Letter: 'Setting the Record Straight on the Ellington Senior Center'

The following post is a letter to the editor submitted to Ellington-Somers Patch. If you would like to submit an letter, please email ronald.derosa@patch.com. Or you can post your letter in our blogs section.

Ellington residents recently received a flyer from Maurice W. Blanchette informing you of what he believes are his accomplishments as our First Selectman. One of his points was he “successfully worked for approval and funding of a new senior center."

We want to set the record straight. More than 580+ Ellington voters put their names on a petition initiated by the Ellington Senior Center Steering Committee to force a referendum on a new senior center. Why was that necessary? Mr. Blanchette and the Board of Selectmen rejected our request to move forward with the process to obtain town funding of a new senior center. Our only recourse was to initiate the petition.

Both the Republican led Board of Selectmen and the Republican led Board of Finance did everything they could to try and postpone our request that a new senior center be built in Ellington.

We gave Mr. Blanchette a list of potential grants that we received from Christopher Davis, our State Representative, and we recommended that Mr. Blanchette should consider applying for grants to help fund the cost of our new senior center. He was informed that the town of Suffield received a $500,000 STEAP Grant and a $750,000 Community Development Block Grant to help offset the costs of their new senior center that was completed two years earlier.

The Board of Selectmen minutes of their meeting October 17, 2011, states that “Mr. Reynolds said that he spoke with State Senator Gary LeBeau, who said he would be happy to entertain the grant request from Mr. Blanchette and he felt fairly comfortable that the project might be able to get $500,000, but the First Selectman’s initiative is required."

Our First Selectman states that he had “overseen successful grant applications >$.5M for sewer extensions, tennis courts, and expansion of town building." Why didn’t he even apply for one grant to help offset the cost of our new senior center?  Could it be because at that time he did not want a new senior center?

Remember these points when you decide who you want as your First Selectman in Ellington!

Wayne Reynolds & Susanne Hannigan
Chairman and Vice Chairman
Ellington Senior Center Steering Committee