Saugus Selectmen want special Town Meeting to keep Senior Center open

SAUGUS – The Board of Selectmen voted to hold a special Town Meeting within Monday’s Town Meeting in an attempt to keep the Senior Center open.Selectman Michael Kelleher said he had an unpopular admission to make – he actually applauds Gov. Deval Patrick’s budget cuts.”I think he was strategic in how he did it,” he said. “No one likes to see budget cuts but we’re in the most severe financial straits since the depression.”However, Kelleher said he didn’t support Patrick’s $100,000 cut in funding to the Senior Center that effectively cut its budget in half.Town Manager Andrew Bisignani already had an article on the warrant for Monday’s special Town Meeting seeking $30,000 to keep the center open for the remainder of the fiscal year. The Center now needs a total of $130,000.Kelleher said for several years he has supported financial requests aimed only at public safety, education and town-wide services.”When I talk about town-wide services I mean things that support the community, whether it’s having your trash picked up or all the things DPW (Department of Public Works) does,” he said. “One the most important services we offer I think is the Senior Center.”Kelleher called the Center a lifeline for some seniors.”Whether you go there to dance, sing or eat, it’s the lifeblood for a lot of our seniors,” he said. “Whether you go there once a month or twice a day, it’s important.”Bisignani said Wednesday the town could fund the center from the surplus in the medical trust.”We have approximately $1 million surplus in the medical trust,” he said. “Eight hundred thousand would be used for Kasabuski (deficit) and I would like to use $100,000 for the Senior Center.”Bisignani reluctantly admitted there would be approximately $100,000 remaining in the trust, but whether Town Meeting will approve any financial request is anyone’s guess.”It’s my job to present the issues,” Bisignani said. “It’s up to Town Meeting to decide if they want to continue funding the Senior Center, which I support.”While Bisignani is confident the town can afford to keep the Center open, Director Frances Rigol said it doesn’t mean they aren’t worried.”Our stomachs are still twisting and turning,” she said Wednesday. “We’re not sitting here all relaxed, but we’ll see.”Rigol said anyone who doesn’t believe the Center is essential must live in a very small world. She said the Center is a place for seniors to socialize and, for many, it’s the reason to get up and get dressed and continue to go on.The special Town Meeting opens Monday at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall auditorium and Rigol said she would be there to speak her peace. With 38 articles on the warrant, however, officials are unclear if the article will be addressed Monday or at a later date.