HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-01-18 Council on Aging Minutes Town of Reading
x' Meeting Minutes �.
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Board - committee - commission - council: 2111 SEP
21 PM54I
Council on Aging
Date: 2017-01-18 Time: 6:30 PM
Building: Pleasant Street Senior Center Location: Lounge Room
Address: 49 Pleasant Street
Purpose: Session: General Session
Attendees: Members - Present:
Jolyn Ek, Margaret Havey, Sally Hoyt, Sandy Shaffer, Marilyn Shapleigh,
Brian Snell, George Wetmore, Pooja Parsons (Associate Member), Jane
Burns (Admin)
Members - Not Present:
John Parsons, Thomas Procopio, Kevin Walsh (Associate Member)
Others Present:
Peter Carcia
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Marilyn Shapleigh
Topics of Discussion:
Call to Order: 6:37 by Brian Snell.
Acceptance of December Minutes: Minutes accepted.
Elder Services December Report (Admin): Jane Burns presented. It was noted that only
one van's mileage was reported due to an oversight. Accepted.
Financial December Report (Admin): Report presented by Jane Burns. Accepted.
MVES Report (Brian Snell): No meeting was held in December. Brian Snell reviewed some
of the major benefits derived annually from MVES for Reading, such as Meals on Wheels,
Care Management, and Home Care Services.
Old Business:
Christmas Eve Meals Recap: Jane Burns commented that, in contrast to past experience,
the quality and presentation of the meals purchased from Market Basket were disappointing
this year. Next year, other options may be considered - suggestions are welcome. Also,
the program may need to be adjusted to better fulfill its goals. The COA discussed the
possibility that it might be more beneficial to deliver a meal earlier in the month -- or later,
rather than making deliveries on Christmas Eve when many families tend to gather and food
may be more plentiful. Or, perhaps we should focus on a shorter list, targeting people who
will be alone on the holiday, and increasing the per meal expenditure to ensure high quality.
Holiday Programs Recap: For 2017, additional/early planning will be required because
Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday. Consequently, planning for the Christmas meals will be on
the COA September agenda. Easter meal delivery planning will be done in February.
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New Business:
2016IFY16 Recap: Jane Burns reviewed the Elder/Human Services FY16 Statistics
presented at the December town budget meeting, noting in particular that all trends were
up for senior center statistics. Nurse advocate numbers are way up. So far, trends
continue to be upward for FY17. Ms. Burns also reported that no staffing is being cut as a
result of the failed override, but there will be an impact at the Senior Center. One proposal
is to close visitor access to the senior center at 3:00 every day. The staff would use the
"down time" starting at 3:00 to catch up on administrative work. At the moment, most
programs are over by 3:00, so minimal negative impact is anticipated. Other options were
considered and rejected, such as charging for van rides. Charges for printing in the Senior
Center computer room are being considered.
Birthday Cards - Request for Funding: Motion to allocate $250.00 by Brian Snell. Seconded
by Sandy Shaffer. All in favor.
General Discussion regarding Council on Aging: Brian Snell and lane Burns began a
discussion on what the council should be doing. Should we continue"as is", meeting once a
month and focusing primarily on expenditure review & approval? Or is there something
more that we as a group could achieve, that may require a commitment of additional time?
• Brian Snell described North Reading's recent"services summit", which brought
together representatives from the fire, police and school departments, as well as
churches and other social service sources, to meet and identify new responsibilities
for the town to assume. Together, they focused on the common goal of serving a
wider population (e.g., a youth coordinator who would coordinate with elder services
and veterans).
• lane Burns reported that she talked with her staff about what Elder/Human Services
would like for the future from the Council on Aging. Suggestions included friendly
phone calls and/or regular home visits to elderly residents - perhaps pairing council
members up with specific people to bring them to special lunches or other senior
center activities. Another option would be to have COA members volunteer as a
greeter or hostess at center lunches to help make the meals more welcoming,
especially to newcomers, by facilitating seating that would foster new social
interactions. It was also suggested that it would be valuable to have a COA member
sitting at each table during COA sponsored events to promote COA awareness and
involvement. These types of activities could alleviate staff strain in Elder/Human
Services (which is currently working at full capacity) and allow the COA members to
become more actively engaged in senior center activities. Ms. Burns also shared an
article on the Tufts Health Plan Foundation $1.1 million grants program.
• Marilyn Shapleigh suggested balancing increased COA participation in senior center
activities with increased emphasis on the COA's responsibilities as they are stated on
the Reading Town website -- e.g., to support community education and provide
policy direction to the Town on matters related to the needs and interests of senior
citizens. Ms. Shapleigh commented that neighboring towns have successfully
undertaken major initiatives such as building new senior center facilities. She also
recommended that the COA explore potential long-term needs that might be funded
by grant programs or groups such as Friends of the COA.
• George Wetmore encouraged the COA to envision what kind of services we want to
offer decades from now, pointing to the fact that major projects often require
planning processes that are initiated long before the visions are realized. For
example, the benefits offered by Sanborn Place would not be available today if
planning had not begun in the 1970's.
• Conclusions and next steps outlined during the discussion include:
o It was acknowledged that projects of large magnitude would require additional
time that Elder Services staff can't currently support. Significant volunteer
involvement and leadership, as well as approval by the Board of Selectman,
would be required.
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o lane Burns noted that the needs assessment will be finished in June. As part of
the needs assessment, Community forums will be held on 4/19 at 1:00 and 5:30
at the senior center. COA members are asked to attend one of the community
forums. A focus group will be held on 3/7 at 4:00; the group will be small with
attendance by invitation only. Since the information from this study is expected
to "tie in" well with the COA's on-going discussion of purpose, Ms. Burns
suggested that we establish the goal of developing a new vision statement for the
Council (including big and small tasks) by fall 2017.
o Multiple COA members indicated that they are available to help with the types of
activities at the Senior Center that Ms. Burns described. In February, Ms. Burns
will give a presentation on proposed plans for COA members to become more
involved in Center activities.
o Marilyn Shapleigh will review the material provided by lane Burns regarding the
Tufts grants program and give a summary presentation to the COA in March.
Upcoming Events: COA members were encouraged to review Pleasantries for a listing of
upcoming events.
Adjourned: by Brian Snell at 8:00.
Next COA Meeting: February 13, 2017 at 6:30.
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