By Paul Garrod
Staff Writer
PAW PAW – With the August passage of a millage request to develop a Paw Paw Township Senior Activity Center, Paw Paw Township officials are currently working on a program designed for Paw Paw seniors that is slated to begin in January of 2023.
The program will replace a similar program offered in the township for the past 12 years by Senior Services of Van Buren County. Paw Paw Township Treasurer Lisa Zinkil said that township officials were faced with a millage request from Senior Services of Van Buren County of one mil for eight years, which would have generated approximately $2.2 million during that time. In the first year, it would have raised an estimated $268,594. Zinkil said that request doubled the previous request from Senior Services of Van Buren County of .5 mil for four years. “We, as a board thought that was a lot to ask for the approximately 250 Paw Paw Township residents who use their program. “It was stressful for the township to be asked “all or nothing” from Senior Services of Van Buren County. We had to look at the township as a whole,” said Zinkil.
Senior Services of Van Buren County will end its lease of the Paw Paw Senior Center early at Freshwater Community Church, effective Sept. 2, with the remaining one month to vacate (by Oct. 1) the space, taking with it Paw Paw Township taxpayer paid items, according to township officials. Paw Paw Township funding to Senior Services of Van Buren County will continue to Dec. 31, with funding for the new township program scheduled to begin Jan. 1, 2023. Paw Paw Township residents may attend any of the other Senior Services of Van Buren County activity centers through the end of 2022. Paw Paw Township officials said they will be tasked with basically starting over in purchasing items for the new program. Township officials are currently in the process of purchasing a building that will be used for the new program.
Zinkil said as the new program begins, the township will need the support of the community and volunteers. Monthly meetings for the new program will begin in September, with plans to form a Paw Paw Township Seniors Committee. Interested individuals are asked to call Zinkil or Paw Paw Township Clerk Rebecca Payne at the Paw Paw Township Hall, (269) 6574340.
According to Senior Services of Van Buren County, 12 area townships and cities approved using their services, following approval on the August ballot. They include the townships of Arlington, Bloomingdale, Columbia, Covert, Decatur, Geneva, Porter, and South Haven; and the cities of Bangor, Gobles, Hartford and South Haven.
Bangor Township will have the issue on the November ballot. Waverly Township is undecided.
Areas that will not have Senior Services of Van Buren County, but may have their own program that was on the August ballot or upcoming November ballot include the townships of Almena, Antwerp, Hamilton, Lawrence, Paw Paw and Pine Grove. Hartford and Keeler townships were unknown.
According to a Senior Services of Van Buren County newsletter, the new senior center in South Haven is being funded by donors, and not by millage dollars. Tax dollars are used to go back to the seniors through programming such as activities, care coordination, meals, medical transportation, ramps and more. The one mil increase reflects the increased number of seniors being served, now 13,000 in the database, up from 8,000 five years ago. Increases have also been experienced in supplies, transportation, food and emergency assistance, and additional staffing.
According to Senior Services of Van Buren County, the one mil is “substantially less” than millages in a Van Buren County resident’s community.
