Waveny Care Launches Info Site on CCRC

Waveny Care Network has launched an informational Web site about its proposed Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC). The elder care organization hopes the new site will prevent the spread of misinformation about the CCRC, which has already proved controversial as they've worked to identify the best possible location for the project.

Waveny Care Marketing Director Kristin Sinatra says the most important resource now available on CCRCforNC.org is the Powerpoint presentation that Chairman Harry Rein and former chairman Ted O'Hanlon delivered to the Waveny Care Network Board of Directors in June explaining the organization's determination of the need for a CCRC and the selection of a section of Waveny Park on the west side of Lapham Road as the proposed site.

The choice of the Lapham Road location has arguably been the biggest point of contention thus far, with some in the community questioning if the project is aimed only at the wealthiest seniors and profiting off town land, and whether or not a CCRC is a permitted use under the provisions of the Waveny deed.

"I'm not a developer here. I'm not trying to do something that is profitable," said Chairman Harry Rein, "but respond to a need (for senior living options) in the town."

Currently there are no independent market studies posted to CCRCforNC.org, but Rein says Waveny Care would have to procure such a study in order to get investors for the project.

The June Powerpoint argues that a CCRC is needed to prevent elder flight and address the growing senior population in the area. The document also says the Lapham Road site would be used through a lease arrangement with the town, that the entrance fee for a spot in the CCRC would be priced to match New Canaan's demographics, and that the project is consistent with the deed restrictions on the property.

Rein hopes the new info site will help educate the community about what a community care retirement is in general and prompt discussion about whether New Canaan needs one.

"I'd rather have someone get the information from the horse's mouth, than by the telephone method. The information gets garbled in that situation," Rein said. "This is something that needs to be very open. This is not some kind of nefarious thing being done under the covers."

Most of the information currently on CCRCforNC.org, including the June Powerpoint, was previously accessible on the Waveny Care Network's Web site by clicking on a button labeled "A CCRC for New Canaan"; that button now redirects to the new info site. Waveny Care plans to post more documents and information as the project develops.

Marketing Director Kristin Sinatra says creating a discrete site made sense because the information about the CCRC proposal serves a different audience than the one seeking out details about and updates to Waveny Care's existing services.

"There's just information overload, and people might be legitimately confused about what's planned versus what exists," Sinatra said about the previous hosting of information about the CCRC proposal on the Waveny Care Network's main site.

And instead of inquiries going to the management team for Waveny Care's current services, the new site directs visitors to the primary contacts and supporters of the retirement community project, including Elder Care Council Chairman Penny Young, Health and Human Services Commission Chairman Jim Lisher and commission member Tom Ferguson, and Rein himself.

Rein expects it will take two years for Waveny Care to obtain all the necessary approvals and clearances so that they can start marketing the project to prospective residents. Since the proposed location is on park land, the Park and Recreation Commission will be the first stop. An official presentation of the CCRC proposal is not yet on the commission's agenda.

Park and Recreation Commissioner Liz Livingston says that when she clicked on the button from Waveny Care's main Web site recently to see if any new information had been posted about the project, she didn't realize she'd been redirected to another site. Still she says the more information Waveny Care makes available to the public the better, "I think it's all to the good." And she hopes the community will be given plenty of notice the next time the project comes up for a hearing.