Troy desperate for new senior center

TROY — Residents in Troy say they are desperate for a new senior center to provide more food, social activities and other services to local residents.

Sandy Kilborn, president of the Troy Senior Center, shared her frustrations during a Troy City Council meeting Wednesday night.

“The seniors deserve more than this, you guys,” she said.

Troy seniors meet at the Troy Lutheran Church Social Hall. There, seniors are served lunch every Wednesday, enjoy entertainment once or twice a month and can receive vaccines and blood-pressure checks from a registered nurse. Kilborn told the Daily News that 72 seniors use this facility on a regular basis.

However, the facility has too many limitations that prevent Kilborn and other volunteers from providing more for seniors.

Kilborn said it is too small, has inadequate parking and has a kitchen that is unsuitable for all their needs. Additionally, the senior center does not own that space, so there are time constraints on when they can use it.

She said volunteers stock up on food from the Idaho Food Bank once a month, but the Troy Senior Center would like to provide its members with boxes of food on a weekly basis.

Kilborn said this is not possible because they do not own the facility and the parking lot is unsuitable for packing and handing out boxes of food each week. There is also not enough refrigerator space. The Troy Senior Center does not offer dairy or fresh fruits and vegetables.

“Last year, we turned many people away because it is not big enough for our group of seniors,” Kilborn told the council. “Food insecurity here is getting worse every year and we need to get food to the seniors.”

Troy has a food bank, but Senior Center volunteer Marie Vogel said there is still a stigma attached to going there, and many seniors won’t utilize it because it’s a pride issue.

Because of time constraints, it also cannot offer social events like bingo or card games.

Kilborn and the Troy City Council discussed the lack of available real estate for establishing a new senior center.

“The chances of finding an adequate square-foot building with a commercial kitchen already in it and ADA bathrooms, that’s not going to happen,” said city councilor Bill Abbott.

Abbott said he would prefer to build a new building, but finding a location is difficult.

Councilor Cindy Gray shared her concerns about the high cost of such a project and said that they would need to find a place that could also serve the broader community.

“I completely understand that we need it and that it’s more than just a senior center, it would be a community center and benefit a lot of folks,” she said.

Kilborn said Troy is the only town in Latah County that does not have a community center.

In other business, a Troy building owner wrote a letter to the council requesting they reconsider a decision to deny a conditional use permit that would have allowed church gatherings at a Main Street building.

The matter concerns the former Umpqua Bank building on 424 S. Main St. that was bought by Matt Meyer in November. Meyer took over the building with the intent to rent that space out for events. He approached the city council to allow Christ Church members to meet there each week for religious meetings, a purpose that requires a conditional use permit (CUP) because the building is in a commercial zone. Meyer is a parish elder with Christ Church.

The CUP was denied in March and now the city council will review his letter asking them to reconsider their vote.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.