Saugus COA won’t cut down on travel despite gas costs

SAUGUS – Gas prices are putting a damper on a lot of travel plans but that is one area the Senior Center is determined not to pinch pennies on.Council on Aging Chairman Dick Barry said he and other board members were discussing concerns about the rising price of gas. While they lamented the soaring prices Barry said they also made a firm decision that the cost would not interfere with the center’s services.The Senior Center is funded largely through a $200,000 state grant, with no dollars budgeted from the town.The center runs two vans daily that provide seniors with rides to doctor’s appointments that cover an area that encompasses seven communities. The vans are also used to pick up residents who otherwise could not get out and bring them to the center for lunch.While rides can be set up through Greater Lynn Senior Services or through the Ride with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Barry said often it’s not as convenient as the Senior Center’s program. He said with other ride programs residents are dropped off at appointments and often have to wait for long stretches to catch a ride back home again. That doesn’t happen with the center’s vans.”An awful lot of our people are widows that can’t or don’t drive,” he said.The center has a total of four vans that it has received from the federal government with the help of Rep. John Tierney but only two are on the road on any given day.”We’re scheduled to get a fifth van in August,” Barry added.When that happens Barry said the oldest van would be retired from the road, which is good because the council just paid a huge repair bill for the vehicle. Because of the amount of miles the drivers put on the vans Barry said they only have a life expectancy of three to four years.But despite the fact the gas bills for the vans continue to eat away at the few funds the center has Barry said there are simply too many residents who rely on them to cancel or even cut back on the program.”We have two excellent drivers that drop people off and pick them up,” Barry said. “It burns up the gas but we have no intention of cutting back. We’re just squeezing everything we can out of them.”