In an effort to deal more directly with some of the issues that affect Clinton’s senior citizens, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) has established a Senior Citizens Task Force.

The taskforce, established last month, will report to the BOS. Anyone interested in joining the taskforce should contact either the Clinton Human Services Department or First Selectman’s Office. A meeting schedule will be determined once the taskforce is full formed.

First Selectman Christine Goupil said she believes the town should do more to reach out to seniors in the community, and said the town will need to figure out how to do so.

Human Services Director David Melillo has been focusing on seniors since he started in the position in June.

“When I was hired, it was made clear the first selectman had concerns about seniors,” Melillo said.

Melillo said he has experience working with seniors from his time working in Madison, where he served as human services director for 33 years.

Melillo suggested one of the first actions to be taken is an assessment of the needs of seniors in the community. There are several issues that affect a town’s senior population, perhaps most notably the number of senior citizens.

“They are a growing population and that is going to be the case for a while,” Melillo said.

Another concern is transportation, specifically the difficulty of life on the shoreline for non-drivers.

“If you look at our society and take away their car and say, ‘Ok, now live,’ what do you do?” Melillo asked.

Housing will be another focus for the new task force. Melillo said that many seniors are interested in downsizing from a large house into a smaller house, but there may be limited options to do so in the town. This transition can be compounded by the fact many seniors may be on fixed incomes.

“The fixed income creates a lot of concerns medically, financially, and wanting to stay in the same community,” Melillo said. “It’s a tough task and there are a lot of barriers in the way in the country in the state, and in the towns that make it harder.”

Goupil also mentioned the need to offer more housing opportunities in the community, particularly options that are smaller and more walkable than the ones already in existence.