Fiscal Court and senior citizens search for solutions to restore services and meals on wheels program

Robert Fowler addressed the Fiscal Court in a special-called meeting on Monday.
Robert Fowler addressed the Fiscal Court in a special-called meeting on Monday.

BENTON – Monday’s special-called meeting of the Fiscal Court to address the concerns of the Marshall County senior citizens over the closure of the Calvert City center, driving distances to other centers and the congregate and meals on wheels program, yielded a direction for the court to take in a possible solution to these issues.

Marshall County has been home to three centers, Benton, North Marshall (Calvert City) and South Marshall (Hardin). The North Marshall center at Calvert City is now closed and the South Marshall center at Hardin stands alone from Marshall County Senior Citizens, Inc.

Robert Fowler, Chairman of the Marshall County Senior Citizens, Inc. and the Marshall County Committee on Aging, spoke on behalf of the senior citizens.

“Due to lack of participation and decreased funding, we feel we need to restructure the senior citizens program in Marshall County”, Fowler said. Going on to express his concerns over $137,800 in funds that comes to the senior citizens program but does no come through the Advisory Board on Aging and asked the court to tell them how to restructure their organization.

Funds to the senior citizens centers currently come from three sources; the Fiscal Court, PADD (Purchase Area Development District) and Benton.

The Hardin Center, in 2009, removed themselves from the Marshall County senior citizens program and started their own not-for-profit organization, according to Commissioner Bob Gold, who took office in 2007 and spoke of a rift between Hardin and the central senior citizens center.

“Money you get from us is used to pay the director and miscellaneous items to Hardin because they are a senior citizen center, however get no assistance through federal, state or the city of Benton”’, Judge Executive Chyrill Miller said, addressing Mr. Fowler concerning where some of the funds from the county are spent.

A major concern of the senior citizens and the court is the preparation of meals at the center and the meals on wheels program that ended when the Marshall County Exceptional Center no longer prepared the meals, having done so since 1998.

“My biggest concern is the meals on wheels which are valuable to those who have no way to move from place to place”, Gold said.

Gold went on to say he feels the main issue at hand is finding a way to continue to cook the meals as well as convenient locations for better participation which, in his opinion, would be trying to find a way to re-open the Calvert City center.

“With the meals no longer fixed by the Exceptional Center, it looks like the meals will have to be cooked by the Benton center”, Fowler said. “Sixty were getting meals on wheels, and in some cases, the meals on wheels driver is the only person they see. We feel that the meals on wheels program has got to go on but our budget won’t stand it.”

County Commissioner Dr. Rick Cocke.
County Commissioner Dr. Rick Cocke.

Commissioner Dr. Rick Cocke, who requested the special-called meeting, has researched the senior citizen’s situation extensively and feels the court needs to help them solve their most pressing needs which are decreased funding, meals and participation.

“You can’t blame the Exceptional Center, it’s a financial decision on their part”, Cocke said. “If you’re losing $45,000 a year, that’s a business decision and the board has to make that. But what happens now is the ball is back in our court to continue to provide the meals on wheels program.”

Cocke, like the rest of the court, does not want to see the meals on wheels program dropped but said that a very strict regiment of meal preparation has to be followed as set forth by the government.

Exceptional Center board chairman, Doug Dotson, spoke on behalf of the center.

“We as a board, for the center, hope no one harbors any ill feelings towards us for closing the meals program down”, Dotson said. “It was strictly a financial decision for us.”

Dotson said when the program first began, the price per meal worked, but as prices for food and all that goes into preparing the meals went up, they began operating the program in the red.

Doug Dotson, Board Chairman for the Exceptional Center.
Doug Dotson, Board Chairman for the Exceptional Center.

“Our number one goal is to provide life skills for mentally challenged folks that don’t have another place to go to school”, Dotson said. “Not wanting to jeopardize that program any longer, we elected to discontinue the meal program.”

Dotson said it was a great program and they would be honored to work with whoever prepares the meals in the future and would be happy to share with the court, their records on the cost of making the meals.

Dotson also wished to clear up any misconceptions about the kitchen equipment used to prepare the meals at the Exceptional Center, saying that it was provided by a check from Joe Tom Halton with a grant for the cooler by the Kentucky Colonels.

Diana Wall, Executive Director of the Exceptional Center, addressed the court about the span of the program saying that in the beginning, they were able to accept garden vegetable donations and use those in meal preparations but due to the strict government guidelines could no longer accept those donations.

McCracken County’s center is temporarily preparing the meals for Marshall County and they are paid per meal out of what Marshall County draws from the PADD office.

An amount of approximately $150,000 comes to the Marshall County senior citizens program from PADD each year provided the numbers are there but according to Benton Center director, Mona Yarbrough, “there’s no guarantee unless the services are provided.” That amount is also used to pay staff salaries, utilities and drivers.

Information will be gathered from neighboring senior citizens centers and from records kept by the Exceptional Center, as to what equipment will be needed to prepare the meals, cost of the meals and cost of an employee to prepare the meals which will give them an idea of what amount of money they are looking at and where it can possibly be found in the budget to fund it.

“We’re going to do everything in our ability to find a solution for the senior citizens”, Judge Miller said.

The court will continue the discussion after more information is gathered, at the next regular meeting of the Fiscal Court on August 11th.