Looking for a way to stay solvent with the ever-increasing insurance costs, the Key Peninsula Civic Center Association is considering several options. The most cost-saving one, according to board members, would be to join forces with the KP Metropolitan Park District.
Becoming part of the MPD could save the Civic Center more than $20,000 a year in operating costs due to lower insurance and property taxes. Phil Bauer, president of the KPCCA, said an agreement could work in several ways, but most likely the Civic Center property would be transferred to the KPMPD, with a lease contract keeping the KPCCA in full control of the center and all its programs. (The KPCCA is the owner of Key Peninsula News.)
Bauer said the contract would be written in a way that would not impact any of the center’s programs and operations.
Paula DeMoss, KPMPD chair, said a partnership would be a tremendous opportunity for the community, allowing both groups to build on one another and expand programs. “It could be a way of uniting the community,” she said.
Discussions between the two organizations have only started, but the idea was welcome by the KPMPD commissioners, who heard a presentation by Bauer at a January park board meeting. They voted for the KPCCA to initiate a draft document for the transfer, stating that the way the contract is written would make a difference in whether the transaction moves forward.
If a partnership cannot be worked out, the Civic Center could join a nonprofit insurance pool as a way to cut its insurance costs, but that option has considerably less savings and no property tax relief, Bauer said.
The KPCCA welcomes comments regarding these discussions; call Phil Bauer at 884-9172.
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