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Fitchburg panel advances restructure of senior and recreation services, flags staffing shortfalls
Summary
City officials described a Baker Tilly staffing plan that folded recreation, healthy neighborhoods and senior services under a single director; committee members urged clearer mission language, a list of programs to drop if staff cannot expand, and talks with a new YMCA about partnerships rather than competition.
Fitchburg officials outlined plans to consolidate recreation, healthy-neighborhoods and senior-center functions under a single leisure/community services director, but committee members cautioned the change will require careful program prioritization because "there's no money to create new positions," a city official said.
The discussion at the July 9 Commission on Aging Well meeting centered on recommendations from a Baker Tilly staffing study completed in 2023 and adopted by the common council. Adam, a city official who spoke for the administration, said the study laid out a long-term staffing roadmap and that some recommendations were implemented after Parks Director Scott Endell retired. "When Scott retired, we looked at that from the standpoint of a...study recommended that we shift those recreation functions into the senior center," Adam said, explaining the decision to reassign duties rather than add new positions.
Committee members pressed officials on what would be cut if no new staff are available. Jill, who oversees the senior center and recreation programs, said staff will compile a "don't list" of services to pause or scale back to free capacity for higher-priority work. "We're up to a very large newsletter now," Jill said, pointing at specific examples such as moving a monthly newsletter to a bimonthly schedule and limiting weekend room rentals to reduce workload.
Members also raised questions about infrastructure and partnerships. The commission discussed the Hosta Hochi "hub," which Adam said was funded with park improvement and dedication fees from development and is already used for voting, library activities and occasional programming. Jill told the panel she wants to meet YMCA planners to coordinate services: "I don't want to duplicate any and...we need to build that partnership," she said, noting the new YMCA is expected to open in about two summers and include pools, courts, child care and space that could affect local programming.
Budget pressures surfaced repeatedly. Jill said the senior center and recreation budgets are under review as part of the city's 2027 planning and that the HNI (Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative) grant program will be paused in 2027 for redesign. She also reported summer attendance: "We are averaging over 300 people a day coming into the center," underscoring demand even as some funding streams face uncertainty. Jill attributed part of a drop in home-delivered meals to a Dane County decision to stop paying for meals for clients in certain family-care programs, which affected the city's billed meal counts.
The commission agreed to pursue clearer mission and job descriptions (Adam said staff will share Baker Tilly materials and related job descriptions), invite outside speakers (including representatives from the YMCA and a Beaver Dam operator called Watermark) and assemble program-prioritization recommendations before making structural or service changes. The panel set its next meeting for Aug. 13 and adjourned.
What happens next: staff will prepare the Baker Tilly excerpts and job descriptions requested by the commission, produce the suggested "don't list" of programs that could be reduced or eliminated if staffing is unchanged, and seek a briefing from YMCA planners to explore partnership opportunities that avoid duplicating services.
