Senior Affairs Commission

ROSE CITY SENIOR CENTER 8 Mahan Drive, Norwich, Connecticut 06360 (860) 889-5960
fax: (860) 885-1160 SENIOR AFFAIRS COMMISSION Meeting of April 20, 2015 Members in Attendance: Chairperson Olive Buddington, Regular Member Michael Lahan, and Alternate Members Frank Jacaruso and Jan Stewart. Absent were: Vice Chairperson Gen Bergendahl, Secretary Margaret Aldrich, and Regular Member Jacquelyn Randall. Attending staff member were Lee-Ann Gomes, Mike Wolak and Anne Barriere. Chairperson Olive Buddington determined there was a quorum and called the meeting to order. Minutes: The minutes from 03-16-15 were approved as submitted. Communications: Mike shared a note from CSEA #403 that included a donation of $350 for use of the Dining Room for their monthly meetings as well as a note and donation from a senior who used Med Ride II for transport to Yale, New Haven. Human Services Report: Lee-Ann updated the Commission on the progress of the Community Center Exploration Committee. They have visited other community centers in the state including Mansfield Community Center and East Lyme Aquatic Center. Acknowledging the limited funding available, the direction the Commission is now heading toward is for just an Aquatic Center. As many services and activities originally included in the design are currently available elsewhere in the City, it makes more sense to focus on those that are not. There are several fitness businesses and meeting places available throughout the City. The short list for the final location is now focusing on the area on both sides of the Senior Center (which would mean relocating the skate board park and the basketball courts), or somewhere on the 26 acres of land down the road that is part of Kelly Jr. High. Enclosed is a copy of the last meeting minutes of the Exploration Committee. The Aquatic Center would include a therapeutic as well as standard lap pool. It could be used by area school swim teams, seniors, and swim classes for the general public. Also a large meeting room would be included that could be rented out for weddings, proms and other private functions. Two models include the City operating it with their own staff or to sub-contract it out to an outside company. East Lyme subcontracts their operating services but Mansfield recommended against that as we would loose control of quality of services. There are ample opportunities to rent out time and use of the facilities to offset any City expenses. Sources and rates could vary for Norwich residents and non- residents and some therapy services may be offset by private insurances. A fair amount of traffic that now uses facilities further away is also foreseen. To use this space or that of the Senior Center for night or weekend events the sponsors would have to put down a large deposit, show a certificate of insurance and if using the kitchen, have in attendance someone who is a certified food operator. In addition, after each group leaves City Maintenance would arrive and make sure the facility is clean and ready for the next working day. The City is currently in the process of working out having the Rec. Dept. come under Human Services. Should that happen, we are trying to advocate that the maintenance staff who currently work there would stay rather than the City promoted idea of them reporting to Public Works. It is strongly felt that by keeping them with the Rec. Dept. and under Human Services, they can maintain the whole area which will include the grounds at the Senior Center. This would include the after-hours activities proposed above. With this support in place we could actively look for opportunities to generate revenues at the Senior Center. Funds received would hopefully be held in a separate account to directly offset the added maintenance and depreciation costs. If anyone has ideas, suggestions or concerns, please come and speak to the Committee. Our deadline is to present final recommendations by June or this could be the fourth time that Norwich has proposed a Community Center and nothing has happened. The proposed budget for the Senior Center looks great and includes a new van that has been included in our capital plan. The only unexpected thing that Josh and the City Manager did was to split the Receptionist position to be shared between the Senior Center and Human Services. That was not something Lee-Ann asked for and would create a hole in the staffing at the Senior Center. Reception needs at Human Services are being filled from several sources which include a TVCCA elder worker, a part-time volunteer, and an employment specialist who went from part-time to full-time and will also help cover Mondays and Fridays. Lee-Ann has been actively working to get this change removed from the proposed City budget. Lee-Ann also mentioned that all City departments have been asked by the Acting City Manager to compile statistics on work flow. For the Reception area this would mean keeping track of not only incoming phone calls but how many people visit the window. Senior Center Report: Invitations have gone out for our Annual Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast on May 5th @ 9:15 a.m. No new news on the upcoming renovations. We are waiting to hear from the architect and the City engineer. Included in the work will be the repaving of the south parking lot, finishing the roof, install all new HVAC units, fix all window seals, some painting as needed, and new flooring throughout much of the building. Another item will be the dividing of the ceramics room into two spaces so that the Hairdresser will have her own space. This will allow use of the other area even on days she is working. The deadline for completion is around September. We are not sure if we will have to close the building to the public for some of the work but will let everyone know as soon as we do. It was also mentioned by members that the efficiency of the wind turbines was in question as they don’t seem to move consistently. Some days they move with only a little wind and some very windy days, they don’t move at all. Chairperson’s Report/Legislative Report: None. Old Business: Jan expressed disappointment that the Commission has still not received a response to their letter sent to the Charter Revision Commission. It was further noted that it took five months and multiple phone calls before the City Manager responded to their letter last year. Mike agreed and added that while members of the many commissions throughout the City are expected to work for the betterment of their areas it doesn’t bode well when the City doesn’t respond to their feedback or inquiries. Whether or not the efforts of these commissions, which are required by City Charter, are taken seriously is in real question. New Business: None. Next Meeting: Monday, May 18, 2015 at 9:00 a.m., at the Rose City Senior Center. Respectfully submitted, Margaret Aldrich / acb Margaret Aldrich, Secretary MA/acb Regular meetings of the Commission are scheduled on the 3rd Monday of Mar/Apr/May and Sept/Oct/Nov