News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Alcona County Commission on Aging Board of Directors’ Director Delores Schlicker, left, and board member Jacquelyn Schwanz react as Vice-President Will St. John and Secretary Pamela Ashford leave a meeting on Tuesday in Lincoln. Board president Mike Maturen stepped down earlier in the meeting and Schwanz stepped down later in the meeting after the departures of St. John and Ashford.

LINCOLN — The future of the Alcona County Commission on Aging Board of Directors and operations at the Lincoln Senior Center are uncertain following the resignation of four directors and the suspension without pay of the commission’s executive director on Tuesday.

The board resignations came as debate escalated between members of the public and the board over how best to utilize a $12.5 million allocation from the state for a new community center and senior and public housing.

During the meeting, board President Mike Maturen, Vice President Will St. John, Secretary Pamela Ashford, and Director Jacquelyn Schwanz all resigned, and Executive Director Lenny Avery was suspended.

Avery — who was instrumental in acquiring the grant funding — said he expects the senior center to open as usual today and said that he talked to his staff, urging them not to resign and to focus on serving the seniors who need them.

Avery said the drama, behavior of the board, the board’s handling of the proposed project, and his suspension should be called into question by Alcona County, the fiduciary for property tax money and other allocations to Commission on Aging.

“The ACCOA way changed forever today, and the county commissioners need to step in, because they don’t have anyone qualified or capable of running it right now,” Avery said. “I have the most amazing staff and they have agreed to stay on for now, because they know the seniors need them. It’s their job to protect the seniors from all of the craziness.”

After the meeting, Director Robert Turek said little about what’s next for the board, the Senior Center, or Senior Center services.

“Well, I think we will probably have to hold a special meeting and come up with a plan for what’s next,” he said.

After an audit report during Tuesday’s meeting, the majority of the board began to question Avery’s responsibilities and began to strip away some of his duties and responsibilities.

The board voted to disallow him from negotiating with a contractor for the proposed project to build a new senior center and senior housing and reduced the amount that he could spend without board approval from $10,000 to $200. Avery said any food, gas, and supply purchases would need to be signed off on by the board.

The board also voted to remove all video and audio cameras and recorders from the inside of the Senior Center, and only the ones near the building’s entrances and exterior would be used.

Turek called into question some of the expenditures made by Avery and the results of a study that Turek said showed housing was not needed in Alcona County. He accused Avery of not bringing the study to the board before it accepted the grant money.

Before addressing the board’s issues with Avery, the directors voted to have a committee led by LeRoy Perrin work with contractors and hammer out a new contract and a final plan for the proposed project.

With Maturen in the hospital, St. John conducted the meeting as it began. Members of the board, attendees, and media members were also handed agendas before the meeting began.

Before the first agenda could be approved by the board, Perrin introduced a second agenda that included a presentation about a possible reduction in the project plan as well as addressing Avery and his future.

The new agenda was approved and tensions rose from there among board members and those in attendance who were divided on what the project should contain. The opinions of those in attendance appeared to be split on the scope of the project and on the fate of Avery.

The project, which has been tweaked to include a new senior center, senior housing, and a senior outdoor area, is still without a concrete plan or design for the project. Earlier versions of the project proposed public housing and a community center.

The commission has until September 2024 to use the money as described in the grant application.