Bath Township ‘beginning’ conversation on senior services future
BATH TWP., Mich. – Officials in Bath Township say they’ve begun a conversation about the future of the municipality’s senior services advisory board and center.
It’s happening as some officials report an increase in seniors availing themselves of services such as meals. The center’s bingo and card nights are also seeing a spike in attendance. Some of the seniors aren’t residents.
The U.S. Census reports that 16.8% of Bath Township’s residents are age 65 and over.
Bath Township’s elected officials began a discussion Monday night about the future and structure of the Senior Citizen Advisory Board. Key to the future shape of the board: what can and how much can the body do?
Judith Gardi is a member of the Bath Township Senior Services Advisory Board.
“There’s nothing in the world that we want more than to be successful and participate in the growth of the senior center,” she said to 6 News.
The Senior Services Advisory Board has been empaneled since 2009 and guides the community’s senior population’s needs, including the use of the senior center.
Monday’s special board meeting was called after Gardi requested a re-evaluation of the goals for the advisory board as well as a need for a larger senior center. She says the center’s three days a week lunches serve more than 90 plates.
“We’ve actually outgrown the kitchen and to keep up with growth and the programs and services, need to expand the kitchen or the dining room,” she says.
Other advisory board members and local seniors concurred with Gardi’s assessment.
During an hour-and-a-half discussion Monday night, the township superintendent was tasked with providing a review of the advisory board’s structure, as well as the programs delivered by the senior center. The strategic plan for the senior center and advisory board will also be reviewed.
Bath Township Supervisor Ryan Fewins-Bliss says the re-evaluation of the Senior Services Advisory Board’s role in the community will be ongoing.
“We’ll keep talking,” he says. “We’ll keep thinking about this. Ultimately, I know everyone in this room cares deeply about Bath Township and deeply cares about our seniors. We just don’t exactly agree on how to move forward.”
Despite calls for an expansion of the Senior Center, he says there are no proposals or other line items in the township budget to finance such a project right now.
Fewins-Bliss says he understands Gardi’s frustration but says there’s much more to follow the review.
“This, obviously, has to come back to us,” he says. “If the superintendent decides she wants to do a restructuring of the committee of the staff, that has to come back to us. Again, this is only the beginning. This isn’t the end.”
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