Councilman Pessina: Support Senior Center Referendum!

To Our City Residents & Voters,

Our seniors presently utilize a place which is extremely limited in size and space which does not lend itself for them to enjoy their independence and socialization; to offer a greater fellowship to the larger Senior population within our city.  Their present location limits their ability to actively exercise/recreate, which we all know leads them to better health.  Quite frankly their present location does not lend itself to improving their Quality of Life for all of them who have given so much to our city!   Our city’s Seniors are experiencing rapidly changing demographics and an increase in our Senior/Active Adults population which calls for more spacious accommodations.

We owe our Seniors so much for all they have done for our city and that is why our committee has worked so hard to provide an Holistic approach to give them a sense of place to recreate, gather, socialize and learn.  A place that will afford both the seniors and our community with room and flexibility to accommodate all of their existing programming to expand; all within a setting that will allow space for our community members, groups, organizations, clubs to utilize for events, while preserving the Eckersley-Hall Building’s history and architecture!

I really want to stress to the voters of our city, that Ron & I made a promise when we accepted this committee’s leadership role to our community, that this building project will be planned and worked on within a transparent concept of fiduciary accountability to our taxpayers.  We have done so by proposing a spending plan that is both cost effective and done so in a responsible manner.   In approving this Bond for $4,850,000. we have and currently submitted for grants, tax credits and other funds to offset the project costs and financial impact to our taxpayers for a potential value of $1,300,000.   Our project’s financial plan would lower the project costs to $3,550.000. at a cost to the average Taxpayer of approximately $20.00 per year over 10 years.   I can assure our resident’s that we will continue to make every effort to reduce the project costs through other funding sources to include both energy and historic grant opportunities, as we find them.  

My plea to the voters in Tuesday’s election is please don’t let our seniors down, this time.  Over my close to 40 years in service to our community there has been numerous talk and presentations about a New Senior Center, only to have our seniors be let down by approving other projects.  This is the time for all of us to stand up for our Seniors and provide them with building they so rightfully deserve!

We the voters are about to transform a building which was built to educate our children within a beautiful neighborhood and now are about to renew its life, as it sits on the cusp to return and restore this building to a purpose that will facilitate learning, exercising and socialization; which are after all are the keys to a better life for our Seniors, while providing a conduit for fellowship for both them and our Community members! 

Thank you,

Councilman Phil Pessina

Minority Leader

Middletown Insider Editors Note: Seniors deserve far more than
 what Dan Drew REALLY wanted for them!*

Vice Chair, Middletown Senior/Community Center Building Committee

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* (photo commentary not part of letter by Councilman Pessina, strictly Middletown Insider commentary)