County to Vote on Purchasing PACE North Building, Expanding Court Use of Opioid Funds

Grand Traverse County commissioners will vote Wednesday to purchase the PACE North building on Garfield Road – the coda to a years-long legal saga between the two entities. County Administrator Nate Alger says PACE North will continue to be a tenant, and that the county is purchasing the building to ensure those services stay in the community. Commissioners Wednesday will also vote to allow 86th District Court to use opioid settlement funding on a wider range of Recovery Court services beyond drug testing.

Pace North
County commissioners will consider exercising their first right of refusal to purchase the PACE North building at 2325 Garfield Road Wednesday.

The move comes on the heels of a years-long legal entanglement between the county and PACE North, which provides comprehensive care for seniors so they can remain living at home instead of in a nursing facility. The county renovated the Garfield building in 2017 for the PACE project, with the county’s Building Authority agreeing to issue up to $3.5 million in bonds for improvements. That led to a complicated lease structure between the Building Authority, PACE North, and the GT County Pavilions/Health and Human Services board.

That arrangement eventually ended in a lawsuit over PACE North’s efforts to go independent and the county’s claim it was still owed money for its investment. The parties reached a settlement last June. Under the terms, PACE North agreed to pay $5.8 million – a figure that included $2.9 million to purchase the Garfield building. Although the county agreed to transfer ownership, it retained the first right of refusal to purchase the building for 90 percent of the written purchase price if PACE North ever received an offer from another buyer.

PACE North recently announced a planned partnership merger with One Senior Care, with the groups submitting their plans for regulatory approval. That deal triggered the county’s ability to exercise its right of refusal since the ownership structure would be changing for the building. “It wasn’t a matter of being interested in selling it, it was partnering with One Senior Care,” says PACE North Executive Director Nicole Farkas.

The listed price was the same as in the settlement, just over $2.9 million. That means county commissioners now have the option to buy it for 90 percent of that price, or about $2.6 million. Alger pointed out in a memo to commissioners the “unusual financial circumstance” means the county will now be able to buy the building for $291,250 less than it sold it for to PACE North a year ago.

The county will also receive monthly rent payments of $17,848, though Alger tells The Ticker that won’t be “pure revenue” because the county will now be a landlord and responsible for property maintenance and repairs. Commissioners discussed buying the building in multiple recent closed sessions and now must vote to approve the deal so it can close by a September 1 deadline. Alger says the county’s interest in reacquiring the building was both a “mathematical” and a strategic one to keep PACE North in the community.

“The county sees them as a valuable resource for a vulnerable population, and so to have them stay here in the county we’re taking this step,” he says. 

PACE North has state and federal contracts to provide services for the seven-county area. Farkas says the organization will continue to do so regardless of the building sale. “We could change locations, but we don’t have any plans to do so at this time,” she says. “My goal throughout this process has been that the community understands PACE isn’t going anywhere, and we’ll continue to provide the same services we have been.”

Opioid Funds
86th District Court is seeking commission approval to widen the list of services for which it can use opioid settlement funds.

Commissioners previously allocated $39,500 for 86th District’s Court Recovery Court program for drug testing. According to County Finance Director Dean Bott, just over $13,000 of that has been spent so far. In a memo to commissioners, 86th District Court Administrator Gwen Taylor wrote that “while drug testing is an essential component of participant accountability and monitoring, it represents only one aspect of a comprehensive recovery program.”

“Limiting the use of these funds to drug testing restricts the court’s ability to address other evidence-based needs that directly support long-term recovery and reduce recidivism,” Taylor wrote. Providing flexibility “would allow the court to respond more effectively to participant needs while remaining consistent with the overall purpose of the opioid settlement – to mitigate the effects of the opioid epidemic and support treatment and recovery.”

The list of services 86th District Court is seeking to make eligible for funding include transitional housing, peer recovery coach services, participant counseling/assessments/educational materials, and Recovery Court graduation recognition. All expenditures are documented and reported back in accordance with county and opioid settlement policies, Taylor noted. She thanked commissioners for helping ensure dollars “have the greatest possible impact on the individuals, families, and communities affected by opioid use disorder.”

Photo credit: PACE North