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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-12-13 ad Hoc - Reading Center for Active Living Community Minutesc Town of Reading REG L IV ED w Meeting MinutesTOWN E R K ifs �SwQ R E A D i n (: , MA. .INCO TO F-41- --- 2022 JAN 27 Phi 12: 36 Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Reading Center for Active Living Committee Date: 2021-12-13 Time: 4:00 PM Building: Pleasant Street Senior Center Location: Address: 49 Pleasant Street Session: Purpose: ReCalc Version: Final Attendees: Members - Present: Mark Dockser; John O'Neill; Michael Coltman; Ron Assini; John Parsons (remote); John Sasso (remote); Elizabeth (Betty) Walsh (remote) Members - Not Present: Others Present: Kevin Bohmiller; Jean Delios, Amy O'Brien Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Jean Delios Topics of Discussion: Meeting called to order at 4:18 p.m. (after assisting one member with a technology issue) Dockser started the meeting off by asking if the group is okay with him taking the lead until a Chair is appointed. The group agreed with that approach. Dockser next advised of the plan to go around the room and introduce people and ask for their ideas. Then he planned to introduce Delios and Bohmiller. Dockser then provided a brief overview of the Open Meeting Law. He followed by a review of the mission and discussion of meeting times. Introductions: ReCalc Members - Dockser, a member of the SB and liaison to this group. He is interested'in focusing on the older population, the 60+ age group may not be as engaged in what happens at the PSC. He wants to understand the best practices used by other communities, wants public input on needs/thoughts on what we need as a community, wants to present some ideas, and get feedback from the public, and get guidance on how to move ahead with buildings, space, and how to move ahead short-term and long-term and work with the State delegation to possibly secure grants and pursue something at November 2022 Town Meeting. Coltman, a member of the Rec Committee for 4 or 5 years, a retired engineer (Federal Govt). He is very interested in the aging in place model. Needs of the vulnerable population are of concern. Wants age group of 20 - 60 to be involved so that they can be active in their later years. Public/private partnerships are of interest to achieve the goals. O'Neill, worked in the field of Aging, was a member of the Reading COA. Worked as the Director of Somerville/Cambridge Elder Services. He has a lot of exposure to programs. He is interested in exploring why most older people don't go to senior centers? He suggested that maybe one of the keys to attracting people is that it is identified as not just a Senior facility but more of a community space. He expressed concern over negative things going on in Town so the more activities Reading can offer the better to re -build a sense of community. He continued that there is a lot of expertise in this community that could be tapped, people with tremendous backgrounds. He expressed concerns over negative Page 1 1 stereotypes of older people and that understanding disabilities is important to counter the lack of awareness and that the more we can communicate the better. He favors breaking down the idea of going beyond a Senior Center so that there are activities for everyone. Assini, resident for over 24 years - first Town activity - still working but on the back 9 of his career - tweener - Mom is 92 years old - still drives - she is not interested in the Senior Center. He likes the multi -generational approach to serving the community and indicated he wants to be part of the community and develop something. Parsons, resident for 50 years and Town Meeting member for 20 years and COA member for 9 years. Need to plan for next PSC. Sasso, member of Town Meeting lived in Reading for 25 years, served on CPDC and Master Planning committee in 2010. He wrote a letter recently expressing his perspective that there is a lot of opportunity to make improvements. He is a professional engineer who works for small companies so wears multiple hats. He recognizes that there are broad community needs but feels that there are specific senior needs. We need to balance that with other needs and other ways of looking at this and other communities experience is a great idea and important to keep in mind. Walsh, lived here since the 60's - served on the School Committee - worked as an interfaith chaplain - wanted to focus on the student pupil ratio - focus on the importance of schools and education - passionate about Reading, believes in listening to people and got to know her neighbors and listened to their stories. Some people lived alone but needed support. A member of the Reading Neighbors Network. Loves what was done before, brought people in to review and make suggestions. The biggest thing for her is that everything we have needs to be connected. Provided examples of how the PSC is a resource to those in need like Domestic Violence. Her mother volunteered at the PSC. We must make things more accessible. Reading's Senior Center is lacking. Concerned about all the luxury condo's - where is low-income housing or senior housing? Introductions - Staff Delios, gave her background including 12 years with the Town of Reading (40 years in government). She hired UMass to perform the Needs Assessment 5 years ago and looks forward to hiring a consultant to assist with planning and outreach and that she is excited to be here! Bohmiller, gave his background as the VSO and then later as the Community Services Director for a total of 7 years working for the Town of Reading. Gave kudos to his team in EHS and Rec and noted the re -branding of the Senior Center as the Pleasant Street Center (PSC). He believes in the saying, "If you build it, they will come". Staff does an incredible job with the resources provided, but we are maxed out with programs and whether it is a new PSC or Multi -Generational center, it is needed. O'Brien has been on board for 6 months been in the Human Services field for 20 years; excited to be part of the group. Elections: Dockser noted all votes need to be by rollcall and that there needs to be a Chair, Vice -Chair, and Secretary - explained how roles worked and especially the Chair who sets the agenda, takes responsibility for the minutes. Chair - Coltman nominated John O'Neill as Chair Dockser 2nd. Coltman made a motion to close nominations for Chair, 2nd by Assini. Roll call to close nominations Walsh - y-; Sasso - y-; Parsons -y-; Assini-y-; Coltman -y-; O'Neill -y-; Dockser -y-. Motion for O'Neill as Chair, so moved by Coltman, 2nd by Walsh - Roll Call vote O'Neill as Chair and lead the meeting - Walsh -y-; Sasso -y-; Parsons -y-; Assini -y-; Coltman -y-; O'Neill -y- Dockser - y. Vice -Chair -Walsh nominated Sasso as Vice Chair - 20d by Coltman. The Chair asked if there were any other nominations for VC - seeing none - motion to close the nomination was asked -moved by Dockser 2nd by Walsh. Roll call to close nominations: Walsh -y-; Sasso -y -; Parsons -y -; Assini-y-; Coltman -y-; Dockser-y- and O'Neill -y-. Roll Call vote Sasso as Vice -Chair - Walsh -y -; Sasso -y-; Parsons -y -; Assini-y -; Colman -y -; Dockser-y- O'Neill -y-: Secretary - Nominations opened for Secretary including being responsible for taking the minutes - Assini asked where would they be published? Dockser clarified that the draft is circulated for comment - then posted with Town Clerk. Discussion continued regarding how minutes are done. They are not a transcript it is a summary of what happened. What items were discussed and what was voted on and if there is disagreement what the opinions were. Page 1 2 Dockser stated that there is a shortage of staff available to take minutes. Coltman nominated Assini; seconded by Walsh. The Chair asked if there were any other nominations? Seeing none, Coltman moved to close the nominations, second by Dockser. Roll call vote to close the nominations for Secretary: Assini-y - ;Coltman -y -; Walsh -y -; Sasso -y-; Parsons -y -; Dockser-y -; O'Neill - y-. Roll call vote for Assini as Secretary - Walsh- y-; Sasso -y-; Parsons -y-; Assini-y -; Colton -y-; Dockser-y-; O'Neill -y-. Discussion ensued about the Open Meeting Law. Dockser clarified that a quorum cannot be held outside of the public meeting. As a committee of 7 people the rule is that you can't deliberate among a quorum which is 4 or more. Need a publicly posted meeting at least 48 hours in advance. Emails, phone, in person etc., any type of discussion or sharing of opinions is prohibited as a group. Can discuss schedule as a group but otherwise can't except for at a public meeting. Mission of Re -Calc - Dockser provided an overview on the ReCalc schedule. The schedule is to have a report for the Select Board in March and then a progress report for April Town Meeting so that Town Meeting can offer their input into what is going on. Then the goal is to come back to the next scheduled Town Meeting in November of 2022. Could be architectural plans or specific other uses of funds as the goal for STM. Plan an update at April Town Meeting on what to do and then STM with the ask. Other boards Recreation, Schools, Library, Rec would weigh in and engage members of the community to get their input and find out about best practices. Next agenda item is to review the work of the consultant. Scope of Work - Discussion about what the community engagement professional could facilitate with. The project budget is $40,000 based on the action of Annual Town Meeting to appropriate those funds in FY22. Delios provided an overview of the role of the consultant. Do we use the existing Needs Assessment as a starting point? Ideas for how to channel the feedback, ReCacl can assist. Walsh indicated that there may be a crossroads, but she personally would like to see an updated safe and challenging Senior Community housing development. By 2030 (in 8 years) seniors will be 30% of the Reading population. How elders are treated is a sign of how healthy the community is. Favors a mass mailing to everyone over the age of ? about maybe those 2 choices. Sasso stated he was curious about the report, improvements to reception area, staffing levels, outreach coordinator - 3 staff people work on that - discussion continued with Sasso offering short-term improvements using commercial space to support Seniors. Walsh commented on how the community needs to support seniors. Parsons thought that the users of the Center would provide the best feedback since they are familiar with the PSC. Concerned about how long it may take to get this done. O'Neill is interested in finalizing the Scope of Work - asked for feedback from the committee - Sasso had a question about getting short term things done. Don't know how to get there. Community Support for bigger project? What else do you need to know from the community? The consultant could present ideas for how to physically deliver the services, use this building or not? Dockser wants to ask the big questions of the community - think big? Dockser will help us gather data and feedback on what the community wants - community input is a giant one. Our local legislators are a big resource - they came back and advised that they could get money $150,000 to buy "lot 5". We want to gather more and different kinds of input, MCOA to help us drive the path forward. Walsh is wondering why we have 2 empty buildings in good condition and location (Walgreens and Rite Aid). Delios responded that lots has been done on both and that the Town has reached out to facilitate next steps. Assini noted that we still aren't out of this pandemic. If we do the planning correctly, we can move forward in the right direction. What would people really like to see, dream big and see what will be (O'Neill). O'Neill summarized that we need hope, here is where we are headed! O'Neill wants to make sure that the Scope of Work is acceptable to hire the consultant? Long-term goals are part of the consultant work. Are there some concrete steps we can take now, more of a short-term goal? O'Neill mentioned about information sharing that would be helpful and highlighted in the report. Make some things free. We need to give people something short-term. O'Neill asked for motion to approve the Scope of Work for consultant. Coltman made a motion to accept the Scope of Work as drafted. Page 1 3 Discussion continued about the Scope of Work including that the needs assessment is still relevant. Walsh suggested an inventory be created of all the services we provide with phone numbers and connections (social services directory), so we have something that lists what we have now even if it means we don't have enough space. Dockser would like to second the motion with one modification: adding something that says this is the first piece of public feedback and part of an ongoing process, not the blueprint for what this board will recommend. Dockser asked to strike his comments and said he was fine with leaving the Scope of Work as drafted. Sasso wants to dual track the study with short-term things that can be done. ReCalc wants to roll up their sleeves and get it done. Sasso suggested the group start brainstorming ideas for short-term implementation. Field visits to some of the different sites so we can see what other communities are doing. Roll Call Vote to approve the Scope of Work: Walsh -n-; Sasso -y-; Parsons -y-; Assini-y-; Coltman -y-; Dockser-y-; O'Neill -y-. Next meeting - Wednesday, December 29'^, 2021 - 4:00 p.m. January 12'" - 7:00 p.m. Bohmiller will post the meeting. O'Neill will draft an agenda and send to Bohmiller. O'Neill asked members to send him agenda item requests ioneill16Cn1comcast.net - no discussion to take place - just an item on the agenda. Motion to adjourn the meeting by Dockser, 2nd by Walsh. Roll Call Vote: Walsh -y-; Sasso - y-; Parsons -y-; Assini-y-; Coltman -y-; Dockser-y-; O'Neill -y-; Meeting adjourned at 6:15 p.m. Page 1 4