Council members Tom Barker and Mandy Espinoza discuss the senior center building’s usage with John Baughman and Elaine Beeching.

PIERCETON — The Pierceton Town Council held a meeting Wednesday, June 20, regarding the usage of the Pierceton Senior Citizens Center and 2019 town budget.

Currently, the senior center is used weekly by local seniors to socialize and play games. Since REAL Services is no longer hosting meals there, the council decided at its June 11 meeting that it would meet with the senior center group to see if renting the building out for the public to use is a possibility.

The council met with John Baughman and Elaine Beeching, president and secretary of the senior center group, to look over the agreement the town currently has with the center.

“We still want seniors to have access to the facility,” said council member Tom Barker. “But that facility’s more vacant since meals aren’t hosted there. If we can utilize the building more, we’d love that, but we also don’t want to step on anybody’s toes.”

The council and senior center representatives agreed that the L-shaped room in the building would solely be the responsibility of the senior center, as it’s only accessible to them. The agreement the town has with the senior center had edits made to it. It will be looked over by town attorney Tammy Keirn at the next monthly meeting on Monday, July 9.

“If we can do something to help the community more, that’s what we are going to do,” said Clerk-Treasurer Jerry Kreger.

The seniors will still have access to the building for their activities. Renting the main room of the building for activities will soon be an option for Pierceton residents.

The council also met with Dean Rhoades, Washington Township Trustee, regarding the 2019 town budget. The meeting was informational, as council members addressed their concerns to Rhoades, particularly with water bills and the cost of maintaining the town’s parks.

During the meeting, the council discussed the need for numbers from the fire department regarding fire calls and their locations. Depending on the location, some financial coverage falls on Monroe and Washington Townships, while others are the responsibility of the town of Pierceton.

Pierceton’s next monthly meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 9.