Lincoln Village Residents Association

Trustees OK center steering committee

Prairie Township trustees approved appointments for a community center steering committee and voted to continue Saturday hours at the senior center.

Most of the discussion at the June 13 meeting focused on the township's recreational needs.

The steering committee will influence the direction of a future community center. The township is currently engaged in a six-month study with the architectural firm Moody Nolan Inc. to conduct a study of where a center will be located, its cost and what it will look like.

Members of the steering committee are: Joe Cruz, representing Home Depot along West Broad Street; Phil Warner, representing South-Western City Schools; Debbie Wilder, representing OhioHealth Doctors Hospital; Sherma Ferguson, representing the Lincoln Village Residents Association; Suzie Williams representing the Prairie Township Senior Center; Jeff Ferrellie, representing Clover Estates; and Julie Ebert, representing the Lake Darby and Westpointe subdivisions.

Township Administrator Tracy Hatmaker said community outreach is an important part in the creation and development of a community center. The steering committee is expected to meet with Moody Nolan Inc. by the end of the month, with subsequent meetings in August and September.

Hatmaker said it is expected that the public will also be invited to attend those meetings.

The vote to continue Saturday hours at the senior center follows action in May when trustees decided to suspend those hours, starting June 2, because of a lack of volunteers at the front desk. However, trustees gave the seniors a second chance to prove that they could get the volunteers needed to keep the doors open.

Seniors who attended last week's trustee meeting said they were told they needed to be trained first in order to properly man the desk. Some said they are willing to volunteer but cannot get the training needed in order to do so.

Hatmaker said he was not sure why the seniors weren't being trained, but would find out. In the interim, he said he would see to it himself that those seniors who stepped up to volunteer get the proper instruction.

"If volunteers keep showing up, then the senior center will stay open," trustee Steve Kennedy said. "For now, it's open on Saturday."

The senior center hours are from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Saturday. It is closed Sunday.

Source: http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/west/news/2012/06/15/trustees-ok-center-steering-committee.html