For more than a year there have been questions about the long-term plans for senior programming and the building that houses them in the South Lake Minnetonka area.

The senior community, and those involved with it, now has some answers.

The Southshore Senior Center that traces its roots back more than 30 years and has been housed in Shorewood for more than a decade, will continue to offer programs and services in January, but the oversight and funding of the operations will change.

And if all goes according to plan, the changes will be appreciated a year from now, according to former Deephaven Mayor Tom Anderson, president of the building's governing board.

"We're going to be really proud of what's going on down there," he said.

The changes include the end of the building's association with Senior Community Services, the Minnetonka-based nonprofit organization that initiated senior programming in the community more than 30 years ago. The organization has provided an onsite manager for the programming within the Southshore Community Center, the building financed by Deephaven, Excelsior, Greenwood, Shorewood and Tonka Bay to serve in part as a home for senior programming.

Programming within the building will be turned over to two organizations, Minnetonka Community Education and a newly formed nonprofit group, Southshore Senior Partners, which will serve as an advisory group for the programming within the building.

The new group will also coordinate volunteer efforts necessary to maintain programs outside the scope of Minnetonka Community Education, such as the twice-weekly lunch program, the weekly card games and the book club, according to Anderson.

MCE, under the purview of the Minnetonka School District, is a good fit for the Southshore Center because many of their programs aimed at seniors are offered in the evening due to facilities being used during the school day, Anderson said. The Southshore Center will provide a facility where MCE can offer programs during the weekday, many of which will likely be on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the same day the center offers its popular $3 gourmet lunches, Anderson explained.

MCE also has a staff that will be able to develop, implement and market Southshore Center programs effectively, according to Anderson. "Now we have a resource that has the skills," he said.

The change in service providers is part of a complex financial puzzle that numerous people have been working to solve for more than a year.

Senior Community Services had financed the programming costs for the Southshore Center since its inception. The nonprofit agency relied upon a variety of funding sources annually, including contributions from the South Lake cities.

The organization took a significant financial hit in 2007 when it lost the Metropolitan Council's Dial-A-Ride contract for the area. It profited from its administration of the service, and the loss of the contract meant a loss of about $60,000 in funding for Senior Community Service's various programs and services, according to Ben Withhart, the organization's executive director.

With his organization's substantial contribution to the Southshore Center, Withhart asked the cities to fund a greater portion of the operations. For the short-term, the cities funded an additional $25,000 for 2008, a total matched by the Friends of the Southshore Center, the nonprofit group that was formed to fund the operational costs of the building when it was constructed. Anderson joined the organization's board a year ago and was named its president early this year.

The Friends, in the meantime, questioned if it should be their responsibility to cover operational costs of the building, a building they had no equity in despite their fundraising to help finance the building's construction, Anderson explained.

A task force of city officials was established to sort out the long-term plans for the facility. That group concluded it should be up to the cities to fund expenditures such as insurance, exterior maintenance and replacement of heating and air conditioning systems. The concept is based on the landlord-tenant model for an apartment or office building, according to Anderson.

The funding proposal should come before the South Lake city councils in the next month. It takes the approval of four of the five cities to amend the Friends' agreement for the building, Anderson noted.

The second half of the task force's equation was the programming. The Friends' fundraising wasn't going to cover the costs of the programming, Anderson said. That meant looking elsewhere.

Last month Senior Community Services offered to raise $10,000 for 2009 costs, as well as cover $16,500 in identified expenses, leaving $17,500 for the Friends to raise toward programming for 2009.

But the task force found the MCE plan to be financially beneficial, as the organization could be implemented into the Southshore Center without the cost of a full-time program administrator. An agreement with MCE, effective Jan. 1, was struck last week, Anderson noted.

Participation in Southshore Center programs has waned in recent years, according to Anderson. He sees the new plan as a reversal of that trend. "I think we've turned this around," he said. "It's got new life."

For Senior Community Services, the end of its association with the Southshore Center is a sad one, given its long history with the South Lake community, Withhart said. The end means services Senior Community Services provided beyond daily programming, such as transportation, health insurance counseling and outreach to those in need due to illness or injury, will also come to an end, he noted.

The organization sees its role as a partner in the community rather than simply a service provider. Despite the loss of that partner, it will relieve the organization of fundraising toward the Southshore Center, according to Withhart. "Financially it will be in our favor," he said.

His organization is open to working with the Southshore Center again, but it will require a partner in the community, be it the member cities or the Friends, to make it work, Withhart added.

With the changing economics for both the Southshore Center and Senior Community Services, it was time to move in a different direction, Anderson said, acknowledging the role the organization has played in South Lake senior programming.

"They were very good to us for a long time," he said.

This article was first published Oct. 31 on our website, www.mnsun.com. Visit the site for your daily local news, including next-day city council and school board coverage.

The organization took a significant financial hit in 2007 when it lost the Metropolitan Council's Dial-A-Ride contract for the area. It profited from its administration of the service, and the loss of the contract meant a loss of about $60,000 in funding for Senior Community Service's various programs and services, according to Ben Withhart, the organization's executive director.

With his organization's substantial contribution to the Southshore Center, Withhart asked the cities to fund a greater portion of the operations. For the short-term, the cities funded an additional $25,000 for 2008, a total matched by the Friends of the Southshore Center, the nonprofit group that was formed to fund the operational costs of the building when it was constructed. Anderson joined the organization's board a year ago and was named its president early this year.

The Friends, in the meantime, questioned if it should be their responsibility to cover operational costs of the building, a building they had no equity in despite their fundraising to help finance the building's construction, Anderson explained.

A task force of city officials was established to sort out the long-term plans for the facility. That group concluded it should be up to the cities to fund expenditures such as insurance, exterior maintenance and replacement of heating and air conditioning systems. The concept is based on the landlord-tenant model for an apartment or office building, according to Anderson.

The funding proposal should come before the South Lake city councils in the next month. It takes the approval of four of the five cities to amend the Friends' agreement for the building, Anderson noted.

The second half of the task force's equation was the programming. The Friends' fundraising wasn't going to cover the costs of the programming, Anderson said. That meant looking elsewhere.

Last month Senior Community Services offered to raise $10,000 for 2009 costs, as well as cover $16,500 in identified expenses, leaving $17,500 for the Friends to raise toward programming for 2009.

But the task force found the MCE plan to be financially beneficial, as the organization could be implemented into the Southshore Center without the cost of a full-time program administrator. An agreement with MCE, effective Jan. 1, was struck last week, Anderson noted.

Participation in Southshore Center programs has waned in recent years, according to Anderson. He sees the new plan as a reversal of that trend. "I think we've turned this around," he said. "It's got new life."

For Senior Community Services, the end of its association with the Southshore Center is a sad one, given its long history with the South Lake community, Withhart said. The end means services Senior Community Services provided beyond daily programming, such as transportation, health insurance counseling and outreach to those in need due to illness or injury, will also come to an end, he noted.

The organization sees its role as a partner in the community rather than simply a service provider. Despite the loss of that partner, it will relieve the organization of fundraising toward the Southshore Center, according to Withhart. "Financially it will be in our favor," he said.

His organization is open to working with the Southshore Center again, but it will require a partner in the community, be it the member cities or the Friends, to make it work, Withhart added.

With the changing economics for both the Southshore Center and Senior Community Services, it was time to move in a different direction, Anderson said, acknowledging the role the organization has played in South Lake senior programming.

"They were very good to us for a long time," he said.

This article was first published Oct. 31 on our website, www.mnsun.com. Visit the site for your daily local news, including next-day city council and school board coverage.