The Scarborough Town Council failed to approve a $400,000 senior center bond after a heated debate last Wednesday night.

The vote was tied at 3-3, killing Councilor Jeff Messer’s community challenge proposal. Voting with Messer were Councilors Shawn Babine and Chairman Steve Ross.

At the Sept. 20 council meeting, after hearing the report from the Senior Advisory Committee, Messer proposed a challenge. His intention was to have the council approve $400,000 – the most the council can spend without going to referendum – and then ask the community, developers and businesses to donate $800,000 more.

“Since 1996 a place for seniors has been a goal of mine,” said Messer. “The need is real, it’s not imagined as some folks feel. Though only 42 percent of seniors said they’d use it, that 42 percent represents about 1,500 seniors.”

After a $1.2 million senior center was rejected by voters last year, the 17-member advisory committee was established to assess seniors’ needs and what is available in the town for senior community space. In a survey by Critical Insights, 68 percent of seniors said they are as involved as they’d like to be. Further, most seniors identified services such as crime prevention and health care education as priorities over a senior center.

While Councilor Sylvia Most agreed a senior center is important, she said acting too quickly would only guarantee its second failure. Once Most and Councilor Carol Rancourt both voiced their opposition to the bond, Messer called the council’s behavior hypocritical. Two weeks ago, said Messer, the council was in agreement with his plan when many seniors attended the meeting. Now, with few seniors in the room, he said, councilors changed their minds.

“Councilor Messer is quick to hurl insults,” said Most, adding that her position was no different from a year ago.

“I hate to be the wet blanket on something that sounds so nice,” said Most. “But the order before us is out of order.” Most said that ignoring a study that was a year in the making made no sense.

“There are 13 short-term goals listed here, and not one of them is a senior center,” said Most. For now, she added, the town should focus on the services seniors need, and continue to look into how to best build a senior center. More planning, she said, would help future plans for a senior center be successful.

Most also questioned whether building a senior center after voters rejected it was a good decision. She compared it to past town projects such as Black Point Park, the turf field and track, Memorial Park and even the construction of town hall.

“Are we looking to build a controversy center or a community center?” asked Most. “I still hear how we built town hall even though the town voted against it, and here we are 11 months after the town voted on the senior center, and we’re going to fund it anyway. I think it’s the wrong decision.”

Rancourt struggled with a personal desire to see a senior center built and what she called an ethical dilemma.

“I’ve given this a lot of thought,” she said. “I have no problem with the concept of the bond as long as it’s a match bond. However, I have an ethical dilemma about doing things up until the $400,000 mark, especially when there was a town vote. I have to respect the will of the people, whether I agree with them or not.”

Messer said it’s the council’s job to make difficult decisions that can’t please everyone, and with the recent failure of the YMCA, the time was right to start a senior center.

“I strongly disagree that this circumvents the charter,” said Messer. “We have nothing to lose. If the benevolence isn’t there, then it isn’t there, but we have to give it a shot.”

Most disagreed, saying another failed senior center would only make the task more difficult. “To take a step back in time to a year ago is unfair to seniors and unfair to the community,” she said.

Councilor Patrick O’Reilly agreed with Messer that the town needs to do more for its seniors, but voted against the center. O’Reilly questioned whether a $1.2 million center would even be enough to meet seniors’ needs, and recommended more study before the council acts.

“We need to dedicate more time and energy into planning a senior center that will be used by all seniors, not just a smaller group,” said O’Reilly. “If we’re going to do it, we should do it right. I’m not in favor of this tonight, unfortunately.”

Though the senior center bond failed, the council did form a five-member implementation committee to start working on the short-term goals identified in the senior survey. Members of the committee are the Rev. Dr. David Calhoun, Cynthia Taylor, Larry Gross, Linda Biddler and Rancourt. Their goal is to create a plan for action on goals such as creating educational programs for seniors, raising awareness about existing programs and increasing senior transportation.