Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why is the Senior Center going to be built at 119 Colburn Street?
The town has purchased the property at 119 Colburn Street. The Council on Aging requested a parcel for the new Senior Center. It is a beautiful piece of land that will support a Senior Center building as well as outside areas for activities. There is no other suitable, town owned land currently available and we would have to appropriate money to buy the land, which would increase the amount of money we request from the town.
2. Isn’t Bearfoot Road far from the center of Town?
It’s less than 5 minutes by car from the old Town Hall. It’s 1.75 miles from
the current Senior Center site.
3. Isn’t the present Senior Center adequate?
The present Senior Center located at 1 Centre Drive is only 2678 square feet.
There is only one function room for the all the activities and services. In fact, we use other space in town to hold some of our programs. According to the State’s Executive Office of Elder Affairs, Senior Centers should plan 5-6 sq. ft. per elder. According to the Town Clerk, 2,578 seniors (over 60 years of age) currently live in town and by 2020, only 12 years from now, baby boomers will push that total to nearly 3,800. Using this formula, the present Senior Center should be 12,900 sq. ft. before taking into account any demographic projections. There are only 4 parking spaces and 1 handicapped space. We have no land to offer any outside activities.
4. What do people do at the Senior Center – why do we need it?
The present Senior Center offers educational, informational, and health
maintenance programs. Seniors come for Exercise, Line Dancing, Computer
Classes, help with transportation to medical appointments and shopping,
Blood Pressure and Health Clinics, Language Classes, advice on health
insurance and choosing a Medicare Part D plan, resources to help them stay
healthy and safe in their own homes, Fuel Assistance and much more!
5. I’m not a senior – how does the Senior Center help me?
The Senior Center is the focal point for elders, but it also serves all segments
of the population. Children of seniors often contact the Center first for help with their parents. The staff helps them find their way through the maze of elder services. Volunteer and community service opportunities for students and they plan to do more intergenerational programming in the new center.
6. What about contamination on that land?
There is on-going remediation on Parcel III at 119 Bearfoot Road. The Senior
Center will be built on Parcel II. Back in February of 2006, a Phase I
Environment Assessment was completed on Parcel II as part of the ongoing
Senior Center Feasibility Study. Please see the links under titled Environmental Concerns referencing two letters – one from Adam Last of Corporate Environmental Advisors, Inc. and the other is a legal opinion from Town Counsel. In summary these letters clearly indicate that there are no environmental contamination issues on Parcel II and there are no DEP regulations that would prevent the Town from developing Parcel II of the 119 Bearfoot Road property as a Senior Center.
7. Will the contamination clean-up of the shooting range impact the new Senior
Center?
No. Parcel I designated for Recreation and Parcel II designated for the new
Senior Center are both free of contamination. The Town is mandated by the
State to remove the contamination on Parcel III by 2009. While this is
occurring, there is no danger to the construction and future use of the new
Senior Center.
8. What will happen if the Senior Center Project does not move forward?
Programming for seniors related to health, fitness, medical assistance,
outreach and social outlets will continue to be artificially constrained and
severely constrained in coming years due to projected demographic trends.
9. What is “green” about this building?
The new Senior Center will use geo-thermal heating and cooling. The system
replaces the reliance on gas or oil by using water pumped from wells on the
property. Not only does this eliminate the cost of fossil fuel, it does not
contaminate the atmosphere making the Senior Center a building of the future.
10. How will the cost of a new Senior Center affect my property taxes?
You will be voting on a debt exclusion that will be paid for over the next 20
years. Based on a home with an average assessed value of $418,400, the
yearly tax impact would be $76.91. That’s less than $1.50 per week.
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