “The Knights of Columbus are excited to have the senior center in our facility,” Dobbs said. He thanked city staff for working through the process.

Multiple senior-center users, volunteers and Aging Ahead staff questioned whether the KC Hall would accommodate current services. Debbie Stegall, administrator for Aging Ahead’s Washington center, said the kitchen setup and refrigeration currently used at the Elks are important for the organization’s meals-on-wheels and hot-meal programming. “We do about 125 hot meals a day between home deliveries and participants,” Stegall said, and noted the Elks’ walk-in cooler and freezer support current operations. She said some frozen meals for surrounding areas are supplied by an outside vendor but that the local kitchen and storage remain critical for Washington’s deliveries.

Volunteer members described the Elks facility as having larger, purpose-built spaces, a library and exercise rooms. “I cannot imagine what we have fitting in there,” said Jonette Ware, a senior-center volunteer and member. Dwayne Ware, of the Washington Senior Center Support Committee, asked the council how much square footage the senior center would lose under the proposed move; staff said the KC space is smaller than the Elks but did not provide a single definitive square-foot total for both in the public discussion.

Representatives of the Elks Lodge urged the council to keep the senior center at its current site, saying the Elks’ revised financial offer and non-quantified “intangibles” (parking, proximity to parks and established use patterns) merited further discussion and direct outreach to regular senior-center participants before a final move.

City staff and several council members said the five-year term was chosen because the city is pursuing a longer-term plan to build a dedicated senior facility on the auditorium/campus area as part of a broader parks master plan and possible capital improvement sales tax in 2026. Staff said consultants will present a draft parks master plan at a public workshop Jan. 30 and that the lease with the KC Hall is intended as a temporary location until a permanent facility is planned.

Council discussion of the ordinance occurred after an informational presentation comparing the two proposals and an overview of operational items such as the inclusion of utilities, sublease income and annual hall-rental value. After public comment and debate among councilors, the vote at second reading was tied; the mayor then voted to approve the ordinance.

What happens next: staff said the city will finalize the lease with the Knights of Columbus and continue work on the parks master plan and outreach to senior-center stakeholders. Aging Ahead and senior volunteers asked the city to bring kitchen- and program-related details to seniors who cannot attend evening workshops and to ensure equipment and storage needs are met before any move.

Action and source notes: The ordinance introduced on Jan. 21 authorizes execution of a five-year lease between the city of Washington, Missouri and the Washington, Missouri KC Memorial Association for the senior center. The council record shows extensive public comment from seniors and Aging Ahead staff and the final passage required the mayor’s tie-breaking vote.

(Reporting based on the Jan. 21, 2025 Washington City Council meeting transcript.)