by Kate Shunney
Before a crowd of more than three dozen people, the Paw Paw town council discussed at length on Tuesday two proposals to keep the doors of the Paw Paw Senior Center open in the future.
Just last week, Senior Life Services of Morgan County published notice that they were holding a public comment meeting about a proposal to close the Paw Paw Senior Center. That meeting is set for Monday, October 26 in Berkeley Springs.
Meanwhile, a group of senior citizens and Paw Paw residents have been in negotiations with the Senior Life Services about how to operate the center, which offers a place for older residents to gather, socialize, eat lunch daily and hold community events.
During Tuesday evening’s meeting at the Paw Paw Senior Center with the Paw Paw Town Council, there were claims that Senior Life Services had not been negotiating “in good faith” over the future of the center.
Several residents and center supporters described getting proposals about how the center would operate, and before that proposal could be considered, the terms of the proposal would change.
A key issue is which entity would lease the bottom floor of the Mountaineer Community Health Center building when the current lease runs out on December 31, 2026.
Senior Life Services has said they would not renew the lease, which is nominal at $1 per year.
On Tuesday, Paw Paw officials considered two main options – the Town of Paw Paw would sign the lease to keep the space open for senior activities and would manage the use of the space, or the town would lease the space and turn over management of the space to a senior center board appointed by the town.
Paw Paw officials voted unanimously in favor of the first option, and adopted a one-page Resolution to that effect.
The title of the document is: “A Resolution Authorizing the Lease of Premises at 783 Winchester Street and Dedicating the Premises to a Public Purpose as a Senior and Community Activities Facility.”
The resolution took effect on Tuesday when it was adopted.
Through the resolution, town officials are authorized to execute a lease for the lower-level of the Mountaineer Community Health building for one year with renewal options for a rent of $1 per year.
“The premises are dedicated to and shall be used for a public purpose, namely senior activities and related public, recreational, educational, and community uses consistent with W.Va. Code 8-12-5, 10-2-2, and 16-5P-9,” the document says.
The council will “adopt a Facility Use Policy governing access to and use of the premise. All access and use granted by the Town shall by nonexclusive and revocable and shall be coordinated by a facility coordinator designated by the Town,” according to the resolution.
A Facility Use Police was attached to the resolution and was adopted at the same time as the resolution.
In it, the Town of Paw Paw specifies that it will insure the premises but not the contents.
“Senior meal and nutrition services may be provided by a third-party provider under a separate agreement, provided that provider remains responsible for its own staff, insurance, and food-service permitting. No other permitted food service is conducted at the facility unless separately authorized in writing by the Town,” the policy says.
Use of the senior center space will be arranged through a town representative, who will hold the keys to the facility, the policy says.
“The facility is open to area seniors and to senior-focused activities. Other compatible community uses may be scheduled as the Town allows,” the policy says.
Who keeps the lights on?
During extensive discussion ahead of the vote on the resolution, financial support of the senior center operations was discussed.
An existing senior citizens club has held multiple fundraisers and has told the town they would pay the utilities for the center to stay open for public use.
Paw Paw Mayor Darlene Abe said repeatedly that the town doesn’t have funds to put into the center.
“We will lease the building so you have a place to meet. You do the fundraisers and pay the utilities,” she said.
“We want nothing to do with it. The town is already overworked and no monies are available to put into this facility,” said Mayor Abe.
Jock Shambaugh asked if the club can go out and seek grants if the town chooses not to appoint a senior citizen board to direct the center’s operations.
The town’s attorney, who participated in the meeting by phone, said that would be possible. He said the club can raise funds and find grants, they could partner with other non-profits to seek grants or the town could sponsor grants for the senior club activities.
An official non-profit would have more opportunities for grant funding, officials acknowledged.
The senior club has said it would deposit funds with the town to cover utility bills by January 1, 2027.
Senior club advisor Glen Stotler said he would be surprised if Mountaineer Community Health would lease the space to the Town on the premise that a third party – the club – would keep the lights on. He said the town had been told multiple times the club would provide money to the town to cover expenses.
“I have represented that to the town every time we’ve met,” said Stotler.
Discussion confirmed that the building owners would need a guarantee from the town that they would pay the basic utilities even if the club couldn’t come up with funds to do so. Mayor Abe verbally agreed to that.
“Yes, we would make sure the lights would be kept on,” she said.
Even as officials took public comment about the resolution options, the mayor questioned how the fate of the senior center had come to the point that the town was having to step in.
She suggested “someone needs to sit down” with the Senior Life Services officials to work something out.
Meeting attendees rejected that notion, outlining how many times they had gone back and forth with proposals for keeping the center open.
“The board has been here. They told us what we needed to do and we did it,” said one town resident.
“Other than providing meals that they are federally reimbursed for, they want to cut ties,” said Stotler. He said regional entities for senior centers are in support of closing Paw Paw as a full-fledged center.
Stotler, a former Morgan County Commissioner, pointed out that the county provided free space to the Morgan County Senior Center for its first 40 years of operations before it purchased the former U.S. Silica building where the non-profit is now headquartered.
He recommended the Town of Paw Paw create a board and appoint members to provide oversight for the senior center budget and operations, so it could succeed long-term.
“The issues have been going on since the spring of 2025. We can go on and on about that. This resolution is a good stepping stone, or a good starting point,” said councilman Devin Abe.
In a social media post on October 9, the Senior Life Services director Tammy Kees shared a lengthy post about the change in operations predicted in Paw Paw. That post was updated on Wednesday following the Town of Paw Paw vote to lease the space with local control.
