Iron County's aging unit stays independent

HURLEY — The Aging Unit of Iron County Board of Directors discussed a resolution regarding its status on Friday.

Would it cease to exist as a nonprofit and become a county entity as it was under the false impression it was mandated to do, or would it remain a nonprofit with closer ties to the county for oversight, or become part of a sub-department of a county department, like Human Resources?

Those were the three options available to the board as laid out by Mark Marczak, executive director of the aging unit.

At the conclusion of the Feb. 23 meeting, the board was still uncertain as to whether it was being forced to integrate by the state, which also added another half-time employee to the roles, or whether it would stay independent.

The aging unit, under Marczak and Leslie Kolesar, of Saxon, board chair, “is running real, real well,” according to former county board chairman Paul Gottwald, of Springstead.

Board members indicated it seemed a shame they would have to fold up their control and leadership to an outside entity, as they are doing so well.

Opal Roberts, of Mercer, expressed a strong desire to maintain a minimum greater oversight than the aging unit had in the past to ensure the current direction is the course the unit stays on.

Kolesar guaranteed the board and aging unit would stay legitimate and honest, but Roberts rebutted the guarantee by saying, “You can guarantee today, but you cannot guarantee the future, so it has to be in writing.”

Gottwald brought up the resolution to not integrate the Aging Unit of Iron County with the Aging and Disability Resource Center-North.

The board discussed the suddenness of the demand for integration and how it appeared difficult to trust the ADRC when it had just tried to force them to consolidate.

Marczak brought a guest speaker to discuss the actions the aging unit is taking. Linda Hand described the status as a nonprofit and how staying a nonprofit opens up considerable opportunities for grants that are not available for governmental entities.

The board voted and passed a resolution with only one no vote to stay independent, with the option in the future to come under the county if it fails to maintain its integrity and lost its way.