Scarborough town councilors had a puzzling response last week to a report on a survey conducted to see how seniors feel about the services being offered in town.

The results of the survey, conducted by Critical Insights of South Portland, seemed to suggest that support for a senior center in town might be only lukewarm at best. More seniors were interested in information about health care, assistance with crime prevention and transportation than they were in a senior center.

In fact, according to the results of the survey, many things ranked above “meeting and gathering space for seniors” among services listed in order of their perceived importance, including crime prevention assistance, guidance on health care and prescription drugs, transportation, Meals on Wheels, advice on elder issues, exercise opportunities, adult education classes, employment and volunteer opportunities and a calendar or hotline of events for seniors.

Despite these results, Councilor Jeff Messer proposed a “senior center community challenge.” He suggested the town allocate $400,000 for a senior center, in the hopes that others in the community would match the amount with donations. The town would then look to developers to donate money and services to build the center.

“The citizens spoke and we have to honor that,” said Messer. “I think the citizens didn’t vote for it because they thought the YMCA would pick up the slack. The time is ripe with the YMCA gone. There’s a lot of disappointment out there.”

Messer is right about at least one thing – residents have spoken. They voted down a town bond for a senior center. That vote was more than a signal that residents didn’t support building a senior center with tax money. It was a direct answer through one of the most direct ways we have to poll the public – a referendum. Those who had an opinion on the subject probably voted that day.

Many of those who voted in the last election were likely seniors. Of those seniors surveyed by Critical Insights, 68 percent said they voted in the most recent town election.

It’s a big leap to assume that people voted down the senior center because they thought a YMCA was going to be built. There’s no doubt that the defeat at the polls of the senior center and the expansion of the library and the failure of YMCA supporters to raise enough money for a local Y have disappointed many people in town for a variety of reasons. But before the town decides to appropriate another $400,000 in tax money for a project, the town might want to step back and consider what people actually want.

Scarborough so far has done a great job of responding to its senior population. The town, through its Community Services Department, sponsors Senior Series, events and activities geared toward senior residents. After the senior center was defeated, it formed a committee to consider how well the town was meeting the needs of seniors. Those who have served on that committee have worked hard to assess what those needs might be. This survey is a critical piece of that.

Perhaps, what the town needs, if anything, is not a senior center, but some sort of recreation center that would serve people of all ages, as the chairman of the senior committee, the Rev. David Calhoun, has suggested.

It could be more of a traditional community center. The center could offer exercise equipment and classes for young people and adults, as well as information on health care and adult education classes. It could incorporate some of the aspects that had been proposed for an expanded library.

There are a lot of possibilities. But the town also has to be willing to face the possibility that residents didn’t support the senior center, an expanded library and the YMCA because they didn’t feel they needed them badly enough to spend tax or donated money on them. Before the town allocates any tax money on another project that will cost well over what they can allocate to it without voter approval, town councilors might want to consider that last possibility very seriously.

Brendan Moran, editor