Springbrook is requesting bond funding for several upcoming projects that are designed to increase student and family access to housing, services and specialized health care, officials said.

During a public hearing Tuesday at the organization’s Community Campus in Oneonta, Springbrook’s chief executive officer, Patricia Kennedy, detailed “Springbrook 2020,” a long-term plan that will include — among other additions and renovations — the creation of lodging for visiting parents and a medical clinic open to anyone with developmental disabilities.

The meeting was held to solicit public comments, according to Elizabeth Horvath of the Otsego County Capital Resource Corporation; however, only Springbrook administrators attended. Horvath said the light attendance was actually a good thing.

“When a topic is controversial, people come out in droves,” Horvath told the team of administrators. “But the community loves Springbrook and supports what you’re doing, and I think that’s why we have an empty room.”

Springbrook 2020 is expected to create 61 jobs, according to Kennedy. The projects outlined in the plan are expected to be completed within three to five years, she said.

One of the most exciting additions will be a Parent Engagement Center, an 8,000-square-foot building where visiting family members can stay, according to Seth Haight, Springbrook’s chief operating officer. The building, located at the organization’s Main Campus near Portlandville, will provide a space where parents can spend private, quality time with their children, he said.

“The majority of our students are from the metropolitan area,” Haight said. “It can be challenging for their families to travel to this area and find lodging, especially in the summer. This will give those families a place to stay and spend one-on-one time with their children — whether they’re cooking, playing on the playground, watching a game on TV or having a birthday party — all while remaining close to medical and behavioral supports.”

Springbrook will break ground on the building soon, and it’s expected to be completed in about a year, officials said. The center will be paid for with donations, Kennedy added.

An exciting addition to the Community Campus in Oneonta will be a 5,000-square-foot Campus Medical Clinic and school-based health center, which will bring access to specialized care “directly to the individuals we support and beyond,” Kennedy said.

A third addition will be a postgraduate transitional home, Kennedy said.

Springbrook is graduating 16 students this year, but many of them want to stay with the organization, she said. That’s where the new housing will come in, allowing for choices and alternatives while continuing to offer support.

“Our commitment to our individuals is for a lifetime,” Haight said.

Springbrook will pay $105,000 in bond transaction fees, which will be used by economic development agency Otsego Now to further development in the county, Horvath said.

By Jessica Reynolds, Staff Writer, The Daily Star, 5/11/2016