HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-12-14 Council on Aging Minutes4
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Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
Council on Aging
Date: 2015 -12 -14
Building: Pleasant Street Senior Center
Address: 49 Pleasant Street
Purpose:
Attendees: Members - Present:
Time: 6:30 PM
RECEIVED
TOWN CLERK
REAOING. MASS.
iUTA MAR IS P I: 25
Location: Great Room
Session: General Session
Thomas Procopio, Sally Hoyt, Jolyn Ek, Steve Oston, Margaret Havey,
Marilyn Shapleigh, Kevin Walsh, Brian Snell, John Parsons, Pooja Parsons
(Associate Member), Jane Burns (Admin)
Members - Not Present:
Sandy Shaffer, Cara Leonard(Associate Member)
Others Present:
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Marilyn Shapleigh
Topics of Discussion:
Call to Order: 6:30 by Thomas Procopio
Acceptance of Minutes from 11/18/15 - A typographical error was noted in the date. It
should be 11/18/2015. Also, "Council on Aging" should appear in the heading. Approved
with these changes.
Elder Services November Report (Admin): Presented. A request was made that future
reports break out the Reading Road Trips as a separate line Item. Jane Burns indicated that
this would be done going forward. Report accepted.
Financial November Report (Admin): Report presented and accepted
MVES Update: Jane Burns attended last month's meeting. MVES was voted as one of the
top 30% of great places to work in the Boston Globe Magazine survey. Seats are still
available for January 2P Belly full of Laughs to raise funds for Meals on Wheels. Also raffle
tickets are for sale. Sara Schad (Integrated Program Manager, supporting adults with
disabilities who are in the OneCare Program) spoke.
Old business:
Nurse Advocate Update: Alyse Warren started. She's excellent and has already had a
positive impact.
Thanksgiving Meal Delivery Review: Everyone who received a meal was very happy. The
goody bags that were delivered were also a big "hit ". Some recipients had a hard time
hearing their doorbells, but all meals were delivered.
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Future Center Space Planning: Jane Burns presented a quick review of the Mass Council on
Aging presentation on Senior Center Design - Feasibility Study & Design (presented by John
Catlin at the Mass Council meeting). The objective for the meeting was to get the
conversation started. Results of the survey are expected to help define Reading's
anticipated needs.
Window Treatments for Great Room - Funding Request: Two options for were considered.
A vote was taken in which 5 members favored the vignette, 2 favored the driftwood. A
motion for $4600 from Burbank to purchase the Vignette shade was made by Thomas
Procopio and seconded by Steve Oston. Hunter Douglas warranties the work and will do the
installation as part of the included price. Vote was 7 in favor, 1 abstained.
Boston North Regional Coordinating Council: No meeting this month.
Senior Energy Grant Update: No update. We'll discuss next month.
New Business:
New Year's Eve - Funding Request: This was addressed in November's meeting.
Christmas Meal Delivery: Drivers are needed on Christmas Eve day at 11:15 at the Reading
Market Basket to pick up and deliver 35 meals. Several members volunteered to help.
Senior Center Statistics: A review of current practices indicated that HIPPA regulations time
out the center's computer screens if they are not saved frequently enough. As a result,
information about some social services clients is being lost. Similarly, the current paper
based system of recording the names of people who use the Senior Center fails to fully
® capture participation.
Jane has researched touchscreen technology that the majority of local senior centers have
adopted to capture participation data, and she distributed a Flyer on myseniorcenter
touchscreens. The myseniorcenter touchscreen system would prompt visitors to scan an ID
card or type in their name. This would produce a more comprehensive tally and improve
efficiency and accuracy of data collection. There are two options: touch screens with ads
that appear when idle vs. touch screens without ads. The town is open to funding this, but
wants the COA's endorsement. The ads are solicited by myseniorcenter. The decision will
go to town meeting in spring. The statistics would be Incorporated in Jane Burn's annual
report to the state. Keytags would be provided. It is expected to appeal to the "younger
senior ". It would also eliminate the reams of paper which currently get stored for 3 years to
document participation.
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A vote was called: 7 voted in favor of going with touchscreen technology, 1 abstained.
A second vote was called to assess preference for Regular vs. Sponsored options. The vote
was 5 in favor of regular, 2 In favor of starting with a 1 year contract for sponsored to see
how it goes. The COA endorsed the touchscreen technology. The consensus is in favor of
the regular model.
Adjourned at 8:21. John Parsons moved to adjourn. Thomas seconded.
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