Hillcrest town hall meeting Thursday

McCOOK, Neb. -- Hillcrest Nursing Home will host a Town Hall meeting 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, to discuss the reasons for the nursing home's request for an increase in budgeted funds.

Colinda Nappa, the executive director of Hillcrest, said the purpose of the Town Hall session will be to explain to voters why additional funding is needed for the nursing home's upcoming fiscal year. "One of the major reasons is the need for a new roof," she said.

"The cost of a new roof is estimated at $250,000," Nappa said, adding: "If we can obtain funding for the quarter million dollar cost," she added, "we can qualify for a grant which will cover half the cost."

Questioned by the Gazette this morning, the Red Willow County Clerk's office confirmed with County Attorney Paul Wood that the ballot question covered one year only.

The Town Hall session will be in the west front of the nursing home, with Nappa featured as the main presenter. Hillcrest's five-member board, headed by Randy Dean as president, and the Red Willow County Commission, led by Chairman Earl McNutt, worked together to draft the Hillcrest request for additional funding.

Ballots which will be mailed to Red Willow County voters Thursday are due back by Sept. 27.

The question asked on the special ballot, which will be mailed to all registered voters in Red Willow County is:

"Shall Red Willow County Nebraska be allowed to increase its budgeted restrictive funds for the ensuing fiscal year by six (6) percent over the basic allowable growth percentage (2 1/2 %) over and above the current year budgeted restrictive fund, said increase being approximately two hundred fifty four thousand, four hundred eighty dollars ($254,480.00), for the ensuing fiscal year, for the operation and maintenance of the county-owned nursing/assisted living facility known as Hillcrest Nursing Home."

Envelopes to return the ballots to the Red Willow County Clerk, Tammy Teel, will be included with the mailed ballots. Also, if voters prefer, they may place their completed ballots in drop boxes at the Heritage Senior Center, Community Hospital, the Red Willow County Courthouse, or at the village offices in Bartley, Indianola and Danbury.

Hillcrest, which has been serving Red Willow County since 1963, has nursing home room for 100 residents, plus 10 rooms with a 14-person capacity in assisted living, and a day care center with 45-person capacity. The nursing home/assisted living center has 170 employees and income of $7 million per year.

"The new roof is urgently needed," Nappa said, "because roof repairs are currently costing us $3,000 to $7,000 per month, which adds up to $50,000 to $60,000 per year." And that total, she adds, does not count the employee time spent dealing with the problems caused by the roof leakage."