Council on Aging

MEETING: Council on Aging Board of Directors Meeting DATE: April 9, 2024 TIME: 8:30 Call to order ATTENDANCE: Joe Bisol, Leslie Biggar, Pat Gallier, Judy Kane, Ray Magee, Donna Scalcione, Linda Warren, Judith Benedetto, Zelle Haesche, Trish Pope, Kathy Faddoul I. Called to order at 8:30 AM II. February Minutes and March Minutes were approved. lII. Director’s Update: 1. Area COA directors met with Trish Smith from Spingwell to discuss lack of services in our area. A major concern is the slow response time for returning phone calls once a referral has been made. The COA’s are tracking referrals. We have asked that Springwell contract with more Home Health Agencies in this area and improve the consistency of caregiver agencies. Some people who are living in city sponsered housing receive care from several different agencies. One client may have multiple agencies coming for different services and parts of care, making it difficult to coordinate care. Springwell will meet with the COA directors again in 2 months. 2. Fuel assistance has been in disarray for two years. SMOC is working on December applications. People will get their credit once their application is approved. In the meantime, the council has helped people with their fuel bills through the gift account program. The area COA directors have been working together to achieve their goals. They have reached out to state legislators regarding some of the issues. The COA directors have been working together as a team for a resolution. There was an issue with training new hires that fill out the fuel assistance forms. 3. The fitness lottery is going out next week. All of the instructors will be back. 4. The board discussed prioritizing Marlborough residents when signing up for events or programs, including exercise programs. Out of town residents will be added to the event or program after interested Marlborough residents have been added. Some senior centers give preference to their residents, and then people who live out of town can fill in empty slots. A vote was taken that “Marlborough  residents are given preference for lotteries and activities at the senior center,” and all were in favor of residents of Marlborough having priority sign up for programs and events, including exercise classes. Staff have been mistreated by people trying to join programs when they cannot sign up. Currently, for large events, Marlborough residents have priority and when signing up, people can only sign up themselves and one other person. 5. The senior tax write off program is filled. Thirty seniors are participating, and the program will start on April 16th. This year, the seniors needed to become part time city employees as a medicare tax is applied. This involves a lot of paperwork. The city is paying the tax. The $1500 credit does not count as income or affect any benefits. There are some volunteers here at the senior center in the Daybreak program who are a part of the tax write off program. 6. The senior center is working with the library to create a new policy for public computers. Board Discussion 1. Joe requested a review of the budget from Trish. Trish responded that the senior center budget is not in the city budget. Joe stated that in the past, the budget was reviewed by the council. The budget is different now than in the past when it was a part of the city budget. There is grant money that pays part of the costs. Trish states that she does not have a budget at this time, but will present the budget at a future meeting. 2. Judy Kane was nominated for the vice chair position. Judy is willing to accept the nomination but is concerned as she has been on the council for two consecutive terms. The bylaws state council members can only be on for two consecutive terms. In the past, people have been on the board for more than two straight terms as there were not enough volunteers to support an entire board. a. Section 3.3 of the bylaws designates a term as four years b. Section 3.4 of the bylaws limit a council member to two consecutive four year terms 3. A motion was made and seconded to accept Judy Kane as Vice Chair. 4. A further discussion on bylaws.  a. Pat asked if there was a bylaw that required members to live in Marlborough. b. The bylaws be amended or appealed at meetings. c. Three board members, Donna, Leslie, and Linda, volunteered to assist with suggested changes to the by-laws. Any suggestions for changes to the bylaws could be sent to them. 5. Proposed meeting dates for FY25 were presented by Joe. and accepted by the council. 6. A proposal was made and accepted to make the June meeting the annual meeting. a. A proposal to combine the July and August meeting dates and meet on July 30, 2024 and then resume the second Tuesday of the month meetings in September. 7. The new lunch program proposal has been presented to the mayor and is awaiting approval. 8. A board discussion on programs and services. a. More card games have been added b. The book club is very popular with 20-25 members. The library has access to the books in the book club and there are some copies here at the center. c. The greenhouse has no access to water. Lisa is taking care of the plants 9. A request for Mary Grimaldi to attend the next meeting to meet the board, and discuss her role. 10. Next meeting May 14, 2024 The meeting adjourned at 9:05 am