Ham Lake seniors, once given exclusive use of the city's Senior Center, have been told they now have use of the building only 51 percent of the time.

"Losing the Senior Center 49 percent of the time is one thing," Harry Hibben, 73, said Thursday, reacting to last week's City Council decision. "What we've lost is trust in the City Council. That may be the real issue here."

For months, Hibben and other members of the Ham Lake Senior Center board have dreaded the possible conversion of the 18-year-old Senior Center into a community center that could be used by seniors.

The Senior Center did more than offer Anoka County seniors a refuge to congregate, exercise, play cribbage and cards, and dine. The center served as a rental hall, generating $25,000 a year for weddings alone -- money that the seniors said they poured back into the center or toward center-related functions.

The perception by the seniors is that the City Council wanted a piece of that action -- a chance to control nearly half the rentals of the hall and then use the profits toward the city as the council saw fit.

It isn't quite that cut-and-dried, said Gary Kirkeide, the City Council member and former mayor who pushed for the new agreement. Kirkeide noted that Community Development Block Grant limitations by Anoka County ultimately dictate how income from the center can be used.

As for the seniors feeling they've lost control of the center, Kirkeide said, "They still have control 51 percent of the time. Hopefully, we'll make their lives easier by doing that."

Learning to trust the City Council may not be so easy, Hibben said.

"How can we trust them?" Hibben asked. "Nobody trusts them. The trust issue has been totally destroyed."

It's a subject that gnaws at Mayor Paul Meunier, the one council member who seniors say has consistently sided with the senior board on issues involving the center.

"I think the seniors can benefit, if the council sticks to its word and continues to fund the center and the position of senior coordinator, which is critical to the center," Meunier said. "But the council members have to stick to their word."

Paul Levy • 612-673-4419