SENIOR CITIZENS OF THE FUTURE CONCERN SIMI COUNCIL.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Daily News Staff Writer

In an effort to anticipate what senior citizens will need as their numbers grow, the City Council will consider hiring a consultant to study the population and come up with a plan to meet those needs.

City officials said that by 2020, Simi Valley's population of those 65 and older will jump from 5.1 percent to 13 percent - or from 10,000 to 18,000 people.

The idea to plan for the aging of the baby-boom generation grew out of recommendations in the city's Vision 2020 plan, and out of a study by the Simi Valley Council on Aging's long-range plan, which was submitted to the city last fall.

Boris Palarz, chairman of the Council on Aging, said the city has always been responsive to the needs of the senior population, and he expects that to continue as their numbers grow.

He said the long-range plan developed by the council to cover those needs until 2003 will be the starting point for the consulting company to work from in its study.

``I'm assuming (the consultant) will concur with our findings, but they will also provide us with an impetus to initiate these programs and implement them in certain ways to make them more effective,'' Palarz said. ``We're also asking for a prioritization, a scheduling, that will tell us when things should be done, so that we can then be in a better position to say, we're going to need this amount of money.''

To begin planning for and implementing programs to serve seniors, the city put out a call for proposals last year. The city's Department of Community Services received answers from three companies.

Debbie Solomon, the city's deputy director of citizen services, said that since the cost for each company was similar, they also were evaluated on their experience and their approach to the project.

The city staff is expected to recommend that the council give the contract to Moore Iacofano Goltsman Inc. of Pasadena, at a cost of $24,780.

If approved, the company would begin its work in early March and conclude the study by the start of the summer.

The city expects to fund the study using an Area Agency on Aging grant, federal Community Development Block Grants unspent on Vision 2020, and 1998-99 Community Services Department budget funds. The study also will be included among the requests for funding in the 1999-2000 CDBG budget.

The study would include identifying gaps in senior services or infrastructure and facilities, and prioritizing the findings into five-, 10- and 15-year plan goals.

Moore Iacofano Goltsman would be expected to assess the 18 public and private agencies now serving seniors, including the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District, the Simi Valley Family YMCA, Simi Valley Hospital, the American Association of Retired Persons and the Ventura County Senior Nutrition Program.

Solomon said the study is expected to include a review of housing needs, as well as health and recreation services.