Thursday, October 3, 2013

Senior Moments

Last night, at the Common Council Youth & Aging Committee meeting, Council president Don Moore revealed that there will be a special meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, October 7, before the informal Common Council meeting, to vote on the lease agreement with the Galvan Foundation to locate the senior center at the Hudson Armory, now to be known as the Galvan Community Learning Center. With this announcement, Moore explained that "the financing isn't all in place," and, as a consequence, work on the senior center, which was supposed to begin this fall and be completed by spring, will not begin this fall and probably won't be completed until October 2014.

Alderman Wanda Pertilla (Second Ward), who chairs the Youth & Aging Committee, made no attempt to conceal her annoyance with the postponement, declaring: "We need to talk with them." Pertilla, who said the senior center was "near and dear" to her and claimed to have "campaigned on it," acknowledged that "it's a great deal we got from them," but went on to say, "Projects with this particular person are not what they appear to be"--presumably referring to Eric Galloway.

Pointing out that "we don't control the construction timeline," Moore argued that, to have a successful senior center, "we need more than just a building." Currently, the program for seniors consists of aerobics, which attracts an average of 15 people; bingo, which draws 20; and yoga, which has 8 regular participants. He suggested that the City hire a consultant to "come in and create a program." He suggested too that Doris Moore, commissioner for aging, needed a small advisory group to help her plan activities for seniors. Pertilla and Alderman Ohrine Stewart (Fourth Ward) both seemed confident that a paid consultant was not needed and that the job of planning senior programming could be done by "five or six people who want to do the job and decide what is valuable programming for seniors in Hudson."

On the subject of programming for seniors, in May, the Arts, Entertainment, & Tourism Committee awarded $350 for a bus trip to be organized by Doris Moore. Moore reported last night that the seniors were interested in taking a bus trip to Saratoga, presumably to visit the RACINO. 

John Mason has more about last night's Youth & Aging Committee meeting in today's Register-Star: "Council to vote on senior center."        

5 comments:

  1. Perhaps I'm missing something here but it seems we (the city) have awarded $300 for seniors to go gamble ?
    If they have enough spare $ to gamble shouldn't they pay for their own bus trip ?

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    1. To be fair, Doris Moore didn't say they were going to the RACINO. I couldn't think of any other reason why they would want to Saratoga in the early winter.

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  2. ...auto racing museum, must be, you know, history. if a few get lost and wind up in the Racino, (dumb word), no harm done. yes, that's it, a eureka moment, auto racing museum and then lunch at the buffet, at the Racino!.... a win win. just like an armory, but it's a senior center with a library and a methadone clinic, another win win. all this for the starting price of 400,350 dollars, well, maybe, if we can transfer the money... be cheaper to feed them once a week at Ca Mea and send 'em in a cab, get done faster too...

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  3. Will they come if you build it?
    The current number of Seniors, 43? or less , that take part in programs just doesn't add up to spending that much taxpayers $ on a center. I hope that I'm incorrect on the number of programs & seniors that are presently involved. But before the center moves forward I trust that a program expansion will take place & be documented as will a parking plan. I think it is safe to say that some seniors & others may be a bit concerned about walking in the area of 5th & State based upon the history of violence & crime in the immediate area. Will the City of Hudson provide Security or monitor the area with cameras?
    Or will the Seniors sign up for programs in adjoining Towns, read Greenport?

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  4. $400,000 of capital expenditure so that 20 people can play bingo once in a while? Insane. Rent a private room in a restaurant once or twice a week, and save a fortune. No wonder America is going down the chute.

    -- Jock Spivy

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