Midway is getting older. Forty per cent of the village’s residents are over 65 and another quarter of the population is within 10 years of that benchmark. So to prepare to make the village more aging-friend, the administration is hosting a public meeting next Wednesday, June 5 at 7 p.m. at the community centre.
An aging population can mean higher demand on accessible housing, community supports and other municipal programs. In response, administration is hoping to take public feedback to grant proposals from other levels of government.
“We’re looking at a variety of things, like transportation needs for people within the community,” Mayor Martin Fromme said. “As we go through these questions, we’ll come up with a more definite look at what the needs are.”
One thing Fromme mentioned was the effort to retain an aging population in a rural community, noting that some people may feel that the services they require aren’t provided in smaller hubs.
“How can people feel good and comfortable here?” Fromme said, on what he hopes the meeting will answer. The mayor added that one of the village’s goals is to find out what it will take, service-wise, to “encourage people to stay, or to make them more comfortable while they’re here.”
“Babyboomers are still around,” said Mayor Martin Fromme. “We’re healthy, vigorous and will stay around for a lot longer.”
In addition to the June 5 meeting, Midway will host two other consultations in July and October in order to put together a report to bolster the municipality’s grant applications.
People over 55 are encouraged to attend the meetings, as well as caregivers, services providers and others interested offering feedback and suggestions for how Midway adapts to an aging population.
