Active Adult Advisory Board Meeting

Regular Meeting Active Adult Center Advisory Board July 21, 2025 A rescheduled meeting of the Madison Heights Active Adult Center Advisory Board was called to order by Chair Salley, July 21, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. at the Madison Heights City Hall Building at 300 W. 13 Mile Rd., Madison Heights, MI 48071. Present: Bessler, Juska-Svoba, Patton, Ratliff, Salley, Smith and Quigley. Also Present: Center Supervisor Cowan, DPS Director Ballantine, Councilor Wright. Excused: Mowry, Topping. 19-01. Minutes. Motion by Ms. Bessler seconded by Ms. Patton to adopt the minutes from the Regular Meeting of May 20, 2025. Yeas: Bessler, Juska-Svoba, Patton, Ratliff, Salley, Smith and Quigley. Nays: None. Excused: Mowry, Topping. 19-02. Meeting Open to the Public. None. 19-03. Staff Report. Ms. Cowan updated the Board on programs that are coming up including lunch and learns, trips, classes, a Downton Abbey event and a Luau. 19-04. Maintenance Requests Mr. Ballantine updated the Board on punch list and maintenance items. The indoor lights will be repaired by the City’s electrical contractor since it is now past the warranty phase, the ceiling tiles that had water spots have been replaced. The streetlamps in the parking lot all have new bulbs. The handicap button for the bathroom is in the process of being scheduled. The dining room windows cannot have shades added since they have an angle, but Mr. Ballantine will see if more tinting can be added or some kind of window cling film to dull the light coming in. 1 7-21-25 AACAB Regular Meeting Active Adult Center Advisory Board July 21, 2025 19-05. Budget Requests Mr. Ballantine stated he will update Ms. Cowan on everything that was approved in the budget, but he did state $20,000.00 was approved for a new oven. 19-06. Unfinished Business. Ms. Cowan provided the Board with an update on information she has learned since the May meeting regarding staffing concerns, and that some of the information she had reported in May was inaccurate. The AAC was given more hours during the budget process, we could use those hours for any part time position, and we do not have to choose between front desk and drivers, our staffing can’t be so closely compared to the Library and the City’s tax rates can’t be so closely compared to area city’s tax rates. Ms. Cowan stated she appreciated that the City Manager spoke to her, took time to go over each item, explain them more in depth and correct the info she had relayed that was inaccurate. Ms. Cowan also shared that following the resignation of two front desk staff members, the City Manager approved even more hours for the AAC’s part-time staff pool. This will allow the AAC to hire another part-time front desk employee, significantly improving the staff’s capacity to complete their work. Ms. Cowan went over the advisory board election results. She congratulated Mr. Salley on being reelected and announced Kat Faulkner and Annie Brand will be new board members starting in September. She also thanked outgoing members Ms. Patton and Ms. Topping for their years of service, reminded them they can still participate in the public portion of the meetings, and she encouraged them to run again after their required year off. 19-07. New Business. Ms. Cowan reported the August newsletter is online, available at the front desk and will be mailed today. She stated there are two matters in the newsletter she would like to let the Board know about. The first is that there will be a new $1.00 activity fee for most programs that have been free since Covid. This fee was instated to hopefully encourage people who sign up for programs to show up, but it also will help offset the costs of programs, so the AAC and its sponsors won’t have to cover all the costs. The second matter is the newsletter itself. She stated the City is in the process of rebranding and streamlining the way information is shared. As part of that process, they are redoing all department newsletters. The City’s brochure will now go out to residents four times a year and will include all programming for 2 7-21-25 AACAB Regular Meeting Active Adult Center Advisory Board July 21, 2025 Recreation, the Library and the AAC, not just some of the programming. Regular city resources will now be out of the brochure and listed in a new C&G Newspaper insert. The AAC will still have a newsletter going out monthly through the end of our contract in early 2027; however, it will be much smaller, going from 20 to 8 pages. In addition, at the end of our newsletter contract the City will determine if we are going to continue a monthly newsletter or not. Ms. Cowan also stated that the newsletters will all be online and printed copies will be at the AAC and various other departments for pick up, particularly for non-residents who will not be receiving mailed copies. Staff is still working on what to do about people who pay to have the AAC’s newsletter mailed. She stated the cost would have to stay at $1.00 per issue (at least) due to the cost of the stamp and label. Ms. Patton stated she would like to bring up a few ideas. She asked if the AAC staff could have in service days like the Library where the building is closed and staff can complete training, go on visits to other senior centers to learn about their programming and just have time to clean out closets, et cetera. Ms. Cowan stated that she had already asked Mr. Ballantine about this, and he had approved in service days, contingent upon approving the plan for each in service date. Ms. Patton asked if the AAC volunteers/staff who participate in afterhours City- sponsored events could have a tent for over their table. Ms. Cowan stated the City has a certain amount of tents and that she could request a tent for each event; however receiving one would depend on how many groups have requested one. She mentioned we could purchase one; however, the volunteers/staff would need to find a way to get the tent to the event, put the tent up, take the tent down, and bring it back to the AAC. Ms. Cowan suggested she try requesting a tent for future programs to see how it goes, and if there seem to be not enough tents going forward, then we discuss purchasing one. Ms. Patton agreed that was a good idea. Ms. Patton also requested that the AAC staff have a cell phone for our day trips, so if a senior on the trip needs to contact the staff on the trip, staff doesn’t have to give out their personal cell phone number. Mr. Ballantine stated he would investigate that. Ms. Cowan also stated that a senior could always call the AAC and AAC staff would contact staff on the trip, as long as the building was open and it wasn’t an evening or weekend trip. 19-08. Treasurer’s Report. Ms. Cowan supplied the May and June’s 2025 treasurer’s reports and went over some items on the report. 3 7-21-25 AACAB Regular Meeting Active Adult Center Advisory Board July 21, 2025 Motion by Ms. Patton seconded by Ms. Juska-Svoba to approve both Treasurer’s reports. Yeas: Bessler, Juska-Svoba, Patton, Ratliff, Salley, Smith, and Quigley. Nays: None. Excused: Mowry, Topping. 19-09. Council & Administration Updates. Mr. Ballantine updated the group on road construction projects. Mr. Ballantine also stated the City received a grant to plant 150 trees, and have a contractor to perform a comprehensive tree inventory so we know what we have where, and what condition it is in. This applies to all street right-of-way and public grounds. Mr. Ballantine reported DPS has a new Equipment Operator 1 and they are at full staff. Mr. Ballantine reported that there were 25 water main breaks around the City in the last week. There was an equipment failure up the line and that put too much pressure on the system, causing the breaks. DPS crews have been working tirelessly to repair the breaks and are near done. Ms. Cowan asked if the City has to cover the cost or if the City can request reimbursement somewhere. Mr. Ballantine stated normally if it is just one break the City will cover the cost; however since this was an odd incident, staff is compiling all the associated costs and will be seeking reimbursement. Ms. Ratliff asked if there was another increase on water bills. Mr. Ballantine answered yes, and that was passed on from GLWA (Great Lakes Water Authority). Ms. Ratliff also asked if the City was replacing lead water lines. Mr. Ballantine stated they have been working on replacing them for years, so we have an early start. He believes they have around 100 left to replace. Ms. Ratliff asked how she would know if she had a lead line. Mr. Ballantine answered if the line had a knuckle type attachment it was probably lead, but if any homeowner would like their line looked at, they can call DPS to schedule a home visit. Councilor Wright stated trash cans will be rolling out the last two weeks in August and the new trash pick up will start October 1. 4 7-21-25 AACAB Regular Meeting Active Adult Center Advisory Board July 21, 2025 Councilor Wright stated there has been quite a bit of discussion in Facebook groups about City taxes and how much they have gone up. He wanted to remind everyone that the City collects taxes for themselves, but also for the county, the state and for the school districts, so not all money goes directly to the City, and that if any homeowner has a question about their taxes, they can contact the City directly. Ms. Bessler asked about the old trash cans and if the City will pick them up. Mr. Ballantine stated they will not be picked up, but homeowners can get a compost sticker from the City and use them for compost. 19-10. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 10:03 am. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, September 16, 2025 at 1:00 pm. We will have a new Board and will schedule election of officers and a new Board picture. Jennifer Cowan Active Adult Supervisor 5 7-21-25 AACAB