BREWSTER – The Brewster-Bridgeport-Pateros Senior Center kicked off its first meeting of 2025 with a couple of weighty carryover issues from 2024. One is the offer discussed last year with the City of Brewster to assume ownership of the Senior Center building. The other is the building property line.
The Senior Center first approached the city in 2019 to help cover its maintenance and operating costs. The city responded with a contract proposal to assume ownership of the building and allow the Senior Center to remain in the building for as long as it remained operating. A later vote by the membership declined the proposal.
The proposal was revisited in 2024. City Director of Finance Misty Ruiz discovered that the original contract no longer existed but said the city would entertain another agreement if the Center was interested.
Member Dave Burdick said Brewster is about the only Senior Center in Okanogan County that is not city-owned and maintained. He cited two pending maintenance issues that concern him about the building. One is the heating unit mounted on the roof that is too small to meet the needs of the building space. The other is asbestos. For any remodel, the asbestos must be removed or enclosed.
“Our ceilings, our walls and our floors are full of asbestos,” said Burdick. “I see things like that, and I think dollars.”
Opposing views expressed doubts that the city would shoulder the high repair costs and would opt to close the building instead. Options to explore grant funding or seek assistance through the Economic Alliance were also discussed.
Center Treasurer Charlene Knox’s motion that the Center’s status remain unchanged won board approval.
The board also revisited an earlier claim that the Senior Center building’s property boundary includes more area than previously thought.
Wicks-Lowrey recalled an older member who mentioned that a portion of the gravel driveway along the west side of the building belongs to the Senior Center. Subsequent research into property lines and titles appears to support the Center’s claim to a 50-foot section of the driveway.
In new business the Center purchased a 10’x16’ shed to store Thrift Store overflow and seasonal items.
The board appointed a Bylaws Committee headed by Dan Webster to review the nonprofit’s conflicting bylaws.
“The bylaws in several different places contradict themselves,” said former president Kay McVay. “They tell you to do it one way, you read on through them and they you to do it a different way.”
Vice President Mike Mauk will be head the Building Committee. That and other committees such as Thrift Store will be posted on the bulletin board for volunteer signups.
Recent break-ins at the Omak Senior Center and the food bank prompted Knox to recommend the installation of security cameras for the two back doors of the Brewster Senior Center. A motion was approved to research the cost of a camera system.
Member Dan Webster was elected to fill the remaining board position of Bob Isenhart who passed away on Jan. 6. The board also acknowledged the recent loss of member and former Brewster Food Bank director Dan Biddle of Bridgeport, who died on Jan. 7.
Mike Maltais: 360-333-8483 or michael@ward.media
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