Date: 10/14/2021
Wilbraham residents are being asked to approve the funds needed to build a new Senior Center. This letter explains the two steps that are required to bring this question to a vote and get approval to move forward with a new building.
Step 1: Come to the Special Town Meeting on Oct. 18 at Minnechaug. Article 5 of the warrant asks the residents attending to appropriate $10.9 million to pay the costs of designing, construction, equipping and furnishing a new senior center (adult community center)*. The Center is to be built on town property located behind Town Hall as recommended by the Senior Center Feasibility Study Committee and accepted unanimously by the Selectmen. No other location is under consideration at this meeting. Approval requires two-thirds of the residents present to vote yes.
Step 2: Vote on Oct. 23 at Minnechaug. A Special Town Election will be held to approve a debt exclusion override to complete the funding of the new senior center. This debt exclusion will cost the average taxpayer $20 in year one and decline each year to $14 in the 15th and final year. You may vote by mail or absentee. Approval requires 50.1 percent of those voting to vote yes.
*Note the wording of the warrant: “adult community center.” All involved – the Senior Center Building Committee and its predecessor committees, the Selectmen and the Finance Committee – had intended the words, “senior center.” We are voting for a new senior center.
If you have questions or comments about the new senior center, please call the senior center information line at 596-2800 ext. 315, or email SeniorInfo2021@gmail.com. Members of the committee would like to answer questions and hear concerns.
Ken Furst
Wilbraham
