Trending
NEWTON FALLS -- The senior kitchen that had provided meals to seniors daily at the local SCOPE Center is closed after officials noted its license was due to expire. Meanwhile, residents bickered over the center accepting donations for the meals.
Resident Julie Lemon, who brought up the issue at Wednesday's council meeting, said she contacted the Trumbull County Combined Health District because seniors were being asked to make a donation when the meals should be free.
"I saw two weeks ago a sign sitting out there that I had questions about, so I called the health department," she said.
Resident Rick Kerlin, who submitted a letter with more than 30 signatures asking for the kitchen's return, told council that seniors enjoy hot lunches and socializing. He said there was a request for a $3 donation, but if someone could not pay they did not have to.
"The nonsense over a $3 donation is ridiculous," he said.
Kerlin said people were saddened by the closing and added no one was pressured to pay or make a donation.
He said Lemon and others tried and succeeded to stop the senior kitchen. He said he understands it was the final decision by the village to close the kitchen.
Councilmen Gideon Fetterolf and John Baryak said Lemon was "disruptive" when she came to the center.
Resident Adam Zimmermann said the village needed to have the proper permit to have a senior kitchen at the SCOPE Center. He said as many as 60 seniors came to the center for lunch.
Residents said the health district sent letters to Falls officials ordering it to be closed, with no signs posted recommending or suggesting donations.
Resident Patricia Benetis said she thought it was a great idea to give seniors a chance to get out and mingle with others and have a meal. She said despite what some have said, she had nothing to do with cancellation of the program.
Benetis said she spoke to a representative of the health district who told her that four areas needed to be corrected.
She said she was told an industrial refrigerator, which she has learned has already been purchased, and an industrial stove was needed and tile needed fixed or replaced as well as some plumbing under the sink.
OFFICIALS RESPOND
Falls Manager Pam Priddy said after Wednesday's meeting she made the decision to close the kitchen.
Priddy said the village had the appropriate license to run the kitchen but it was due to expire at year's end. She said the village already deals with other required licenses and permits for different departments,
She said she is not sure if the kitchen will reopen.
"We had a license. The health department did not shut us down." Priddy said.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business, Priddy said the planned Dunkin' at intersection of state Routes 5 and 534 will proceed as the annexation of the property from Braceville to the village is addressed. Council approved proceeding with getting a sanitary force main lateral service sewer to the property, with Kirila Contractors to do the work at $27,485.
"The project is moving forward," she said, noting total cost for the project at $47,000.
Baryak said he is not sure if groundbreaking for the project will be done this year or in 2024.
Priddy previously said the electric department had been doing wiring on Route 5 at the site.
She had said there have been concerns over the heavily traveled intersection, so she spoke with officials with the Ohio Department of Transportation on possibly lowering the speed limit there.
At a previous meeting, Priddy said ODOT officials told her they would not lower the speed limit but would make changes to the traffic signal to make people aware of the light changing from yellow to red. She said she was informed of 17 traffic crashes from 2018 to 2022 mostly caused by people running the red light.
She said Dunkin' will do its own traffic study at the location.