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Advisory board presses for explicit senior-services language in community-center promotional materials ahead of referendum
Summary
Advisory board members told staff and the Town Board that LaBella promotional materials for a proposed community center must explicitly show space for senior activities to secure senior support before a November vote.
Members of the Grand Island Parks and Recreation Advisory Board spent an extended part of the meeting debating the proposed Town Commons / community-center promotional plan and whether it adequately accommodates senior services and the Golden Age Center’s needs.
Several board members said the draft plan presented publicly and drafted by consultants (LaBella) lacked a clear senior-services component. They warned that without an explicit note or “box” on promotional materials saying the proposed building includes space for senior activities, the project could lose support from older voters. The board agreed it wants at least a generic, honest statement on promotional materials — for example, “multiuse space with room for senior activities” — so advocates can promote the proposal as benefiting older residents as well as youth and athletics.
Board members described practical limits to immediately providing a full commercial kitchen and sewer hookup on day one. Members said a phased approach would be acceptable: a multiuse activity room and other spaces in phase one, with a future kitchen and sewer hookup as a later phase if funding allows; in the interim, Meals-on-Wheels and county food services could supply meals to seniors. Members said that distinction — activity space now, full kitchen/sewer as a later phase — needs to be explicit so voters are not misled.
The advisory board also discussed the project’s timeline and the tight schedule for referendum materials. Some members said the town procured LaBella under a separate Town Board contract and that the advisory board had been left out of certain design iterations. Board members asked staff to contact LaBella and the Town Board and requested that the Town Board direct LaBella to include a clear senior-services bullet on the promotional packet due Oct. 1.
Ending Advisory board members resolved to press the Town Board and consultants for a revised promotional packet that includes an explicit senior-services statement. Board leadership said they would call Town Board members and LaBella to request the change immediately; the advisory board said it will withhold full support if the packet does not reflect a senior-services commitment.
