Council on Aging

City of Chicopee Council on Aging October 9, 2024 . Members Present: S. Tawrel, K. Rousseau, C. Gemme, S. Gelinas, K. LaBreck, L. Houle, D. Naumchick, A. Monroe, M. Rider Staff: Sherry Manyak Guest: Mike Wilk I. Call to order  The meeting was called to order at 4:52pm. There was no request to record the meeting. II. Public Input  There was no public input III. Review of Minutes  Minutes from the September 10, 2024, were reviewed. A correction to lunch entry and it should read 11:00pm. The minutes we approved with this correction.  Minutes meeting from July 3, 2024, were reviewed and approved. IV. Executive Directors report  Sherry distributed the executive directors report. September was a very busy month, and the new floor was installed.  The fall dinner was a success and was a sell out in 20 minutes.  The Polynesian Show is coming up and sold out in 27 minutes. This show is very expensive, and the center will be breaking even despite selling all the tickets.  The group commented on the nice decorations for fall around the center.  There continues to be some lunch issues, but people still start to line up very early. Saving of the seats continues to be an issue. Some of the children of participants are calling Sherry to complain. There is a  volunteer willing to be hall monitor. People are still threatening to go to the mayor.  The survey has been launched to get feedback about the lunch service. V. Café and Kitchen Revenue Report  The Café reported profits in September of 1011.96. There were 3877 meals served and 1055 tickets were sold.  The café continues to be very busy.  The coffee was changed to Jim’s Organic Coffee, the vendor for Tandem Bagel.  New coffee makers had to be purchased because the current ones are aging. This new vendor will support the new machines.  Monitoring of the kitchen has increased to help with inventory maintenance. VI. Programs  Halloween Party 10/31  Give Thanks Lunch or Dinner 11/19. There will be no to go meals.  Bright Nights for Seniors 12/4 & 12/5. There will be dinner provided and there will be 2 Christmas trees to be raffled off.  Holiday dinner 12/17.  A concert is being considered by the Young at Heart for the spring VII. Fiscal Reports  The fiscal report for September was circulated to the board.  The budget will start balancing next month so it will look more accurate once all funding has moved over.  The fiscal report September was unanimously approved. VII. New MCOA Conference  The conference is the end of the month and both Sherry and Holly will attend. The MCOA is taking the work they did for directors to share with other groups. VIII. New Program Assistant  Stephanie Turrant started recently. She will be working with fuel assistance, veterans, and a variety of other responsibilities. IX. Receptionist handbook  The existing handbook is being reviewed and updated. This will be shared with all of the receptionists soon. X. New Van  Sherry obtained a grant for 80% of the funds for a van and the center will be responsible for 20%. It is hoped that the van will be in place by the end of spring.  There is an additional van that will be funded by the budget. XI. Members One member is resigning, and the current board has 10 members. Sherry stated the full board goes up to 15 so members were encouraged to recruit new members moving forward XII. Friends of RiverMills  Mike Wilk was present to discuss the Friends of RiverMills. He has created a Facebook page for the group. People can download forms including membership. The group is in the CELD campaign for donations to the center. He has experience with fundraising in the past and hopes to share this work with the Friends group.  The Festival of Trees will be conducted once again with a goal of 20 trees. The COA board will be supporting the trees. The theme will be something tropical. K. LaBreck and A. Monroe offered to assist S. Tawrel in putting the tree together  The next meeting is 10/11/24. XIII. Building Updates  David Rice, director of facilities for the city provided an update to the group.  The new café floor was installed and now there is work to be done on the countertop.  A contract for HVAC updates has been signed and it should be completed sometime around December. There will be equal temperature control in the building.  More flooring will be replaced in the future. More of the wood look flooring will be added.   There has been a lot of work outside including new bark mulch.  The team for the building will be stable moving forward. They help with all of the events.  A new shed will be installed in the upper parking lot.  The path for the walking group will be cleared so that it is more safe.  There will be handicapped door access to installed for the bathrooms. They can’t be applied to the single stall bathrooms due to fire safety.  New lighting is planned for the reception.  There is also a plan to add cameras for police monitoring.  The Historical Commission did not support the moving of the large rocks in front of the building due to outside input. There will be an additional meeting held to discuss the matter and members are welcomed to attend. XIV. Meeting Adjourned The meeting was adjourned at 6:10pm Next meeting November 12, 2024, at 4:45pm Submitted by Karen S. Rousseau