Some of the recent work of Habiterra Architects was put on display as a pair of organizations presented site plans to the city Planning Commission on Tuesday.
Tom Holt, president and chief executive officer of Lutheran Social Services, provided a rationale for the newest expansion of the LSS campus. Since 2004, he said there has been an effort to transition from "very intensive and institutional-based care" for senior living toward holistic, "community-based options."
The commission was presented with a plan that replaces the former residence of Dr. M. Panzarella with a 14-unit apartment complex. Holt said the new facility is fully-funded by the state as a demonstration project. It is equipped with motion sensors and other devices which may ultimately work in a private home.
"The goal of this project, in addition to its apartment function, will be an incubator for these new technologies," he said. "With a number of independent housing units that we already operate in the community, we will then be able to take a suitcase of these technologies, if you will, and move them out into the community with the goal of keeping people in their homes longer than they are currently able to do."
Holt added that the recent development at LSS originates with the state Department of Health's grant Health Efficiency and Affordability Law. He said the funding permits the closure of its hospital bed facilities and enables the creation of alternative services.
LSS has removed 80 high skilled nursing beds and 46 assisted living units have taken their place. With the addition of 14 new apartments, Holt said there will be an effort to remove another 26 high care beds out of service. These adjustments are started to reflect consumer demand.
"We're getting closer to what the real need is in the county,'' Holt said.
Jeff Nelson, a commission member, revisited concerns ge raised in February during the approval of the Appleyard housing development's third phase. He questioned whether the 14 units would duplicate a type of rental option available elsewhere in the local market.
Holt replied the new LSS housing arrangement falls along a thin gap between no assisted care and skilled nursing.
He added LSS is on the "leading edge with the new concepts of senior care," which requires an embryonic study before it can be released to the private market.
He said the new technology provides an awareness of the condition of the resident, which can be viewed via computer by the family at a distance, enabling people to independently, and to do so longer
Returning to the schematics, commission members approved the environmental study and site plan.
GROWTH EXPECTED
A second proposal for the day would provide a permanent home for Spray-Tech Finishing.
Guy Lombardo, company president, indicated the addition at Dawson Metal - a sibling company of Spray-Tech - would enable all stages of production to take place at one facility. Currently, some metal orders requiring paint finishing have to be sent by truck to the aging Dahlstrom Building on East Second Street.
"This will make us more efficient and more attractive as a vendor," he said.
Spray-Tech's 20-year lease for 80,000 square feet of floor space at Dahlstrom will expire in 2012. The site plan would create a 49,000 square feet addition to the east of the current Dawson Metal. Whereas the current operation uses a retrofitted Dahlstrom-era paint line, Lombardo said the new facility will house a state-of-the-art powder coating process.
Commission member Joe Trusso asked if the move would translate into jobs, and Lombardo said there could be a swell beyond its current number of 15 employees.
"We don't see any reason why we wouldn't add at least 10 as business picks up," he said. "Right now we are not very competitive when it comes to quoting work, with this paint line that is very inefficient. But we believe we will acquire new customers."
Several contingencies to be finished at a later date were noted upon the commission's site plan approval. Those included committing to an agreement about the access bridge connecting the properties of Dawson to Allen Street, and outfitting the site with the appropriate number of parking spaces.
