Lifelong leaders say their future was central to the library-site debate

Representatives of Lifelong — the county's longtime senior‑services nonprofit — told the Legislature their organization's future was a primary consideration during developer negotiations and that the Board had engaged closely with proposers.

Brian Wilbur, president of Lifelong's board, described a "confluence of changes" including reduced funding and rising occupancy costs that forced the organization to weigh proposals carefully; he said Lifelong met with each finalist and entered a memorandum of understanding with Travis Hyde after concluding that particular offer best met fiduciary obligations. "The future of Lifelong is at stake," Wilbur said on the floor.

Harriet London, a past president of the Lifelong board and chair of the site's committee at Lifelong, said the organization had done due diligence and that if Franklin Properties had presented a new proposal Lifelong had not yet reviewed it. Several legislators said they wanted explicit assurances from Lifelong about any new offers before choosing a preferred developer; Lifelong leaders repeatedly asked the Legislature to weigh the nonprofit's financial stability when evaluating proposals.

Lawmakers noted the process constraints of the RFP and the need to balance housing goals, neighborhood input and the nonprofit's continuity. The Legislature's tie vote left unresolved whether a developer with a standing memorandum with Lifelong (Travis Hyde) or the community-backed adaptive-reuse plan (Franklin) will lead the next step.