Senior/Community Center director outlines stable programming, requests equipment and LED upgrades

Loryn Ray, the department head for Woodbury’s Senior/Community Center, presented the center’s budget and capital priorities at the joint Boards of Selectmen and Finance budget workshop on Jan. 24.

Ray said the New Opportunities nutrition program has stabilized and described the center’s programming model, in which participants pay half of program costs; she said higher enrollment lowers per-person costs. She asked the boards for funding to replace an aging ice maker and for more detailed interior-painting estimates. Ray added that retrofitting the center’s basement for meeting space is not feasible this year.

The discussion clarified public access and usage rules for equipment. Ray said the center’s A/V equipment is used by the center and by Woodbury boards and commissions but is not available to private renters; board members suggested staff assistance be made available so the public could use town A/V equipment when appropriate.

Capital items raised included replacing a commercial-grade dishwasher with a residential model (the health department indicated such a switch would be allowed) and replacing 33 can lights in the community and dining rooms as part of a town project to convert fixtures to LED across municipal buildings.

Ray said some professional-services costs shown in the budget are grant-funded and therefore appear as the difference between projected and requested amounts. She also reiterated that program fees and participant-based instructor charges keep classes solvent.

The workshop did not result in a vote on center funding; the boards requested further cost estimates and clarification on which capital items are covered by grants. The meeting adjourned at about noon.