SHELBURNE FALLS — Two survey templates were finalized during Wednesday’s Senior Center Expansion Committee meeting that will allow the public to provide input on the six sites that are under consideration for a new Senior Center.
The surveys will be handed out at upcoming public meetings and will be made available at town halls in Ashfield, Buckland and Shelburne, as well as online at the Senior Center’s website from Nov. 6 until Dec. 2, when all responses are due, according to Sylvia Smith, chair of the Senior Center Expansion Committee.
“We’re looking to get as many people to participate as possible,” Smith said, adding that public input should help to focus on fewer sites in greater detail to move the process forward.
A short, one-page survey will allow responders to note which sites they still want to consider. A second, longer survey seeks pro-and-con input for a variety of criteria for each site, Smith said.
The committee hopes to receive as many surveys as possible during three upcoming meetings because the meetings will include a presentation with information for each site, Smith said. Each meeting will have time devoted to filling out the survey, as well as public input, she said.
The first meeting will be on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 6:30 p.m. at the Mohawk Trail Regional School cafeteria. This meeting will be recorded and uploaded to the Falls Cable website for later viewing, said Programming Coordinator James Sullivan.
The second meeting is Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 1 p.m. at the Senior Center, and the third is Monday, Nov. 18, at 6 p.m. at Ashfield Town Hall.
Smith emphasized that the committee welcomes all the public input it can get.
“Our primary interest is Ashfield, Buckland and Shelburne (residents) because we’re the consortium that pays the bills,” Smith said, adding that the committee is interested in hearing from seniors from other towns who use the Senior Center as well.
“Their ideas are important too because they regularly use the facilities and the services (of the Senior Center).”
The Senior Center Expansion Committee and its Site and Design subcommittee have had many discussions on how to ensure one vote per person and receive educated responses, Smith said.
Survey results from the meetings versus surveys handed in during the open period before Dec. 2 “will be collected separately (because) we don’t know if people will look at the information,” Smith said.
“We just want to have control over the information (provided by) people that we know have been exposed to the material,” Smith said, adding that if information provided by both groups is similar, that would make decisions easy for the committee.
“If (results are) significantly different, then we have some other questions” to consider, she said.
To ensure one vote per person, each survey will need the name of the person who filled it out. However, the responses will be given to Jones Whitsett Architects Inc., which will remove the names from the surveys so that results will be completely anonymous, Smith said. Survey results will be unveiled at a Dec. 5 meeting.
Of the six sites currently under consideration, four have been identified by the Senior Center Expansion Committee as primary sites:
■Buckland Police Station on Conway Street in Buckland
■Masonic Lodge on Main Street in Shelburne Falls
■Mole Hollow Candle building on Deerfield Avenue in Shelburne Falls
■A lot to build a new Senior Center, owned by the town of Shelburne and located next to Arms Academy at the corner of Church, Maple and Severance streets in Shelburne Falls
Two alternative sites are additional options if primary sites are eliminated:
■Cowell Gym and Highland Village properties on Highland Avenue in Shelburne Falls
■Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School and the King/Bishop properties on Mechanic Street
Reach Maureen O’Reilly at moreilly@recorder.com or at 413-772-0261, ext. 280.