Finance Committee Recommends New Vans for Meals on Wheels

The city Finance Committee Tuesday night recommended two purchases: 1) two new vans for the Meals on Wheels program, and 2) a canvas canopy storage building for the city’s crime van and other police department vehicles. The recommendations will go before the City Council for a vote on Monday, October 3.

John Hogarth, Director of the Meriden Senior Center, said the two 2012 cargo vans considered for purchase are needed to replace a 1997 Dodge Caravan and a 1999 Chevy Venture that have body problems and mechanical issues. “We’ve gotten good use out of them,” Hogarth said. “We’ve had them for a long time.”

Meal on Wheels currently has a fleet of five vehicles that deliver affordable meals to the homes of senior citizens. Volunteers deliver about 100 meals each weekday and 30 to 40 meals a day on weekends. The program has operated in Meriden since 1973.

The Finance Committee voted to transfer $7,000 into the city’s capital equipment account to purchase the vans and use $15,000 from the drug asset forfeiture fund for the storage building.