The Sweden Town Board has put an additional $25,000 in the Preliminary 2015 budget for the Sweden Senior Center.
Town Supervisor Rob Carges made the announcement during the October 14 regular meeting of the town board following the presentation of a proposal for the viability of the Center by Lori Skoog, chair of the Sweden Senior Center Committee.
Supervisor Carges said the funds will “help the center stay open longer hours and provide for a part-time director. We feel it’s a valid compromise at this time.”
The announcement was met with applause by the more than 60 residents in attendance.
The funding breaks down as follows: $16,200 for salary for a part-time director – 20-24 hours per week; $4,300 for benefits the town must provide for the director; $5,000 for programming. Hours of operation will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Supervisor Carges said. Since early summer, the Center has been closing at 1 p.m. weekdays.
“Hopefully we will look at this bi-monthly to see what works and what doesn’t work,” Supervisor Carges said. “The name has to go,” he added, regarding the name “Sweden Senior Center.”
Changing the name to something more befitting of the Center’s evolving identity has been discussed over the past several weeks as the Committee prepared its proposal. The proposal calls for facility changes which include a new name as well as a “facelift” for the upstairs, downstairs and grounds.
One possible name suggested by Committee members is “Erie Canal House,” as the Center is located at 133 State Street in the Village of Brockport on the southern bank of the Erie Canal.
“I’m very encouraged,” Lori Skoog told the Suburban News/The Herald regarding the town board’s decision to include additional funds in the preliminary budget for the Center. “We are very happy they responded and I’m so impressed we could get more than 1,000 signatures on our petition.”
Along with the committee’s proposal, Skoog presented the town board with a petition to keep and support the Center signed by 1,025 people. She also provided board members with a large binder notebook holding materials which document the work of the committee since July 22.
Skoog says she hopes to keep dialog going with the town board to confirm salary and number of hours for the part-time director. The Committee wants the new director to get 24 hours/week, she said.
The Committee is also working to amass a force of volunteers to help at the center for two hour shifts. The volunteers would “answer the phone, man the desk and serve as greeters,” Skoog said.
She told the town board she is excited about the ideas the committee has come up with for the Center. The possibilities are numerous and are included in information provided to the board. Ideas include a butterfly garden, raised garden beds for growing organic vegetables, intergenerational activities and a kayak launch, Skoog says.
“I’m confident we will show the town it can work,” Skoog told the Suburban News/The Herald.
Carges said during the meeting that getting more people involved at the Center is imperative. He hopes the Center will see the same kind of attendance that recent meetings regarding the future of the Center have seen.
“Don’t go home and turn on the TV,” Carges said. “It can’t be that way if you want (the Center) to continue.”
Also during the October 14 meeting, the Sweden Town Board unanimously approved the 2015 Preliminary Budget and set the public hearing on the general budget and special district budgets for Tuesday, October 28 at 7 p.m.
Carges emphasized the Preliminary Budget is subject to change. “I would like to thank the board for working diligently with me and the finance director. This budget wasn’t easy to do,” he said.
The town plans to override the tax cap in 2015. In the Fall 2014 town newsletter, Carges states in his message that the 2015 allowable levy growth under the tax cap is approximately $45,000. The tentative budget called for a levy growth of about $98,000.
