SPRINGDALE -- Senior citizens packed Tuesday's City Council meeting and applauded when the council welcomed the Springdale Senior Center under the city's umbrella.
The council voted unanimously to bring the center, 203 Park St., under city management.
Police cameras
Springdale’s City Council also amended the Police Department’s budget to allow Police Chief Mike Peters to use $77,060 in drug seizure money to buy camera systems for 10 police vehicles.
Source: Staff Report
"We'll all work together very hard to make it the best it can possibly be," said Mayor Doug Sprouse after Alderman Jim Reed welcomed the center.
The transition will officially be July 1, when the center's new fiscal year begins, Sprouse said.
Alderman Kathy Jaycox supported taking over the center, but suggested the vote be tabled until the next council meeting so more questions could be answered about how the city will fit the center into its budget, how center programs such as Meals on Wheels will be paid for and how to make the transition as seamless as possible.
"This program is so important to all of us older folks, all of us 'seasoned citizens,' that I want this transition to be as smooth as possible," Jaycox said. "We've got a $205,000 addition to our budget. Where's that money coming from? I don't know about you, but I got my budget pretty well set, and $205,000 is a lot of money."
The $205,000 Jaycox referred to is the amount of federal and state money the center received to help cover its operating costs.
Lori Proud, center director, stood at the podium designated for public comments and answered questions.
Proud said although federal and state money would cease and the city would take on the expense, the center can still apply for federal grants.
"With state and federal funding they tie our hands to where we can't provide the best services for people," Proud said. "As a direct result (of city management), the city will get total control and people will know the money is going to the (senior citizens) of Springdale and not anywhere else."
Bringing the center under the city will allow the center to better manage what food is provided to senior citizens who come to the center for meals, Proud said.
"To get state and federal dollars, you have to do what they say, so they send guidelines on what food can be served," she said.
Proud was adamant city management is the best option for the center.
"I've done this for 14 years, and all I can see is positive," she said. "It's going to help us take care of the seniors of Springdale better."
Sprouse said after the meeting the city will pay for center operations through the general fund once the city begins managing the center July 1.
"We'll be funding this for half a year before our 2018 budget kicks in and when it does we'll factor the senior center into that budget," Sprouse said.
The Area Agency on Aging has been providing services to the center throughout the Older Americans Act for three years, said Jerry Mitchell said, executive director of the Harrison-based agency.
Mitchell said last week his office rents the center's building from the city for $1 a year.
The Parks and Recreation Department will run the center because it already maintains the building and grounds, Sprouse said.
The center could become its own department in the future, but until that happens, Proud will go to Parks Director Bill Mock about facility issues and to Wyman Morgan, the city's administrative and financial services director, about programming and financial issues, Sprouse said.
The center's budget is $465,455 this year. The center received about $200,500 in state and federal money and raises around $185,000 in donations and client contributions, Mitchell said. The center will no longer receive state and federal money, but will continue to raise money, Sprouse said.
The money pays for events and operations, including lunches and transportation. The center will serve 21,300 meals at and deliver about 22,000 meals to homes during the year, Mitchell said. The transportation service is expected to provide about 5,200 rides.
About 75 to 100 people show up for lunch on any given day at the center with a peak lunch attendance of 160 visitors. The building has a 200-person capacity, Proud said last week.
The center has a minivan and a 14-passenger bus.
"If they need transportation, they just call here, and we pick them up and bring them here or take them to the grocery store or doctor's appointments, really anywhere in Springdale and the surrounding area," Proud said.
The center hosts a variety of of social activities, including parties, dances and Nintendo Wii Sports competitions.
Census figures show Springdale had 75,088 residents in 2015. Morgan calculated the Census Bureau's breakdown of age groups living in Springdale and determined 12 percent of the city's population is 60 or older.
The Older Americans Act designates Mitchell's office as the nonprofit organization in charge of monitoring senior programs in designated regions in the state. Mitchell said his office provides direct services to senior centers in Baxter, Boone, Marion, Newton, Searcy and Washington counties, but can contract service to a subcontractor after issuing a request for proposals to see what nonprofit organizations are interested in running senior centers.
The Office of Human Concern in Rogers submitted a bid to Mitchell's office to be a service provider to all senior centers in Washington County. It provides services to five senior centers in Benton County and one each in Carroll and Madison counties through Mitchell's office, said Susan Moore, Human Concerns' executive director.
Although the city taking over the center prevents Human Concern from providing service to it, Human Concern can still end up providing service to other Washington County senior centers if its bid is accepted. Whether or not the bid is accepted will be announced Monday, Mitchell said.
The Senior Center has been at 203 Park St. since 1998. Before that, seniors met at the Jones Center and the Springdale Housing Authority's Building 5 on Applegate Drive, Proud said.
NW News on 04/12/2017