By Frank Mustac, Special Writer
Formal discussions are underway again over providing a new center for senior citizens in the Hopewell Valley to replace the relatively small facility on Reading Avenue in Pennington.
A significant portion of the Hopewell Township Committee meeting on April 25 was dedicated to the issue. A sizable number of seniors attended. Many offered comments about their vision for a new center, as well as for related services and programs for seniors.
A new center would serve residents in Hopewell Township and the boroughs of Pennington and Hopewell, just as the present Hopewell Valley Senior Center does. Providing a new center has been a lingering issue for years.
During the Township Committee meeting, Committeewoman Vanessa Sandom presented demographic data and population growth trends indicating that the number of seniors across the three municipalities is increasing.
“We are just an aging valley, which is not surprising,” Ms. Sandom said.
The data, she said, points to the need for a larger senior center, but questions remain. One is how to create a center that the three municipalities support financially and logistically.
Another is how do the three municipalities pay for a senior services coordinator. Salary and benefits for the last person to hold that position, Abigail Waugh, were financed through grant money that is no longer available. The position has remained vacant for the last few years.
Larry Mansier of the Hopewell Valley Senior Advisory Board said at the committee meeting that he thought Ms. Waugh will be hard to replace.
Hiring a new coordinator and providing a larger center would benefit seniors who are trying to age in place, he said, instead of moving out of Hopewell Valley.
“That’s what we’re trying to do,” Mr. Mansier said.
Kim Johnson with the Hopewell Valley Senior Foundation also spoke at meeting. The foundation, she said, applies for grants and previously assisted the former coordinator, Ms. Waugh, apply for grants.
The current senior center in Pennington, she said, is suffering from a lack of activities, like computer classes and line dance classes, among others. The center is essentially empty for more than 80 hours per month, Ms. Johnson said, because of a dearth of things to do there.
Mayor Kevin Kuchinski commented on the April 25 discussion.
“Thank you to all the seniors who came out to our session on senior services and inputted on our new Senior Center. The tough work lies ahead,” the mayor said via email. “We are committed to providing the services our seniors need within the Valley, and to the new senior center, and are hopeful that our good partners in the boroughs will step forward to shoulder their fair share of these costs.”
Mayor Kuchinski invited residents to future meetings.
“We look forward to moving this important initiative forward,” the mayor said.
