Council on Aging Board

The City of Lowell • Council on Aging 276 Broadway Street • Lowell, MA 01854 P: 978.674.4131 • F: 978.970.4134 www.LowellMA.gov Council on Aging (COA) Advisory Board Meeting Agenda Monday, March 13, 2023 at 9:00am at Lowell Senior Center I. Roll call/sign-in Present: Frank E. Baskin, Aurora Erikson, Beverly Gonsalves (recorder), Andy Hostetler (Chair), Judith Huber, Gilda James; Absent: Joyce Dastou (excused), John Lawlor, Molyka Tieng; Guest: John King II. Pledge of Allegiance III. Approval of February Minutes: Judy made a motion to approve, Frank seconded, and the minutes were approved unanimously. IV. Chairperson’s Report: Andy reported that the Age Friendly Lowell (AFL) project will be doing outreach to the Highlands Neighborhood Association and Friends of Tyler Park Group to recruit for focus-group and key-informant interviews on public spaces and other topics. He also invited Board members to attend the upcoming monthly meeting of the AFL Older Adult Action Group meeting, which will focus on reviewing interview protocols for key-informant interviews on different topics. Other activities were in relation to Board committees and are reported below. V. Director Update: The Director was unable to attend due to ongoing trainings, but Aurora Erikson attended in her place and addressed questions that came up. VI. Committee & Liaison Reports a. Outreach Committee: We briefly discussed additional groups and organizations that we might reach out to with respect to both newsletter dissemination and representing the Senior Center and older adult community at open meetings. Andy will work on compiling a list of such organizations. b. Healthy Aging Committee: Updates related to Age Friendly Lowell activities are documented above. Otherwise, activities are largely on hold until the Director, Kim, provides input on where she would like the committee to focus. One option would be to continue the work of assessing how well the Center does in fulfilling the different parts of its mission. VII. Items for Discussion a. Old Business i. Vacant board position and selection process update: No updates are available.  The City of Lowell • Council on Aging 276 Broadway Street • Lowell, MA 01854 P: 978.674.4131 • F: 978.970.4134 www.LowellMA.gov ii. Security camera update: The issue of broken/non-functional security cameras and the lack of monitoring was discussed again. Given the upcoming transfer of building ownership, this is something that will need to be dealt with through the City. Andy shared an email regarding what other departments are doing. There are separate providers used for camera installation and monitoring, and different departments pay for these services at least in part through their own funds. Andy will forward the email to Kim and Aurora b. New Business i. Frank raised the issue of Formula Grants, and encouraged members to reach out to their state representatives to ensure passage/full funding. VIII. Other: John King again raised the issue of the frequency of the dinner dances, which the Center is only able to host quarterly given staffing shortages. Attendance had also been down before the decision was made to shift to a quarterly instead of a monthly schedule. The issue of charging more for admission was suggested. John also mentioned that blood pressure screenings and other health checks haven’t been offered as frequently. This is apparently due to partner organizations not offering these services as much as they used to. IX. Adjournment: Joyce made a motion to adjourn, Frank second, and it was approved unanimously. Next Meeting: Monday, April 10 @ 9:00 AM