Durham hearing on senior/community center a ‘love fest'

The three dozen residents who showed up last Thursday, June 12, for a public hearing on a Durham proposal to purchase 6.99 acres of land at the corner of Route 17 (New Haven Road) and Meetinghouse Hill Road ended up participating in a love fest. Despite some questions in previous letters to the editor and at previous public meetings, every speaker supported the purchase.

First Selectman Laura Francis started the hearing by giving a PowerPoint presentation on the history of the project, starting with the appointment of a Senior Citizen Advisory Board in 1998, followed quickly by the creation of a site subcommittee of that board to look into suitable sites for a senior center.

In 2001, the Board of Finance established a Reserve Fund account, much like the accounts that accumulate money for the fire department to purchase new trucks. That Reserve Fund account was originally established as a "community center" account, but in 2004, the account was renamed to "Senior-Community Center Reserve Fund."

Meanwhile, the subcommittee looked at all town-owned property and 14 parcels of private property and found them all unsuitable because they did not meet one or more of the criteria established by the committee. Those criteria included water availability, septic capability, safe access/egress, minimal site development, enough land for parking, no environmental issues, no more than one-two miles from the center of town (defined as Town Hall), no special permits needed and affordability.

The property in question meets all of the criteria. It was purchased several years ago by Anthony Cuomo, and subdivided into two building lots assessed at $200,000 each in November 2007. Through negotiations, the town's offer of $395,000 for both lots was accepted by Cuomo.

According to Francis, Durham seniors currently hold regular activities at nine sites in town, and those over age 65 comprise about 10 percent of Durham's population (699 out of 6,955).

And it was perhaps that statistic, as well as the site subcommittee's experiences visiting other centers, that sealed the deal for pushing for a combined senior and community center. According to Henry Coe, a retired District 13 middle school teacher and member of the committee, "I was one of those who were dead set against a combined community and senior center, and then we visited the Guilford Community Center."

Coe described a baking class for children where the tiny bakers ended up by passing out cookies to seniors in the lobby waiting for one of their activities. "To see that engagement between the generations, those smiles, it just melted my heart," Coe said. "All of the combined centers we saw were just so much more vibrant."

One of the earlier myths that was also espoused by some was that grant money would not be available if the center were not a senior center only. That has turned out to be pure myth, according to Francis, though one grant criteria that is not mythical is the need to have plans ready to go when applying for a grant. That's why Francis said she is in support of this initiative, "We have to have the property first, and then design a building for our needs. Then we can go for grants."

Resident Bob Melvin noted that there was little risk in acquiring the property. "If something really wonderful comes up before we build, we just sell it again," he explained. Melvin supplied a little historical context for the group. "In the 1980s, the five acres behind the library came up for sale, and rumors flew that it didn't have water and this and that. We voted it down, and I believe we made a mistake. Now we have problems with library parking and that site would also have made a great place for a community/senior center. Let's not miss another opportunity. They don't come along all that often," he concluded.

Francis noted that some residents have asked why the town doesn't look at purchasing some of the closed Lake Grove School facilities, but "They are one of our biggest taxpayers," Francis explained. "I would hope that we can soon get a new tenant in there and keep that property on the tax rolls."

Another concern of some has been whether the senior/community center was diverting attention from the proposed emergency services project for the firehouse land and surrounding properties.

Francis said that, if the referendum to purchase the land, set for Tuesday, July 1, passes, she would recommend appointing three committees - one each as a building committee for the emergency services and the community/senior center and one to explore grant possibilities. "I think it would make a great deal of sense to develop both plans at the same time, and then bond for both together," she said.

Scott Wright, chief of the ambulance corps, attended the hearing and explained, "We can't continue to do what we're doing (work out of the undersized, insufficient Ambulance Corps building in front of Durham Manufacturing). I think it would be great to work on both sites at the same time, and I look forward to working together with everyone." (One of the possibilities that has been mentioned is to have a two-bay emergency services garage on the community/senior center site to help provide swifter responses to emergencies.)