Town Meeting supports Senior Center, override
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Northborough - After years of meetings, public hearings and even a failed Town Meeting warrant article, the drive for funding for a new Senior Center appears to be nearing the finish line.

Voters at the annual Town Meeting April 28 in the Algonquin Regional High School auditorium overwhelmingly approved allocating $5.5 million for the new Senior Center project.

Also approved on the first night of Town Meeting 2008 was a Proposition 2-1/2 override request of more than $131,000 for a portion of the budget of Northborough's kindergarten through grade eight (K-8) schools. In addition, voters approved the appropriation of $1.5 million to clean up contaminated land at 119 and 167 Bearfoot Road.

The final hurdle that needs to be cleared to make the new Senior Center a reality comes Monday May 12, when voters will be asked at the annual town election to approve the move and exempt the funds from the provisions of Proposition 2-1/2.

The warrant article on the issue had requested town residents approve $6.06 million, but was lowered after comments by Jeff Leland, chair of the Senior Center Building Committee.

"We're more than $500,000 under budget from our estimates of last year," Leland said. "While the contract process isn't finished, we're very confident we will be able to reduce the cost of the entire project by half a million dollars."

While the majority of residents who spoke talked about the dire need for a new Senior Center, resident Barbara O'Mara was concerned about the timing of a new construction of this magnitude.

"The building is beautiful and it's clear a new Senior Center is needed," O'Mara said. "I just wonder if now isn't a time when we should be tightening our belts."

Leland told the Town Meeting crowd, which included 207 registered voters, that construction on the new Senior Center could begin as early as this summer. Leland said that the tentative construction schedule would have the new Senior Center opening in late fall 2009.

If approved at the ballot box, the new Senior Center, a state-of-the-art, 14,000-square-foot building will be built on a townowned parcel of land at 119 Bearfoot Road.

As for the town's K-8 school budget, residents first approved the overall budget request of $17.2 million, and then another $131,566 as a Proposition 2-1/2 override.

The warrant article regarding the override listed the amount at $316,047, but Superintendent of Schools Charles Gobron said the amount wa s reduced through additional paring of the budget in meeting last month.

Gobron said the override is necessary to maintain 2.75 full-time positions - an elementary school teacher, a behavior specialist at Melican Middle school and a custodian. Including the override, the total cost of the fiscal year (FY) 2009 K-8 budget would be an increase of 5.66 percent over the FY 2008 budget.

Gobron said the increase and override is necessary to maintain a level services budget.

Appropriations Committee Chair Elaine Kelly, someone known for her opposition to Proposition 2-1/2 overrides, supported this override.

"Sometimes - not always and not often, but sometimes - an override is just the right thing to do," Kelly said. "This is one of those times."