Bath Township Seniors Seek Center

A group of Bath senior citizens are mad as heck --  and they’re not going to take it anymore.

Members of Citizens for Bath Seniors want  to find a way to fund a senior citizens center.  

Group member Pat Hopper, 65, cited U.S. Census figures, which indicate that seniors make up more than one-third of the township’s population. It’s a group that has long felt neglected by the township, Hopper said.

“They spent $500,000 to pay off the nature preserve,” Hopper said, “and $300,000 to buy the BP station property.”

“A lot of  that money comes from inheritance taxes,” another group member offered.  “We feel like we’re entitled to some of that money while we’re still here,” 90-year-old Bath Township resident Rosalie Steiner said.

“The money comes from dead seniors,” Hopper added. “Why can’t some of it go to live ones?”

Seniors said township should provide equal services to older residents

Citizens for Bath Seniors wrote a letter to township trustees in February. It stated that the city needs to “step up to the plate,” as it has to provide funding for recreation for the township’s younger residents. The letter also asked the township to pay for the cost of the group’s refreshments, photocopying and mailing expenses until a center is built. The group currently meets at Bath Church -- United Church of Christ.

“We know we can’t get a center tomorrow,” Hopper said, "but private citizens shouldn’t be expected to pay forever.”

At the meeting in February, the group was told that trustee Becky Corbett has been studying the issue and would discuss her findings when the trustees meet at 7 p.m. tonight. 

Trustee said he believes any senior center will have to be self-funded.  “That means there will have to be a levy, unless I’m missing something,” he said.

Nelson said that the nearby Richfield Village Senior Center has agreed to accept Bath Township residents for a fee of $15 per year, which entitles them to a calendar of events. All members pay extra to take part in events like bingo and tai chi.

“The membership isn’t exactly a budget breaker,” Nelson said. “And we talk about regionalism a lot. This is one instance where it would be very productive.”

Richfield pays for its seniors

Richfield Village has had its own center for 12 years, located in the old public library building.  The center is paid for with a $58,000 annual budget appropriated by council. It has a staff of four part-time employees and three volunteers.

The center started with four programs for village seniors: snowplowing, a home health alarm system, home-delivered meals and tai chi classes, said Jan Weber, who launched and runs the Richfield Senior Center.

“We had a grief group, too,” Weber said, “but it didn’t take too long to figure out that people didn’t really want to talk about loss. They just didn’t want to sit home alone.”

Weber said she has met with the Bath group several times.  “I told them we filled our village hall for every council meeting for a while before we got any attention. When (officials) looked out they saw a roomful of older people looking back at them. We just sat. We persisted. They knew we needed attention.” 

Hopper, Steiner and the other residents of Citizens for Bath Seniors say they are committed to showing their representatives that attention to older residents is necessary.