Newton is making strides toward creating a new facility that would serve the city’s seniors, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said Tuesday in her first State of the City address.
Fuller, who took office last month, has prioritized meeting the needs of Newton’s growing senior population.
State Senator Cynthia Stone Creem “was able to get $6 million in funding toward that facility included in a state bond bill,’’ Fuller said in prepared remarks. The bond bill must still be approved by the Legislature.
“There’s still a long way to go before that money makes its way to Newton, but it’s a huge first step,’’ the mayor said.
A working group focused on the project has also been created, the mayor said. “We are working together with the seniors to make a new facility a reality,’’ she said.
The current senior center opened in 1993 in the former Newtonville branch library on Walnut Street.
Fuller said the city is also moving forward on Newton Power Choice, a program that would allow local residents and businesses to join an energy plan that includes more renewable energy sources.
Fuller said the city has a goal of conducting 100 community meetings in the next few months to allow locals to learn more about the program.
“Working together, we will choose an energy supplier, give our residents and businesses options, stabilize prices, increase the amount of green and clean renewable energy, and try to lower energy costs,’’ Fuller said.
Fuller also repeated priorities to provide additional support staff to address mental health and opioid addiction in the city, make infrastructure improvements, and complete an update of the city’s zoning code by the fall.
Fuller, who will be negotiating union contracts this year, also thanked police, firefighters, and city workers for their work during the early weeks of her term.
“It is this kind of dedication, this sense of civic duty, that has made me even more convinced that, working together, we can, and will, fulfill our mission to transmit our city to our children and grandchildren greater, better, and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us,’’ Fuller said.
John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com.
