Council on Aging

City of Chicopee Council of Aging December 13, 2022 . Members Present: S. Tawrel, S. Gelinas, S. Michalik, K. Rousseau, K. LaBreck, H. Lenart, C. Gemme, L. Houle, M. Rider, L. Lavoie, D. Naumchick, M Rider Staff: S. Manyak Guest: Cindy Powers, Stan Walczak I. Call to order o The meeting was called to order at 4:45pm. There was no request to record the meeting. II. Public input Stan Walczak provided an update regarding the Friends of the Senior Center. He recognized the good work that has been done in the past by Al Picard and Steve Michalik. Membership has grown from 85 to 145. The final payment on the center has been made to the city. The Wilkins patio dedication was well received. The family gave $40,000 for the patio in addition to donations from the Tawrel and Lapollo families. Fundraising through the gift shop and many other activities help to support activities for the center. The Chamber of Commerce held an event at the center, and they were encouraged to provide sponsorship to the center. They plan to hold their annual breakfast at the center. III. Review of minutes A. Minutes were reviewed and accepted from November 8, 2022. IV. Business Reports A. Executive Director Report - The executive director’s report was circulated to the group for review. ▪ The numbers for the lunch program were reviewed. There were 1600 meals in October with a profit of $1000. The price was increased to $3.50 due to increases in food costs. ▪ Over 700 meals were distributed for Thanksgiving  ▪ A car has been purchased through support from Senator Gomez. The car is in Worcester, but it was shipped without a transmission. Because this was a state grant the center may not be able to carry the money past 6/30/23. It is hoped the issue is resolved and the car is received before that time. ▪ Bright Nights was organized through RiverMills. Two buses are going today 12/13 and two on 12/14. ▪ RiverMills has received an $8000 MCOI grant to help market what is available at the Center. A new commercial will be filmed with Telecom to be advertised on WWLP. ▪ Sign-ups for the holiday dinner on 12/20 are still open for grab and go. The meal will be prime rib. ▪ Staff holiday lunch on 12/19, funded by the Friends of RiverMills. ▪ The staff will be preparing the breakfast for the Chamber of Commerce B. Café ▪ Sherry reported there was a $1700 profit for November despite being closed for three days. ▪ There will be some extra prime rib meals left after the holiday dinner that will be available to purchase. C. Fiscal Reports ▪ The fiscal reports for November were distributed to the group for review. Some of the salaries are running low but will switch to the Formula grant for the remainder of the year. ▪ The fiscal report was unanimously accepted by the group. D. Friends of RiverMills ▪ A quarterly budget for the activities/needs was provided to the Friends group. This will help in providing this additional support to the center. E. Maintenance Department ▪ Heating issues have returned with the cold weather ▪ A full-time maintenance director has been hired for all of the city buildings and will start December 19th  ▪ It was 55 degrees downstairs on Monday and 63 on the second level. Sherry contacted the mayor about the issue. Support was sent immediately so the heating is much improved. ▪ A new control panel is needed to correct the issue. F. Staffing ▪ The center is fully staffed although one person is on LOA and another on FMLA ▪ The transportation coordinator has started and is performing very well. H. Festival of Trees ▪ The festival of trees was very successful with 21 trees. One person won 2 trees. It went very smoothly, and people enjoyed having the trees out for display. New trees need to be obtained on clearance after Christmas. G. Holiday Dinner ▪ The evening holiday meal will include dancing in response to a participant request. The next dance will be Valentine’s Day. ▪ A question was raised about whether there has been an increase in participants. Sherry noted that since the commercial came out there have been 350 more members over four months. H. Miscellaneous ▪ A question was raised about the accordion wall and the refrigerator. Both have been repaired. V. Meeting adjourned at 5:15 pm • Next meeting is January 10, 2023. Submitted by Karen S. Rousseau