Robbinsville – The renewal of a lease between Graham County and the Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center needs to be completed within the next month.
All indicators are that the final paperwork will come just in time.
After a year void of communication, talks between the two parties have ramped up over the last several months, thanks largely in part to the county’s need to use the facility for an upcoming Superior Court trial in November. The jury deliberation room in the existing Graham County Courthouse is too small for jurors to practice proper social distancing.
The Stecoah Center’s board has expressed the desire to host the trial, but first wants the county to finalize a 25-year lease that was agreed upon last year. Should the lease expire without renewal on Oct. 11, the center would lose many of the grants it operates on every year and, therefore, seize to exist.
Negotiation
The two sides met to discuss the issue at a special called meeting Sept. 1.
Stecoah Board Chair Rick Davis laid out the timeline of events since the county board initially agreed to a 25-year lease in May 2019. After a public notice of execution on the lease appeared in the June 27, 2019, edition of The Graham Star – indicating that the lease would be adhered to after a 10-day period – there was no further mention by the county board about the lease until the June 16, 2020, commissioners meeting, when the board discussed the need to use the center for the November trial.
Following the June 2020 meeting and the subsequent story that recapped the Board of Commissioners’ discussion in The Star (“Commissioners adopt $15 million budget,” June 18), the two sides agreed to have a meeting, which included Davis, Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center Executive Director Beth Fields, Graham County Commission Chairman Dale Wiggins and County Manager Becky Garland.
Fields sent out an email following the meeting to summarize what transpired, which Davis recounted to the commissioners Sept. 1. Included in the discussion were the cost of operations for the trial – with a noted $33,000 in savings of holding it at Stecoah, versus moving it to the Cherokee County Courthouse – as well as the feelings on both sides over the costs.
“’The county feels like they have made a significant contribution to the center over the years, with operating support and the new roof. You have, and we appreciate it. Thank you very much,” Davis added, while reading a portion of the email.
“Stecoah Valley Center feels like we have also made significant economic impacts directly to the county, through lease-hold improvements, sales-tax revenue, occupancy-tax revenue, visitor-center services, contributions by employees payroll, community services, including after-school and senior programs.”
Clause
However, much of the meeting centered around an added clause that has appeared in new versions of the paperwork.
Fields talked about the financial impact that the clause would have on the center. The clause gives the county the right to terminate the lease at any time, “with or without reason,” should the county provide a 30-day notice.
Fields noted that the last two lease agreements the center signed with the county only included one termination clause, which would occur if the Stecoah Valley Center ceased to be a non-profit; at which time, the county would take control of the property.
“Typically, municipalities lease to non-profit organizations – whatever their mission may be – to serve their community,” Fields said. “The purpose of a long-term lease is to prop up that non-profit so it can do service to the community.
“Now there is another termination clause that has been added that there would be a 30-day termination, with or without reason. That would basically dissolve Stecoah Valley Center. We are grant-funded and funded through private donations. We work with the county on some of our projects. This clause would eliminate our ability to operate. We would not be able to apply for long-term grants or provide long-term programming.”
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the center hosted several programs that Graham County residents participated in, including an after-school program, JAM (Junior Appalachian Musicians), food distribution and senior services. Only the food distribution has continued through the pandemic.
‘No ill will’
Fields added that a recent grant received to renovate the gymnasium at the center would have to be returned if the lease expired, as the grant was awarded with the understanding that the Stecoah Valley Center would be open.
The center has also had to call off its popular “An Appalachian Evening” concert series – as well as the annual Stecoah Heritage Festival – due to the loss of revenue brought on by the pandemic, which shuttered the center’s doors in March.
In response to the clause, Graham County Commissioner Jacob Nelms quickly dispelled any notion that the clause was added for either leverage or as part of a conspiracy.
“I’m not going to speak for everyone here, but I want to make sure you understand: there’s no ill will or motive for any of this,” Nelms said. “I’m not sure when the 30 days came into this lease. I do know that we discussed – because of the court ensuring our interest and your interest, for the future – because things change.
“We want to protect the county’s interest, just like we want to protect Stecoah’s interest.”
Wiggins added that the clause should be a standard part of a lease, as it protects both sides in the future.
“I’ve never seen a lease – that I can recall – that didn’t have some type of termination clause in it,” Wiggins said. “To me, there has to be some sort of termination clause. It doesn’t have to be as what is written in this, but I could see 10 years down the road; how many of us will still be on this board? I don’t know how many of you may still be on your board over there.
“But you could have people come in over there that are just a train wreck. It’s not too far-fetched to think it could happen. The same thing could happen with commissioners. I understand the concern, but in order for me to be comfortable with it – and I’m not speaking for anyone else on this board – there has to be some way to dissolve this relationship, if and when the need arises, whether it’s a year from now or 15 years from now.”
At the conclusion of the meeting, the two sides agreed to work together to both clean up the language surrounding the termination clause and ink the new deal before the lease expires.