DERBY — Confusion over whether the committee even existed has delayed the first meeting of the committee that is supposed to be looking for a new senior center location within Derby’s borders.
Alderman Brian Coppolo had requested that a senior center search committee be formed within the Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen. The group was supposed to have information about a new location compiled by the September meeting of the Aldermen & Alderwomen.
However, in late August, Mayor Rich Dziekan dissolved all subcommittees of the Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen. Coppola, in an undated email included as part of the agenda packet for the Sept. 8 full board meeting, said that he thought the senior center search committee had been eliminated, so it did not meet.
“I initially thought the email the Mayor sent discontinuing subcommittees applied to the Senior Center Search Committee, so no action was taken,” Coppolo said.
In late August Mayor Dziekan eliminated the Aldermen/Alderwomen subcommittees, saying the subcommittees were being manipulated by Democrats to stop progress. The Democrats have a majority on the Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen, and have accused the mayor and his chief of staff of being bullies. Dziekan is a Republican, Coppolo ran with the Democrats.
According to the email, Coppola said Walt Mayhew, the mayor’s chief of staff, told him earlier this month that the mayor’s order only applied to four subcommittees of the Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen, and not the senior center search committee.
In the email Coppolo said the group would meet sometime after Sept. 20 and have a report ready for the Oct. 13 meeting of the Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen.
Derby government and Ansonia government have been talking for more than a year about merging senior centers. A new senior center is under construction within 65 Main St. in Ansonia, where Ansonia converted part of an office building into a police station. The Dziekan administration supports the merger, and so do Derby senior center members interviewed by The Valley Indy.
However, an agreement between the cities failed to get enough yes votes from the Derby local legislators. Derby elected officials voting no cited concerns about potential hidden costs.
Those concerns caused the Dziekan and Cassetti administrations to reach out to the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments to see whether grant money can be obtained to bring down upfront costs. That process is ongoing, Mayhew told The Valley Indy.
So now, essentially, Derby is heading in two different directions when it comes to a new senior center:
1. The Dziekan administration and some on the Aldermen/Alderwomen want to merge with Ansonia, and are hoping to get grant money found by NVCOG to make this option more palatable by elected officials who are in opposition
2. A Coppolo-chaired senior center search committee that is supposed to come up with a location within Derby in about 30 days
Prior to being dissolved by Mayor Dziekan, a Derby subcommittee recommended the following people be appointed to the Derby Senior Center Search Committee.
Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen
Barbara DeGennaro and Robert Hyder
Board of Apportionment and Taxation
Jennifer Desroches and Jeffrey Polis
Elderly Commission
Shirley Erickson and Elizabeth Lally
Senior Center Membership Executive Board
Charlotte Ritter
Derby Resident
Shirley Miani
After Vin Marino, Derby’s corporation counsel, said that only the mayor can make appointments, Dziekan put the following people on the committee:
Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen
Gino DiGiovanni and Brian Coppolo
Board of Apportionment and Taxation
Jeff Polis and Jennifer Desrouches
Executive Committee or Elderly Commission
Bob Maturo, Janet Misiewicz, Betty Lally
General Public
Rose Benanto, Dot Tynan
The mayor also set the following parameters on the committee’s search for a senior center location within Derby’s borders:
1. The property must be available for purchases as evidenced by an active listing by a Realtor
2. A signed letter by the property owner indicating a willingness to sell and the purchase price
3. The property must be able to be used for the construction of a single level senior center, have a minimum of 5,000 square feet and have at least 60 parking spaces
4. The use must be allowed on the property as defined in the property’s zoning
Whether it is possible for a committee to come up with a property that meets all those requirements in 30 days or so remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, the Ansonia Senior Center project had been expected to be open by the fall. That’s now been pushed to December, according to Ansonia Corporation Counsel John Marini.
In July, the Ansonia Board of Aldermen voted to award a roughly $846,333 construction bid to fix the existing parking garage within 65 Main St. The police have not been using the spaces due to structural issues, The Connecticut Post reported in June.
At the Sept. 8 meeting, Derby Senior Center Executive Director Christine Sonsini read a statement chiding officials for a lack of action on the senior center. She said Coppolo had time and could have called for a meeting.
“I am very disheartened to learn that the senior center subcommittee has not met and is being moved to another month,” she said.
At that same meeting, Alderwoman Anita Dugatto pointed out the Ansonia Senior Center doesn’t exist yet. She suggested letting Derby voters decide whether Derby should merge its senior center with Ansonia.
As of Tuesday, Sept. 13, no meeting dates had been posted for the new committee.
