PONTIAC ? Conducting a feasibility study and addressing the concerns of Addison senior citizens were the main topics Oct. 20 as officials met for the second time in four months to discuss the idea of building a multi-community senior/transportation center.
‘What we’re doing is just exploring this possibility,? said Oakland County Commissioner Eric Wilson (R-Lake Orion). ‘There’s no firm commitment ? no commitment for anybody to do anything until we know the seniors want to do this. This is something the seniors have to want to do.?
In June, representatives from Oxford, Orion and Addison townships and Oakland County met at the invitation of Wilson and Commissioner Bill Patterson (R-Oxford) to discuss the idea of constructing a single senior center to serve the three northeastern townships.
This proposed center would also house the North Oakland Transportation Authority (NOTA), which currently provides free transportation to area seniors.
David Asker and GregVanKirk, of the Southfield-based Plante Moran, PLLC, met with officials at this second meeting to outline plans for a feasibility study concerning the project idea.
The feasibility study would consist of examining the demand for a multi-community senior center; examining the usage patterns, programs and attendance at the existing centers; developing a list programs and amenities for the proposed center and estimating the amount of space needed for them; selecting possible sites; estimating the preliminary construction and site development costs; estimating annual operation costs; and reviewing funding alternatives to pay for the center’s construction and on-going operational costs.
In its Oct. 14 letter to Wilson, Plante Moran said the feasibility study could be completed in 90 to 120 days with a cost not to exceed $20,000. So far, Wilson and Patterson have raised about $13,000 thanks to a $3,000 donation from United Way and $10,000 contribution from NOTA.
‘Bill and I believe we can raise the additional $7,000 in the next month,? Wilson said.
Officials noted the feasibility study must gain input from both seniors who attend the existing centers and those who do not come.
‘I think you need to go beyond your senior center,? said Mary Miller, representing the Older Persons Commission of Rochester. ‘In some centers, you have 25 people out of a senior population of 6,000. Why aren’t they coming to that center? That’s where you need to focus (to find out what they want).?
‘If you ask the seniors at the center, they’re going to be happy with what they have. They don’t want anybody else coming in. They want their small group. You’ve really got to go to the people in the community (and find out) why aren’t they coming to that center,? Miller added.
Commissioner Patterson noted he’s ‘seeing mixed emotions? on the idea of a multi-community senior center from those who attend the existing centers.
‘Some of them are afraid that their little niche is going to be taken away from them,? Patterson said. ‘I’m telling them it’s not mandatory. That’s why we are running this feasibility study to see (if) the people want it, where can we put it, the whole nine yards.?
Jessica Newby voiced the concerns and opinions of the seniors she works with as a volunteer at the Addison Senior Center.
Newby told officials 50 Addison seniors voted to create a seven-member board, which in turn voted against the idea of a multi-community center.
‘They want an Addison facility that is personal and a family,? she said. ‘They do not want to travel. And these seniors have asked me to make it clear to the people here that’s what they want.?
‘They want to stay in their location,? Newby said.
Newby said she agrees with the idea of doing a feasibility study, which she called ‘fantastic,? but she wants to ‘make sure the feasibility study includes Addison seniors? opinions.?
‘I’m in there every single day,? she said. ‘I’m family with these people. I love these people.?
Newby said she’s ‘afraid? a ‘mass facility like this? won’t have a place for the ‘older seniors,? especially the ones who suffer from diseases like Alzheimer’s.
She told officials Ruby Verajon, a regular Addison Senior Center attendee who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, said, ‘If my senior center is gone, I won’t have anywhere to go.?
Officials assured Newby and Addison seniors that nothing is going to be forced on them or taken away.
‘I don’t think any of us were thinking of taking anything away from what we’ve got,? said Orion Clerk Jill Bastian.
‘No one is going to be forced to do anything or join anything. If the 50 people you represent are content as they are, no one’s going to force them to change,? said Jim Milford, of Orion, a member of the county’s senior advisory committee.
‘Nobody’s telling them we’re going to terminate the program they have. Nobody’s telling them we’re going to terminate jobs. All we’re saying is, ‘Look, we want to offer you what other communities have out there,? said Commissioner Wilson.
‘If they don’t want to participate, that’s their decision,? said Wilson, who reminded Newby, ‘You don’t represent all the seniors, first of all. You represent 50. And there’s more than 50 seniors in Addison Township ? that I know. We’re going to talk to all of them.?
Commissioner Patterson said he had lunch with the Addison seniors two or three times and ‘had hoped I had allayed some of the fears they had.?
‘We have no dreams or even ideas of moving them (Addison seniors) out,? Patterson said. ‘They’re not going to come by here and see an orange sticker on the door saying ‘this facility closed.??
Oxford Township Trustee Pat Fitchena, who also serves at the executive director of NOTA, noted there’s ‘some resistance in Oxford? to the idea of a multi-community senior center. She said some Oxford seniors who attend the current center ‘feel happy with what they have.?
But Fitchena said officials have to look at what’s best for ‘everybody in the community, not just the 20 or so people that come to our facility.?
‘I’m 60 years old. I want to be able to go to a senior center, but I don’t want to go to a senior center and just play bingo and play cards,? she said. ‘I want to do things that I would like to do and my husband would like to do. And they’re not available to me in Oxford.?
‘You’ve got to build it for everybody, not just for the segment of the population that wants to do a certain thing,? said Miller, of Rochester’s OPC. ‘It’s got to be all kinds of programs for all kinds of people.?
In addition to providing seniors with increased programs and services, officials also discussed how a multi-community center could potentially save tax dollars.
Fitchena spoke of all the money that’s currently being spent on maintenance, heating and air conditioning for three separate centers.
Wilson said NOTA, which runs its vans from an Oxford location, currently transports seniors from three different communities to three different center locations.
With a multi-community senior/transportation center, NOTA could run its vans to and from a single, same location, thereby saving money on fuel and maintenance, Wilson said.
Wilson said the whole idea is to find out if the three townships can utilize their resources ‘better? by ‘putting them into a pool and doing it at one location.?
Newby asked officials if it has already been determined that a bond or additional taxes would be used to pay for this multi-community center.
Everyone replied, ‘No.?
Aster, from Plante Moran, said the first thing that needs to happen is the feasibility study, which will determine, ‘can we make it happen??
If the feasibility study indicates it can happen, Aster said the next step is to put together an ‘implementation plan,? which would answer questions such as, ‘How much to bond? . . . Do you need to bond? . . . How would you fund it? . . . What is the exact cost going to be??
‘Let me put that to rest right now. We’re not looking to bond at all right now,? Wilson told Newby.
Wilson noted that all three townships currently fund their senior programs using their own tax dollars or through Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.
‘That may be enough to get us going,? said Wilson, noting that’s how NOTA is funded.
Officials said they will meet again after the feasibility study has been completed in either January or February 2005.