Ansonia And Derby Mayors Ask NVCOG For Help With Regional Senior Center

The senior center is being built on a separate floor within the building at 65 Main St. that houses the Ansonia Police Department.

ANSONIA-DERBY – The mayors of Ansonia and Derby have requested help from the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (NVCOG) to find money to help finance a regional senior center.

Ansonia and Derby have been talking about merging senior centers for years. Ansonia is currently installing a senior center within 65 Main St., the building that also houses the Ansonia Police Department.

Derby Mayor Rich Dziekan supports the merger. However, an agreement between Ansonia and Derby has been rejected by the majority of the Derby Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen.


The cost of the senior center under construction in Ansonia is $1.9 million, according to the agreement Derby elected officials reviewed on July 14. 

The rejected agreement called for Derby to pay for 25 percent of the senior center construction costs, not to exceed $300,000. The $300,000 would be paid off in 10 annual payments of $30,000.

The cities would split the regional senior center’s annual operating costs, according to the rejected agreement.

Unknown costs and a lack of equity in the space have been cited as concerns by Derby officials. 

A paragraph in the agreement with Ansonia the Derby Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen rejected.

Mayor Dziekan and Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti wrote a letter on July 19 to Rick Dunne, executive director of the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments.

The letter was in response to a suggestion Dunne made immediately after the Derby BOA/A meeting: that the two cities should look for money from the state’s Regional Performance Incentive Program (RPIP).”

It’s a program that provides financial help for towns or cities exploring regionalizing a service or services in some manner. Click here to read about it.

NVCOG previously secured $1.35 million from the program to study regional wastewater consolidation in the Valley.

In response to the July 19 letter from Cassetti and Dziekan, VCOG is researching whether money from RPIP can be used to subsidize operating costs initially. VCOG has requested both past and projected operating costs for the senior centers in order to compile information for a grant application.

NVCOG has also suggested Cassetti and Dziekan take the idea back to the respective local boards to make sure everyone is on board.

Ansonia corporation counsel John Marini said the city hopes the program may be able to cover capital costs connected to retrofitting 65 Main St.

According to NVCOG, the state program could (possibly) cover 75 percent of annual operating costs in the first year, 50 percent of costs in the second year, and 25 percent of operating costs in the third year, with the expectation that the cities would cover 100 percent of operating costs in year four. 

Mayor Cassetti’s administration and Mayor Dziekan’s page both posted an image to Facebook on July 19 of the pair holding a copy of the letter that they sent to NVCOG.

Mayor Cassetti and Mayor Dziekan are not giving up on a regional senior center!” the post reads.



Mayor Dziekan (left) and Mayor Cassetti (right) in a photo posted to social media.

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