Council on Aging Board

DRAFT SALEM COUNCIL ON AGING Minutes of Regular Meeting Date and Time: February 20, 2019 at 5:15 P.M. Meeting Location: Board Room, 401 Bridge Street Members Present: Lynda Coffill (LC, Chairperson), George Barbuzzi (GB), John Russell (JR), Elaine Heredeen (EH), Abigail Butt (AB) via telephone Members Absent: Julie Carver (JC, Secretary), Alice Williams (AW) Also Present: Teresa Arnold, (TA, Director of the COA) Clerk: Kathleen Fitzgerald Meeting Called to Order LC calls the meeting to order at 5:15 P.M. Motion made by EH to approve the November Minutes, seconded by JR and passes unanimously. Old Business: Senior Housing Advocacy – LC advised that it had been a busy month. She went to a workshop in January held at City Hall Annex. It was a great workshop with people attending from all walks of life. They basically talked about how to stimulate affordable housing construction, what is happening in the City around affordable housing, and what we can do as citizens to bring this issue to the forefront. In order to get this kind of housing, we need people to become proactive. There is a forum on March 5th on housing at the CLC. This is to talk about housing needs in Salem and how to create more affordable housing and inclusionary housing. The Residence Overlay Ordinance was sent to Committee and the Council decided it would send it to the Committee on Ordinances which is meeting on February 26th at 6:00 P.M. LC stressed that we needed voices there. This will allow properties like St. James School and St. Mary’s School to implement zoning changes and allow for buildings to be developed. The CDC is very interested in developing both properties. The CDC had a meeting with the neighborhood who is not opposed to senior housing. JR said there actually is a lot of opposition to this. LC said our voices need to be heard and -1- thinks it is a very important to be at this meeting. People are looking at places in the city to build, but there is a lot of wetlands and ledge. AB said part of what is missing is bringing unwanted people in, but really it is about keeping valuable people in place. JR stated that the same people against all of these things are saying we are driving all of our families out. AB said it is important not to have families vs. seniors. TA advised that the Housing Committee for Salem for all Ages meets tomorrow. New Business: Friends Update - JR advised that this is the time of year that mailing is going out to all seniors, but we need to find a way to reach others and not just seniors. He suggested donations could be put towards a wall or bricks on the walkway showing donations. JR advised that the Parker family donated a baby grand piano to the CLC and the Friends paid $500.00 to move it and $300.00 to tune it. This one will be in the Great Room and the other piano will be moved. LC asked TA if she met with someone about writing grants and TA said she met with Lore Cody about budgets and where we could use help. Laurie said she would come in again for another meeting. The hope is that she will become a member of The Friends. LC asked the Board what they thought about asking SATV to film Board Meetings. AB said she would prefer not to and it was stated that people on the Board may be hesitant to say certain things if they knew they were being filmed. JR suggested that if there was an interesting subject on the agenda that this might be a good way to let people know. LC asked about Care One and said she was wondering if we could approach other places to come in and sponsor programs. GB advised that a lot of facilities are underfunded, that there are not always funds to donate and that a large percentage of people are on Mass Health at Lafayette. JR suggested reaching out to area gyms about conducting classes. Director’s Report: TA presented an article which appeared yesterday in The Boston Globe. She also advised that Trish O’Brien is advocating for salary equity for CLC staff. TA advised that all Board members need a salem.com email address as they cannot use their personal email address for Board business. Transportation – In January, there was a total of 1,618 rides -- 387 rides to medical appointments; 81 rides for employment; 489 for shopping/errands; 576 to COA and 85 miscellaneous rides. This isn’t the year for a full-time driver and dispatcher, but the groundwork is being laid. Roger Fruggiero has started as a new driver and it is working out well. There is currently one opening for a part time driver for 18 hours per week. JR asked about volunteer drivers and TA said she hasn’t seen anything on that. JR stated that there was talk several -2- years ago about this and that he had spoken with Beth Renard who said it was okay as long as they were trained. TA advised that there was a new van on the road this week which came from CIP funds and that there were now seven vans running. JR asked if we have looked at Salem Voc to do repairs which they would do for free. TA said that was a great suggestion. North Shore Physicians Group: Heart Health: The next lecture in the series will be on March 12th at 6:00 P.M. TA advised that she went to the North Shore Community Health Network grant listening session. We are partnering with the North Shore Community Health Center and offered a Letter of Intent for a grant to have one of their clinicians based here to offer counseling. Massachusetts Association for the Blind will be getting back in touch to see if we can host a support group for vision impaired seniors. Social Services – March is National Social Workers month. On March 14th at 9:45 A.M., we will be hosting an event for Sharon Felton, Lynne Barrett and Joe Ericksberg. 299 seniors over 60 were serviced 634 times and 12 under 60 serviced 30 times in January. Next Board Meeting: March 20, 2019. A motion to adjourn is made by JR, seconded by EH, and passes unanimously. The meeting adjourns at 6:05 P.M. Respectfully Submitted, Kathleen Fitzgerald, Clerk -3-