Fourteen residents filled the Ayer Town Hall meeting room on Wednesday, Nov. 19th and asked the town to prioritize the Senior Center building project in its upcoming Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application.
The Ayer Community & Economic Development Office advertised a meeting/public hearing, which included a review of the town’s current FY2024 grant for housing rehabilitation funds. Then there was a discussion about using a FY2026 CDBG grant for the senior center on Bishop Road.
Who attended? Members of the senior center building committee and a few other residents. The town’s COA director sat with the committee members and other residents in the audience. The Community Development Program Manager led the meeting and the Select Board chair sat at the front table. A small number of Zoom users observed, including a few town employees and a member of the public.
The public hearing was the next step in the senior center project, following successful votes at Town Meeting and a Special Town Election.
- On Oct. 27th, Ayer’s Special Town Meeting approved a $11.55 million debt exclusion and transferred $2 million out of the town’s Capital Stabilization account to help finance the new senior center.
- On Nov. 4th, voters approved the debt exclusion at a Special Town Election (this was a single-question election).
At Town Meeting, the town management presented a funding package that showed plans to seek a $1.3 million Community Development Block Grant to put toward the project costs.
On Wednesday night, the Community Development Program Manager explained that CDBG grants are awarded to communities to help residents with low- and moderate-incomes across housing rehabilitation, infrastructure and social service projects. She said a senior center project would qualify because many older adults are low- and moderate-income.
She said that the grant amounts and terms recently changed – within just a few days of the public hearing. We have the information written down, but we are not going to report on this yet because there were a lot of details and this was new to us. But the manager said the application deadline was next spring so there is a lot of time to learn more. And residents don’t have to wait on us. You can reach out to the Community & Economic Development Office directly.
For Reference
Oct. 27th Special Town Meeting: Watch the Town of Ayer’s proposal to finance the new senior center. Starts at 1:32 min or so of the Town Meeting video.