Agency on Aging wins crucial support
There should be no question in anyone’s mind now that the Flathead County commissioners are committed to continuing the Agency on Aging under the county umbrella.
The commissioners took three votes on Wednesday regarding AOA. Unanimously they agreed to have the county continue providing services for the senior population. They also unanimously supported a plan to relocate the agency from its leased building on Kelly Road to a new multi-use building to be constructed south of the courthouse.
A third motion instructing county staff to put together any budget amendments that may be needed to assure funding for the building project — even though the money already is in county coffers — earned a favorable nod from commissioners Gary Krueger and Cal Scott. Commissioner Pam Holmquist voted no because she hadn’t had time to study the motion, but she assured the crowd the project is moving forward.
Given that the money already has been set aside for the building, the final motion may have been overkill, but as Krueger put it: “We don’t want to have any excuse not to do this building.”
It’s important to point out that AOA will use only about half the space in the new $6 million building; other county departments will occupy the rest of it. The architects are addressing the parking in the South Campus area and how best to get trucks and buses in and out. We think the location is workable and will give the county further synergy in serving its constituents.
The discussion and votes taken by the commissioners came amid rumors that a covert movement was underway to privatize the Agency on Aging.
Flathead County has been the administrative agent for aging services since 1973, contracting with the state to provide services obligated through the federal Older Americans Act. There are several AOA programs in Montana that are operated by nonprofit organizations, but this alternative has been studied time and time again by both the local Agency on Aging and the county commissioners and it hasn’t been found to be a good fit for this area.
With Flathead County’s burgeoning senior population — U.S. Census estimates for 2013 showed that nearly one in four people in the county are 60 and older — it makes sense for the county to provide the stability that AOA needs now and will continue to need in coming years.
The county provides crucial support staff to aging services through other county departments such as human resources, maintenance and information technology. The county also quite literally puts a roof over AOA’s head and provides the agency a place to carry out its vast array of much-needed services for our seniors.
There is simply more stability in having county government involved in providing aging services than there would be with a nonprofit that relies on private fundraising for its survival. Our seniors are too important to trust to chance.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.