Selectmen Tuesday discussed the early stages of a plan that could combat cutting of services to seniors at the Town Multi-Service Center.

Under the current balanced budget proposal, the Town would eliminate all funding for the Council on Aging

"A third of the people in this town are senior citizens. Are you really telling me that we can't provide them services? It's immoral not to," Selectman Judith Whiteside said.

Whiteside suggested to move the seniors services to half of the Hammond School in Onset, where the other half of the building is occupied by the Boys and Girls Club.

Whiteside reached out to Wareham Schools Superintendent Kimberly Shaver-Hood and fellow Selectman Alan Slavin about the idea.

Slavin spoke about how young people could help the elderly learn new technology while seniors could help children with reading or arts programs.

"It would take some money to bring the building up to usable condition but it is a very large space in a nice area, the rooms are not small, there are windows," Whiteside said.

She said Monday night she and Slavin were invited by the board of directors for the Wareham Boys and Girls Club parent unit in New Bedford to present their idea.

"They seemed to be very receptive to the idea," she said.

Whiteside said she also spoke with Town Administrator Derek Sullivan about moving the programs from the Multi-Service Center to the school in Onset, "and improve the services we are offering to our senior citizens."

"We want to put something together that's long term and has stability," Slavin said. "We can't provide proper services in [the Multi-Service Center] the way it's set up."

Selectman Steve Holmes suggested that the selectmen look into alternate buildings aside from the Hammond School.

"It's not in my opinion an optimum location for a senior center," he said

"We have a tenant there now, but if there is a major equipment failure or major repair that needs to be done our tenant is gone," Holmes said. "If something happens over $100,000 of repairs our tenants are gone, its in their contracts.

He said he doesn't want to move the seniors to a place that could be inconvenient for some, then have to move them out with no place to go because a major repair needs to take place at the building. But he does agree with the idea of getting the seniors out of the Multi-Service Center.

"I applaud their initiative," said Selectmen Peter Teitelbaum. "They can continue to talk with people and if they want to try to come up with a concrete plan they're more than welcome to talk to me and get it on an agenda and we'll have a formal discussion."