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Trumbull commissioners restore meals to West Farmington, Johnston senior centers
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The Trumbull County commissioners approved a six-month program that will keep a meals program for senior citizens open in West Farmington and Johnston Township.
Diane Jurkovic, administrator for the county’s senior citizen levy, said legislation the commissioners approved this week provides money for the two centers so people who formerly provided the meals as employees of the Trumbull County Office of Elderly Affairs can provide the meals at the two sites as employees of the centers.
The county will now pay half of the labor cost of the employees, Jurkovic said. The arrangement will be re-evaluated in six months.
The Office of Elderly Affairs formerly ran the meals programs at the centers, but the office was spending $195,000 more than it was allotted in its budget, so the commissioners and the office moved the meals programs from several sites to reduce spending.
In mid-December, the commissioners said they were moving the meals from centers in West Farmington, Newton Falls, Johnston and Kinsman to SCOPE centers in Cortland, Howland, Lordstown and Warren because SCOPE would allow the programs to be operated there rent-free.
They also said some of the meal programs were used by only a small number of people, and the SCOPE centers provided more activities for seniors to enjoy than some of the existing sites.
But after the changes were announced, the commissioners received complaints and had meetings with the affected senior centers to find solutions.
Jurkovic said the changes enacted so far have cut about $50,000 of the overspending by elderly affairs. The meals programs at the Newton Falls and Kinsman sites remain closed, Jurkovic said.