Connections laments Afton meal site closure in county meeting

Representatives from Connections Area Agency on Aging appeared before the Union County Board of Supervisors to discuss the closure of several congregate meal sites in the county with special attention to recent plans to close Afton’s site starting June 1.

In the 20 counties served by Connections AAA, 13 senior congregate meal sites have closed over the last four months due to funding shortfalls and the rising cost of offering the program. Other sites include Council Bluffs, Oakland, Osceola, Glenwood and Ringgold County, among others.

While the agency’s operations were kept stable through ARPA funds during the pandemic, the agency hasn’t received additional funding. The congregate meals are paid through Title III funding, which has remained flat for the agency since 2012. Meal costs in the time since have doubled, from about $5.35 in 2012 to $3.50 more per meal.

In Afton’s scenario, the meal site would be losing $11-12,000 this year due to higher catering costs and additional mileage.

Those who had originally attended the Afton meal site, where every Thursday they would receive a meal, will be issued a cafe card which will allow them to receive a meal from local restaurants and businesses. In Afton, that would be The Roost, but other restaurants in the area will also accept the card, including A&G in Creston, the Wagon Wheel Cafe in Tingley and the Dugout Cafe in Orient.

With the cafe card, every meal will add up to a monthly bill, with a max of five meals per month. On July 1, those on the cafe card program will be re-registered to the program and scored through state regulations. Individuals with food insecurity will have the option to receive more meals through the program.

In comparing the two programs, the cafe meal typically receives more contributions per meal. At the congregate sites, the average meal would receive contributions of $2.20, while the cafe meal program receives $4 per meal. The cafe program is voluntarily paid.

Connections knows closing the site is a tough decision. CEO Kelly Butts-Elston said they don’t like closing access to these services, but protecting core services is essential.

“We keep asking, is this the best that we can do? There’s got to be a better way,” Butts-Elston said. “The budgets that our appropriations are being cut out of are pretty tight themselves. ... There’s very little wiggle room and I don’t know when that’s going to change, but I keep trying to preach and I keep trying to educate that you can either help assist these folks on the front end where it’s less expensive or on the back end when they’ve expended all of their resources.”

Afton’s meal site will stay functional under different leadership. The city council agreed to fund $5,000 of a new program to be organized by the Afton Development Corporation, which will cover about half a year’s cost. The community center will remain the site for meals.

In other Union County news...

Union County adopted a new ordinance covering industrial property tax exemptions following a public hearing. Due to no public comments, the board of supervisors approved waiving additional readings.

The ordinance will authorize partial property tax exemptions for certain classes of industrial property, such as new construction or expansions to industrial real estate, research-service facilities, warehouses, distribution centers and machinery/equipment. Supervisor Rick Friday was positive discussing the new ordinance.

“If industry wants to expand or grow or come to Union County, they have an exemption there,” Friday said.

Union County Engineer Christian Boehmer presented the Joint RCE grant and the CRISI grant application agreement. Union County, alongside Clarke, Lucas and Monroe counties, will take part in an Iowa DOT-led corridor study for railroad crossing elimination and rail safety improvements on the BNSF line. The county approved the agreement.

Veterans Affairs Director Gary Gelhaye submitted the resignation of Sharon Moffitt from the board, which the board accepted. The board will advertise for the opening, with the expectation of an influx of new applications now that state law has approved the acceptance of National Guard members to the board.

July 11 at Jim’s Sanitation will be the site for Top Notch Fireworks’ last show of the season, approved by the board of supervisors. The show will use excess inventory not used during the holiday’s slate of shows.

Union County appointed Dr. Joshua Capson to be Deputy County Medical Examiner. The request came from the current medical examiner, Dr. Lonnie Miller.