PVPC to complete draft Longmeadow senior center report by Dec. 5

Date: 11/20/2014

LONGMEADOW – The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) will likely have a draft report sent to the Council on Aging (COA) task force regarding a feasibility study for a potential new senior center by Dec. 5.

COA Director Amy Saada, who was recently appointed by Town Manager Stephen Crane and began work on Oct. 20, said there are four potential site locations for the PVPC feasibility study.

The first site is at Bliss Park; the second is located at Turner Park; the third is behind the Storrs Library, and the fourth location is the current site at 231 Maple Road, she added.

The PVPC study is designed to rate the sites in order of most to least feasible, Saada explained.

Residents approved the study through a citizen’s petition article on the 2014 Annual Town Meeting for a total of $35,000 in appropriated funds. The estimated cost of the study is up to $15,400.

Grants and private donations could offset the cost of construction if the project is approved, Saada said. 

The Longmeadow Adult Center currently shares the 231 Maple Road property with the Parks and Recreations Department and a daycare facility, Saada explained. The adult center consists of one wing of the building.

“It’s a great adult center,” she said. “There’s lots participation [and] volunteers. There’s a great broad base of activities from exercise to education. So, good first impressions.”

However, Saada noted that the current space is too small for the town’s senior population and the town’s senior demographic is anticipated to increase 20 percent by 2030.

Select Board Chair Richard Foster said within three to five years the town could see a renovated or new senior center facility based on the PVPC study and approval by residents. The next official action for the proposed project would likely take place at the 2015 Annual Town Meeting in the spring.

Crane said currently the PVPC study is about halfway finished and consists of a collection of data from a survey taken from the Adult Center’s newsletter.

Before her appointment as the town's COA director Saasa served as the COA director for Somers, CT, for three years and was also the emergency sheltering coordinator for Somers, Crane added.

“She wore many hats in Somers and that level of experience was attractive to the town,” he explained.

Originally, two candidates who did not have senior center experience were being considered for the COA director position, he added. Emily Perkins, the former director, left the position to pursue other opportunities.

A recommendation from the COA board of directors to reach out to other senior centers resulted in Saada’s candidacy for the position, Crane said

Saada received her bachelor’s degree in human services from Florida Gulf Coast University and her master’s degree in public administration from Hodges University in Naples, FL.

“My first job was [as a] case manager, working with seniors, that was in 1999,” she added.

Saada was offered the position for $58,300, an increase from the previous budget of $52,800 for the job.