You wouldn't normally look to a monthly meeting of the city of Hudson's Common Council Youth and Aging Committee for news... but then again, not every municipality sees senior yoga and aerobics programs as an area for lively political discourse. The Register-Star reports that at the February 3 meeting, it was announced that those same yoga and aerobics programs, which had been offered at the city's youth building until they wanted their program spaces for themselves, would continue to be offered free of charge — even after a fee schedule worked out with seniors was proposed. The yoga and aerobics courses offered at the city’s Youth Center have been the subject of a heated, months-long discussion fueled by seniors who were devastated to learn that the Hudson River Bank and Trust Foundation decided to no longer fund the programs and concentrate on youth programming. However, at Mayor Richard Scalera’s request, the foundation agreed to allot some of the money toward the cost of senior programming, as well as the construction of a new senior center (for which the city also received a $400,000 Community Development Block grant). At a meeting with seniors in December, Scalera committed to covering more than half the cost of senior yoga and aerobics from his special account to be used for municipal purposes at the mayor’s discretion and per council approval. Since Scalera collects a state pension, he is not permitted to make more than $30,000 per year, and since the mayor’s salary is budgeted at $45,000, he requested the extra $15,000 be put into a contingency fund. A resolution was passed authorizing $8,000 from the account to be put directly toward the cost of senior yoga and aerobics. Now the foundation is being approached again to cover the $3,000 shortfall that remains. Meanwhile, meetings onnthe new senior center proposal will be held on the second Tuesday of each month at 12:15 p.m. at the Youth Center. Let's hope they stay civil....