Council on Aging Board

SALEM COUNCIL ON AGING Minutes of Regular Meeting Date and Time: February 19, 2020 at 5:14 P.M. Meeting Location: Board Room, 401 Bridge Street Members Present: John Russell (JR), Julie Carver (JC), Abigail Butt (AB), Elaine Heredeen (EH), Alice Williams (AW) by telephone Members Absent: Lynda Coffill (LC, Chairperson), George Barbuzzi (GB), Donna Clifford (DC) Also Present: Teresa Arnold, (TA, Director of the COA) Clerk: Kathleen Fitzgerald Meeting Called to Order EH calls the meeting to order at 5:14 P.M. Motion made by JR to approve the January Minutes, seconded by AB and passes unanimously. Old Business: Board Recruitment: TA said the Board was looking for diversity and a woman from the Latino community as had been suggested. However, she has been unable to be reached. TA advised that she spoke with a member of the Philipino community who had been interested, but then changed her mind. TA said Dominic Pangallo shared the names of two people and one will be presented for the current Board vacancy and the second when EH resigns. TA advised that the Mayor will present the name at the next City Council meeting for the current vacancy. AW said she was speaking with a woman who is a teacher in Salem who might be interested. TA said she should apply. -1- AB advised that the goals of a Board should be to look for people who will support TA’s vision. She further stated that the Board obviously wanted more diversity, but that it would be great to have someone with a social work background. JR asked if Conrad Prosniewski was the Board’s liaison. TA said yes and advised that she had spoken with him. He is away for the current meeting but plans to come to the March meeting. She said even if he could not attend all of the meetings, showing support would be great. Although LC was absent from the meeting, TA presented a memorandum from her with an update on rental assistance for elders. LC met with Amanda Chiancola, Cathy Hoog and Deb Tucker from the Salem Housing Authority on February 3rd. She stated in the memorandum that the Salem Housing Authority has agreed to partner with the Board to apply for CPA funds. TA stated that all of AB’s advice in this area was extremely helpful. Amanda offered to write the grant proposal which will include a senior and local preference. The Salem Housing Authority will assist in processing applications, managing the waitlist and administering the funds. The funds will be labeled temporary financial assistance. Friends Update: JR advised that they had a new member, Chris Cavaretta. He stated he thought Chris would be a good fit as he seems to have the connections needed. He advised that the Moose was having issues and may close. They are having a fundraiser in March to see if they can recoup money to stay afloat. JR advised that they do the yearly pasta dinner and Easter dinner, but that the Friends will fund the cost of the dinner if necessary. TA advised that Rosanna Donahue had spoken with Jackie Grimes at the Moose who said not to count them out yet. JR again stated that the Friends would handle the dinners if the Moose couldn’t. JR advised that the annual appeal letter just went out and that an update of the mailing list was done by Fred Norton. JR stated that the Friends are looking at the possibility of a fundraiser for a new van and looking at dealerships for this. He said they would consider smaller vans. He said it was going to be a busy couple of months to try and turn things around. JR said he spoke with Joe Candelaria regarding pricing of a generator. Once that is received, he will bring it to Trish O’Brien and then to the Mayor regarding funding. Director’s Report: Transportation – There are vans in need of repair to pass inspection and the vans we have are aging. TA said she and Annie O’Shea would be meeting with Jenna Ide, Director of Capital Projects to discuss CIP funding. She said she was also looking at opportunities through MASS DOT and would be attending a workshop in April to learn -2- more about transportation opportunities. TA stated that she would like Annie O’Shea to attend also. The dispatcher position has been posted. It will be a part-time position of 19 hours per week with a salary of $17.00-$20.00 per hour funded by the EOEA formula grant. TA further advised that on March 25th the COA will host a morning coffee with Annie O’Shea and Rosanna Donahue to talk about changes to the transportation schedule and the need to register in advance for transportation to special events. A new schedule will be implemented of set times for afternoon return trips from the COA. There will be one after lunch, one at 1:00 P.M., and one after afternoon activities. By having this set schedule, transportation will be more efficient. JR asked if there was a voucher program in Salem which you could give to seniors for taxi rides. AB said it would be wildly expensive. Social Services – There will be a tribute to our social workers on March 11th at 9:30 A.M. TA encouraged Board members to stop by. Nutrition: Sam Hunt from ROOT will be providing a proposal as well as Sara Osborne from Bass River for alternative meal choices. We are awaiting pricing to see what is feasible. Both organizations are interested in piloting alternate meals. AB asked EH how the salad bar at the Beverly COA was doing. EH said it was doing very well and that a lot of people come just for that. AB said soup and salad would be very simple and nutritious. TA said she would like to speak with EH about the grant received in Beverly. TA advised that she had met with the Nutrition Manager from North Shore Elder Services as well as her boss from Merrimack Valley and that they are looking at what other local services are available for congregate meals. Activities/Programs: The Spanish speaking Memory Café will move to Charter Street where there are a fair number of Spanish speaking residents with some degree of memory challenges. Coordination is ongoing with the resident service coordinator regarding exercise, health and wellness programs. TA advised that it is budget season and that the hourly wage of drivers needed to be raised. She said she would be speaking with Trish O’Brien and Annie O’Shea about this. AB said that we want to excel in this regard. TA said wages are based on longevity and JR said the starting hourly wage should be higher. -3- Next Board Meeting: March 18, 2020 A motion to adjourn is made by JR, seconded by JC and passes unanimously. The meeting adjourns at 5:45 P.M. Respectfully Submitted, Kathleen Fitzgerald, Clerk -4-