DALTON, Mass. — The Council on Aging has revised its building usage policy to make its intended purpose clearer. 

 

Since the pandemic, usage of the Senior Center has grown substantially. What started as maybe two to three town meetings a month has grown to accommodate 11 different committees, often resulting in multiple meetings a day, said Kelly Pizzi, Council on Aging and Senior Center executive director in a letter to the Select Board. 

 

"We have been getting increased pressure from some members of the town to open the building for non-town related activities and events," she said. 

 

The increase in interest prompted the counsel to establish a clearer policy that aligns with the intended use of the building to benefit and enhance the lives of older adults while also establishing guidelines for visiting committees. 

 

Opening the building up for non-town related events or activities raises several concerns, including who will oversee access, what events are allowed, responsibility for injuries, the impact on supply costs, among other challenges. 

 

The center only has two full-time employees and the town only allots 14 hours per month to clean the entire building, she said. 

 

"It is clean and welcoming because staff do not walk through the building without picking things up, throwing trash away, straightening shelves, and setting rooms up for classes, Pizzi said. 

 

During a September Select Board meeting, Pizzi showed the board the center’s calendar which shows how it is not underutilized. 

 

"There has been a great deal of wear and tear on the building including accidents creating damage not reported to the council … It is nice to think that everyone would respect the building but they don’t. It wouldn’t be long before it wouldn’t be a beautiful building anymore," Pizzi said in her letter. 

 

The two-page policy is separated into four parts — scheduling space for meeting and events, visiting committees and COA-affiliated agencies/organizations’ responsibilities, technology and equipment, and kitchen use. 

 

Section one and two outlines who is allowed to use the senior center, the process and guidelines of reserving the space. 

 

Those permitted to use the space include town boards, committees, council affiliated agencies, and invited entertainers or speakers sharing information, including organized forums of all individuals running for office, aging mastery program, a better of balance program, among others. 

 

Functions and boards using the space are required to fill out an intake which includes rules including the space being set back up the way it was found, usage approval needed for the social media equipment, and more.

 

It also states that scheduled Senior Center activities take priority when scheduling meetings. 

 

Section 3 outlines in detail the center's technology and equipment usage. The center was awarded a grant to provide hybrid programming which was used to purchase laptops and tablets, a BenQ board, and an Owl camera. 

 

"Should a group need to use the equipment it needs to be reserved at the time of the meeting room reservation," the policy says. Additionally, equipment must be operated by those trained to use it and in case of damage the cost to replace would be shared with the entire committees who use the equipment. 

 

The final section outlines the center's kitchen use, which is not available for use by town committees or affiliated groups, except Sunday lunch. It also explains the certification requirements and clean and lockup procedures.