Board members, along with resident Jerry Dignan, debated pay raises and the food spending at their monthly meeting Wednesday. While Board member Eddie Costin wanted to retroactively raise pay from the time that the board froze pay in August, other board members along with Dignan thought that it was premature and that the home needed to wait until August to see how the financial picture looked. Dignan, a candidate for Board President Andy Welch’s seat, said that money needed to be put into the building; after the meeting, he took the Sheridan Express to the roof, which he said had shingles loose. "There was water pouring into the lobby one day after a rainstorm," he said in an interview afterwards. Switching to the subject of raises, he said, "What is really going to tick people off is not eating. No way can we afford those raises."
But Costin said that we "had to do something" about the employees whom he said deserved a raise at the WCCC and that a better way to cut costs would be to do a food study to see how much food was costing the facility. Costin wanted to not allow the employees to eat the meals, do a 2-month food study, and see what the cost was for feeding the residents. "Other facilities can make it on 35 residents; why can’t we?" he asked. He also suggested cutting housekeeping to three days a week, a suggestion that was overruled by the rest of the board members. "There are so many little things that we need to do," he said.
Board members were concerned about the inflation in food prices, which would affect the center since it serves over 3,000 meals per month. Costin said that the WCCC had done it before another time when the food costs were too high and that they had saved $1,000 per month as a result. Dignan raised concerns about staff morale and Welch suggested going back and doing an estimate "so staff morale won’t drop." But Costin said that would not be a problem. "You don’t go to the restaurant and eat for $2," he said.
Acting Administrator Jozy Moyer said that she was very careful about seeing to it that food was not wasted. She said that the staff was very careful not to waste food and that she checked the break room periodically. The board passed Costin’s motion for the food study on a 2-1 vote. Wilbur Osborne voted for the motion reluctantly, calling the idea "useless." Welch thought that two months was "excessive" and that Moyer could simply produce the records for January through March, but he abstained. Kaye Havner voted against, calling it "ridiculous." Bill Calhoon was not present at the meeting. "We haven’t made anything work the last two years; we have to try something different," said Costin after the vote.
Moyer reported that the center had sent out $45,000 worth of billing within the last two months and that they had collected $30,000.
The board discussed possible grants for a new van; for instance, Albany gets a grant for a new one yearly. Currently, the lift sticks have to be let down manually and the interior is falling apart on the current van. There are possible grants for gas and upkeep as well.
Moyer said that she would look into a grant for dementia daycare, saying that she got calls about that from family members caring for elderly loved ones. She said that she found a private Alzheimer’s grant for people in the early stages of memory loss. She said that she was concerned about the workload on the staff; she said that the advantage was that it would provide a transition to full-time care.
Moyer reported that the center would be hosting a fair for National Nursing Home Week. The facility is working on printing and embroidery for new shirts and that the staff was pitching in and helping.
Moyer reported that the facility had gotten a lot of donations recently, including people who had stayed during the ice storm.
The board voted to appoint Martha Rush for the West Union position and seat her as a new board member.
Discussion returned to Costin’s idea to raise pay retroactively for workers and return to the anniversary raise system that had been used. Costin attempted to make a motion to do so, saying that it was a "bad idea" to wait for next fall. But Dignan challenged the motion, saying that Costin could not make such a motion because his wife works at the facility. Costin said that the raise would cost less than $5,000, but Dignan said the figure was closer to $15,000. There would be 17 employees who would have been affected by the move, but Costin’s motion died due to a lack of second.
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