Calling the proposed senior center a "double-edged sword," Selectman Carmen DelloIacono has asked the Council on Aging to consider reducing the size of the roughly 20,000-square-foot building.
The project is estimated to cost $9.7 million and would require voters to approve a debt exclusion override in a special election next month. When it convenes May 19, Town Meeting will decide whether to hold the election.
DelloIacono says the senior center may drive out the seniors it is intended to serve due to the resulting increase in property taxes.
"It's a lot more money than I imagined. I hoped it would come in at $6.5 million," said DelloIacono. While he doesn't think the price could be brought down that low, he said cutting 4,000 square feet could mean saving about $1.2 million at $300 per square foot.
By replacing some of the more expensive construction materials, the architect, Leigh Sherwood from The Office of Michael Rosenfeld, has already cut several hundred thousand dollars from the total, he noted.
At a Board of Selectmen's meeting last night, DelloIacono said that Council on Aging Director Rita Kalcos had agreed to discuss the idea with her committee.
His statements about the center came in response to comments made by Council on Aging member John Caruso at a recent Building, Planning and Construction Committee meeting. DelloIacono, a member of the committee, says Caruso attacked him, accusing him of being against the project.
"I wouldn't waste time on the committee if I didn't have a passion for the senior center," he said.
He says he supports the project, but wants answers about size and funding now, not after it gets turned down by voters in a June election.
"In the worst-case scenario, Town Meeting pushes it through. It goes to voters, and they vote it down. If they vote it down, it's over. I want to try to give it every possible chance (to succeed)," he said.
Selectman Michael Butler said that the current size being proposed for the center is based on what has been deemed by experts to be adequate for the number of seniors in town.
Butler also questioned whether cutting a few dollars from each resident's annual tax bill would be enough to swing the vote.
But DelloIacono said that, given the current economy, every little bit counts. "People are getting laid off and losing their homes and being driven out. That difference in money might make or break someone," he said.
Selectmen Chairman James MacDonald said it would be up to the voters to decide what the town's seniors should have. "The seniors deserve this building, the one being proposed. I understand the financial burden will affect many people in town who are struggling. But we have asked those in the senior population to give to the middle school, high school, our roads and our playgrounds."
Daily News staff writer Anna Kivlan can be reached at 781-433-8336 or at akivlan@cnc.com
