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Advisory board urges continued real milk for Meals on Wheels; council asks for cost-sharing options
Summary
The Citizens Advisory Board told council Mountain Grove subsidizes more than $15,600 annually to provide liquid milk to Meals on Wheels recipients in neighboring towns and asked to develop a tiered reimbursement plan; council asked for a poll of recipients and volunteers before final action.
Cheyenne, representing the Citizens Advisory Board, asked the council to allow the senior center to continue providing liquid (real) milk for in-center meals and Meals on Wheels deliveries while the advisory board develops a structured, tiered plan to recover costs from neighboring towns the center serves.
"Just so you guys have an idea of what that cost city of Mountain Grove, just for those other areas that we cover, it's over $15,600 a year that we're subsidizing Mansfield, Hartville, Norwood," Cheyenne said, noting mileage and volunteer time add to the expense.
Board members said volunteers sometimes report recipients do not use the milk and that some deliveries result in milk being discarded or fed to pets; the board proposed polling volunteers and recipients to determine actual usage before making a final recommendation. One council member said a poll would give useful ground-level information: "If half of them is not using it, then just tell them we're gonna give you powdered milk," a council member said, arguing the city should weigh use against cost.
The advisory board asked for council approval to dig deeper and return with options at the next meeting; the council indicated support for that approach and suggested the advisory board include cost breakdowns, mileage reimbursement and whether towns served can contribute. Cheyenne said the board will structure options and present numbers at the next meeting.
What happens next: The advisory board will perform a poll of Meals on Wheels recipients and volunteers, prepare cost options and propose a tiered reimbursement plan for council consideration at a later meeting.
