County describes cooler failure at food program and plans staffing changes for dining sites

Marquette County staff reported to the human services committee on June 9 that a 20-year-old industrial cooler at the food services kitchen suffered a compressor failure, causing staff to discard food stored in the unit, borrow a refrigerated truck from the food bank for a delivery and authorize replacement rather than repair of the cooler.

Administrators said the failure occurred early in a week when a large portion of commonly used food had already been delivered, which reduced overall losses; the department deep-cleaned the cooler area and has since repaired and monitored the new unit. Staff said losses did not meet county insurance thresholds and that replacement timing was advanced because repair was not cost-effective.

In a separate but related discussion, staff reviewed congregate meal program statistics and explained reporting categories: Title III-funded meals (Older Americans Act) versus "other NOA" meals for participants under 60 or non-Title III events. Committee members asked for clarifications on unit counts and unduplicated clients; staff explained the annual meal totals and site-level schedules.

Staff also described local dining-site staffing challenges that reduced Montello's site from three days to two days per week when a volunteer and staffing capacity disappeared. They said dining site facilitators are part-time (under 50%) and often filled by retired residents whose availability can change; to improve reliability, staff are considering moving to a staffing-pool model to provide more flexible coverage and clearer budgeting for hours and rates.

The committee was told that sites remain available to all Marquette County residents aged 60 and over and that some participants travel between sites to get more frequent meals. Staff said they will pursue revised staffing arrangements and discuss program details in follow-up meetings.