Some Senior Monongalians invited The Dominion Post to their senior center recently to air concerns about an aging shuttle bus, food they consider “terrible” and a possible invasion of privacy in the center’s main gathering area.
Asked about these concerns, officials said two are beyond their control while the third is simply a misconception.
The concerns are not universal among the seniors — one person said, “What problems?” — and most of those who spoke asked not to have their names published.
But Joy Swain was willing to put her name behind her complaints about Mountain Line bus 116. Senior Mons contracts the use of this bus to shuttle seniors to and from the center.
“The buses they give us are really not very safe,” she said. She spoke in the plural but spoke chiefly of No. 116. It leaks, she said. It’s rusty, has a bullet hole in a window and broken seats with worn springs and padding.
New Senior Mons board President John Williams — he also represents the 51st District in the House of Delegates — said, “That’s a situation I’m aware of.” But he spoke with Mountain Line, and it isn’t an easy one to resolve.
“I’m going to continue looking at that with everyone on the board,” he said. “We can’t have seniors on a bus freezing cold.” Or scorching hot in summer.
Mountain Line General Manager Dave Bruffy put the problem in context.
Senior Mons has a $70,000 annual bus service contract with Mountain Line. Half of that pays for a free bus pass for any Mon County resident age 60 and up who wants one.
The other half provides a shuttle bus to the center for four hours per day.
The full cost of the contract is $120,000 a year, Bruffy said, so Mountain Line subsidizes the difference.
Bus 116, he said, is an older, 12- to 14-passenger bus scheduled for replacement but not quite ready to go offline. The seniors want a new bus now, but it will be six months before the replacement arrives.
The Federal Transit Administration, he said, sets a defined period and mileage for the useful life of a bus. That’s set in federal stone.
And unfortunately, he said, there’s no alternative bus to offer. The expense of Mountain Line’s move to Westover forced it to dip into its vehicle reserves and put three extra vehicles into service.
In addition, these buses have to be built to order, and the procurement process takes time, he said.
He understands their concerns, he said. “We appreciate the service we’ve been able to provide the seniors. We want to continue to work with them.” But they’re in a bind with equipment right now.
The food
“The lunches are terrible because they won’t get a full-time cook,” said one senior who didn’t want her name printed.
Another said the meals offer too many carbs and too many sweets. “I’m a diabetic, and I can hardly eat it.”
And a third said, “It’s not suitable to eat, I think.” The menu is loaded with spinach, carrots, peas and corn. The soup has no flavor.
“I think people in jail get better food than we do,” she said.
Williams, who joined the board just two months ago, said this is the complaint he hears the most.
One cook has been away from work for health reasons, he said. “There is some understaffing in the kitchen.”
But that’s not the main reason for the displeasing menus or bland food, he said. The major reason is Senior Mons receives federal funding and has to adhere to federal dietary guidelines, which changed within the last couple of years.
It used to be that 60 percent of the meals had to adhere to the guidelines — for instance Monday to Wednesday.
“Thursday, Friday you could have hot dogs, anything that wasn’t in line with the federal guidelines.”
Now, 100 percent of meals have to fall with within the guidelines, which take into account people have different dietary needs, he said.
“It doesn’t have a lot of seasoning in it. For me, that’s a big part of why we get complaints about the food.”
Senior Mons’ meals are overseen by the state Bureau of Senior Services Northwestern Area Agency on Aging, and the menus and recipes are spelled out, Williams said.
However, he doesn’t want to give up on trying to make it better, he said. The staff is doing its best to fulfill Senior Mons’ biggest mission — delivering meals to folks at home.
“Those people really appreciate the food they’re able to get,” he said. “For a lot of these folks, having someone bring that meal is perhaps the only contact they’ll get of the day.”
During the last three months, Williams said, Senior Mons made 66 home meal deliveries per day and served 53 daily in-house. In the last fiscal year, it served 321 people in-house with 12,500 meals and 136 home clients with 23,600 meals.
The Senior Mons website explains the meal costs. At the center, those under 60 must pay $5.25. For 60 and up, a suggested donation is $2, but payment is not required. The average preparation cost per meal is $7.91.
For in-home deliveries, there is no required fee. A suggested donation, based on monthly income, is accepted to supplement the federal and state funding. For instance, the suggested contribution for someone with a monthly income of $901 to $1,200 is $3.75. The average cost to prepare one meal is $8.67 — which includes meal preparation, packaging, transportation and wages.
Spy cams
Several seniors said they believe their privacy inside the center is being violated by the cameras mounted at spots near the ceiling. The monitor room is off the adjacent hallway and a couple seniors said they accidentally entered the room and seen staff watching them.
The seniors also said they believe the cameras have microphones and staff listen in on their conversations.
Williams had little to say about that.
“There are security cameras,” he said. “There’s no one looking at them there. They’re for the protection of the seniors and for the protection of the organization.”
Whether it’s spy cams or bland food, Williams said he talks with several seniors every day, and he’s happy they’re willing to approach him with their concerns. “It’s their center. I want to know what they think.”
