Council on Aging Board

SALEM COUNCIL ON AGING Minutes of Regular Meeting Date and Time: November 15, 2017 at 6:02 P.M. Meeting Location: Dining Room, 5 Broad St. Roll Call: Members Present: Lynda Coffill (LC, Chairperson), Alice Williams (AW, Treasurer), Julie Carver (JC, Secretary), Abigail Butt (AB), Elaine Hereden (EH, Vice Chair) Members Absent: Donna Clifford (DC), Alison Thibodeau (AT), Elaine Milo (EM, City Councilor liaison to the CA) Also Present: Teresa Arnold, (TA, Director of the COA), Patricia O’Brien, (TO, Executive Director of Parks, Recreation & Community Services), George Barbuzzi, member to be appointed 12/7/17 Clerk: Kathleen Fitzgerald Meeting Called to Order LC calls the meeting to order at 6:02 P.M. Approval of the October Minutes made by LC and seconded by EH and passes unanimously. New Business: LC advised that Sharon Kearney, Secretary of Minutes, resigned due to her schedule. She is presently working on her Master’s Degree. LC suggested that Sharon be invited to the next meeting and presented with a card and thank you gift for her services for the past 7-8 years. Kathleen Fitzgerald will be the new Clerk. LC stated in her report that we got late notice that the City Council and Planning Board take up an ordinance (auxiliary apartment), and it was a mad scramble today. She talked to John and he would go to the meeting and represent the Board and LC submitted testimony. LC stated that as a Board they had a right to know what she said. Basically, she said the Board supported it and the reasons why. It is an excellent ordinance and talked about parking, single family needs, inspection, etc. She stated that a letter was sent on October 20, 2017 to the Mayor requesting her to appoint a capital campaign committee and suggested some members for that committee. LC stated that the Mayor was away for the week. TO stated that the Mayor will come to the December meeting to discuss this and advised that she also had a meeting on December 4, 2017 as well. TO and TA were invited by the Mayor and Dominick to submit a request of free cash in the amount of Twenty Thousand and 00/100 Dollars ($20,000.00) for Salem for All Ages Task Force. -1- There was a discussion about updating the website. LC stated that when the COA advertised in the spring to get approval there was Twenty-Five Thousand and 00/100 Dollars ($25,000.00) over four (4) years allocated for Salem for All Ages. Program Updates: TA gave the Director’s update. Social Services Department – Medicare Open Enrollment goes through December 7th. Lynne Barrett and Sharon Felton have assisted one hundred twenty-one (121) seniors over 60 and five (5) under 60 people living with a disability. With reference to fuel assistance, they have assisted with the application process, twenty-five (25) seniors over 60 and one (1) under 60 who are disabled. TA stated that the COA student intern, Joe Ericksberg from Salem State University, is working out well and has stated an interest in working at the Senior Center. Transportation: The extended hours have been a success with more than five hundred (500) rides to date and we are on track on break the previous record of seventeen thousand (17,000) rides this year. She stated that she wanted to plan additional trips in conjunction with the Activities Department to include shopping and medical appointments later in the day. She stated that scanners have not yet been installed due to van repairs. EH inquired how rides on the weekend were going and asked if there were a lot of people requesting rides. TA stated that she thought Fred wanted to have a Town Hall Meeting to see what people would like in terms of trips. LC stated that SATV is a way to get the word out about transportation. TO stated that there were two (2) vans and two (2) drivers on the weekend. She stated that the word was also getting out to medical personnel about afternoon appointments Nutrition: Two hundred ninety-three (293) congregate meals were served in October. TA had a meeting with other area North Shore Elder Services groups to review the new forms for reporting. Activities: Thanksgiving dinner on November 16th at Salem High School with meals provided by the Culinary Arts program. Salem Moose Lodge will be providing dinner for a number of seniors and transportation will be provided. Thirty (30) members signed up for home delivery by the Moose Lodge. A pizza party is scheduled for December 30th. TA wanted the Board to be aware of the monthly show entitled Keeping Up with the Seniors. LC asked TA how she was settling in. TA stated that she felt like one of the gang. She also stated that Sharon Felton and Rosanna Donahue led a celebration and honored John for serving on the Triad. Rob was also there and John spoke. COA building update – Mayor’s Office will come to the next meeting. TO presented a print-out (which was quite small and included in each packet). The elevator shaft is up and pouring of the concrete frame is happening. We are working in conjunction with National Grid to have the wires underground which will be a much better look. Elaine Bello is beginning some of the preliminary studies on furniture, fixtures and equipment. Completion is still on target for the end of Summer 2018. The budget will be part of the presentation next month by the Mayor’s office. Workplan Progress: LC asked that the Board look at the Workplan which was approved last month. A timetable for work to begin and end was developed. -2- TO spoke about a volunteer coordinator. Programs are out there and are web based and seniors can sign up and be connected to an area of interest. More opportunities will open up for seniors who want to volunteer once the new center is open. She stated that there are many who want to volunteer but not enough jobs for them. AB asked about having a volunteer coordinator dedicated to staffing at the Senior Center to increase volunteerism. She stated that job descriptions need to be written out so that when people come in and talk about volunteering and their interests, they could go through the job descriptions to see what was available. LC advised that we would need someone whose sole responsibility is identified and who is trained and who would help find roles for volunteers. She suggested that volunteers could run events like pizza parties. TO stated that Kathy McCarthy meets with everyone who wants to volunteer and wondered if the Board thought something was missing or something that was not happening, and if the Board thought the volunteer program was not working well. She stated that there would be sixty (60) seniors volunteering through the tax write-off program in 2018. JC stated that there were people who wanted to offer their services and needed information on how to accomplish that. LC stated how important volunteers were and that they be given priority especially when the new facility was open. She suggested having another conversation with Kathy McCarthy in January to discuss this. CLC equipment through the capital campaign was discussed. Hopefully this will start in February 2018 and continue through June. It was stated that another social worker was vital. TO stated that there would be a digital café with accessible computers and lots of other options. LC – when we see the budget we will have a better idea of what we need to go after. The Accessible Living Access Meeting will be in another two (2) weeks and we may have to go back again right after Thanksgiving. Emergency Housing for Seniors – LC stated that she thought a time frame on that is that we should start talking about it in February if nothing has been done. She stated that we need to find out if we get federal funds (City) for housing. There is a rule that says there needs to be some kind of emergency capability for vets and seniors. AB stated that what was in place now is wildly insufficient. She stated that in Beverly there were four (4) emergency apartments. TA asked if the Board would like her to set up a meeting with Diane Moses and Sharon Felton. LC suggested that maybe the place to start is the Housing Authority to see if there is anything available here in Salem. TA stated that in her last job Diane Moses was part of the group which was a fairly successful program. LC advised that the resource guide seems to be taken care of and that the public relations campaign could use another intern. It was suggested that the School of Social Work at Salem State should be contacted about this. There was no Friends update and Board vacancy status was discussed. New Member: George Barbuzzi will fill the Board vacancy position. By way of background, George stated he is currently working in Marblehead as a Nursing Home Administrator; he is a member of the Marblehead Rotary and past president of the Marblehead Chamber of Commerce among other things and was happy to be on the Board of the COA. It was stated that Alison Thibodeau has some medical problems and that was the reason she has been absent from Board meetings. LC advised that she would reach out to her. EH inquired about Donna. LC stated that -3- she was at the Board meeting last month. AB stated that if there are any future vacancies that the Board should reach out to the minority community. Other Business: AB stated that My Senior Center needs to be updated and inquired whether all volunteers are entering their volunteer hours. She also said something that has occurred to her is that there is some lack of communication at the COA. In particular she was speaking about Fred, and stated that it would have been nice if the Board knew what had been going on and stated her disappointment not hearing from senior level personnel about this. She requested that in the future the Board would like to know if personnel were leaving and would like more communication. Next Meeting: LC advised that the next meeting will be December 20, 2018 and will include only the acceptance of the Minutes and the CLC update by the Mayor. Following the Board meeting, the Board will have a small celebration of the season. Next Board Meeting: Wednesday, December 20, 2017 A motion to adjourn is made by AW, seconded by AB, and passes unanimously The meeting ended at 6:50 P.M. Respectfully Submitted, Kathleen Fitzgerald, Clerk -4-