By CRISTINE MEIXNER

Express Editor

WELLS - Supervisor Brian Towers and state Senator Betty Little are fighting to keep the home for the developmentally disabled on Buttermilk Hill Road here open.

The home is scheduled to close as part of a statewide effort by the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities to trim costs, according to Little’s Director of Communications Daniel E. Mac Entee. “A final determination has not been made,” he added.

“We’re going to do everything we can to turn that around,” Little said. “They say no jobs will be lost, just transferred to the day treatment center, but it is about more than jobs. This community has been so welcoming to the disabled.”

Towers and Little are scheduled to meet Friday with an OPWDD deputy director. Needed safety upgrades will be discussed, Mac Entee says.

“The home is old and has no sprinkler system,” Little says.”Officially, I have been told absolutely nothing from OPWDD,” Towers says. “That is the frustrating part as I think of the town as a partner in these facilities over the last 30 years. No letter... no phone call... nothing.”Towers said although the matter has not yet been the subject of a Town Board meeting, board members have talked about it “one-on-one and in no official capacity, but I am certain that we are prepared to work with OPWDD to keep the house open.

“If that means helping bring the house into compliance, I think we would offer that.”

Following a Jan. 12 gathering Little organized in Wells, she and Towers went to the Buttermilk Hill home. Little wanted to see it.

“The senator and I were told through official channels that we were not allowed under any circumstance to enter the building,” Towers says. “Any staff that allowed us in or talked to us were jeopardizing their jobs.

“Something is obviously going on that they do not want questioned.

“I have been in and out of these homes as a fireman, cable operator and town official many, many times over the years. But now I am not allowed to question what is happening.

“What is worse is that a New York state senator is not allowed in either.”

Towers is indignant that residents of the home would be relocated, and not just because of the possible economic impact.

“Certainly there is an economic impact, but more importantly the clients of these homes are members of my community,” he said, “some for more than 30 years. They are not used equipment you just move around as you please.”

He says the home’s residents “are warmly embraced by the community as our neighbors.

“Wells has been a great host to the homes. The loss of lives in the ‘River Home’ fire was a tragedy that is still emotional for many of us to even think about.”