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Council approves allocation for senior trips and refers new programming to legal review
Summary
Council approved a revenue-neutral $100,000 allocation for senior trips (paid by participating seniors) after bringing the item off the table and referred proposed massage and pet therapy programs for legal review before final approval.
MIDDLETOWN — The City Council handled several senior-center items, approving funding allocation for organized senior trips and deferring two proposed programs for legal review.
A request to amend the 2026 budget to allocate $100,000 for senior trips was initially tabled because staff had not included it in the formal budget review. Council later moved to bring the item off the table; Speaker 6 explained that the trips are paid for by participants and the allocation is revenue-neutral. "This is all paid by the seniors," Speaker 6 said. The council approved the allocation by voice vote.
Separately, the senior center proposed adding two programs — volunteer massage therapy by James Lee and a pet-therapy offering via Marcus — both to be provided with liability certificates. Councilors raised questions about whether providers would collect fees and required proof of insurance. The council forwarded the program proposals to legal counsel for review and tabled final approval pending counsel's opinion.
Next steps: Staff will provide a memo explaining the original omission from the budget and legal counsel will advise on liability/fee issues for the proposed programs.
