HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-01-29 Council on Aging MinutesCouncil on Aging, Special Meeting
January 29, 2003 '
Senior Center C(
Reading, MA 01867 '
JUL 42
Present: Barbara Powers, Edwina Kasper, John O'Neill, Betty Cronin, Gay ams,
Dick Anderson, Ruth Goldberg, Pamela Brown (Administrator). Absent: Dottye Foxon
Guests: Peter Hechenbleikner, Marie Ammer, Sue Reardon, Pat Boyd
• Betty Cronin called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
• Peter Hechenbleikner, Town Manager, made a presentation regarding the budget
for the balance of FY 03. He told us that the major source of revenue for the town
was property taxes; other sources are fees, state aid, and transfers from available
funds. He further explained that sometimes we are over or under in our
expenditures, and that if the overages exceed lower than anticipated expenses, we
are called upon to use the town's cash reserves. We find ourselves in this situation
this year, largely due to snow and ice removal. The' recent announcement by the
Governor to reduce aid to cities and towns exacerbates our difficulties. We will use
our cash reserves to offset our over expenditures of about $500K. That leaves us
with a $405K problem - which might otherwise have been covered by state aid. He
has asked that the COA authorize expenditure of $8400 from the Burbank Trust to
cover the cost of the town's social worker, for the period April thru June.
• John O'Neill moved that "We approve Peter's request for $8400 from the Burbank
Trust Fund to pay for the balance of the Social Worker's position for FY '03." The
motion was seconded by Dick Anderson. The motion was then on the table for
discussion, and Peter excused himself to attend another meeting.
• After some discussion, a vote was taken, with all members voting in the affirmative.
We did however, want to follow up on a discussion point we had with Peter about
the Hospital Trust Fund. Marie's time - fully loaded - that is taken up with
management and scheduling of the medical transportation program which is funded
by the Hospital Trust. To explore billing the Hospital Trust for the time it takes for
Marie to manage this program.
• Dick Anderson suggested to Pamela that she get Marie involved in the up-coming
needs assessment as much as possible, as we, the COA, have already determined
that costs related to the assessment will appropriately be funded by the Burbank
Trust Fund.
• We would also like to follow up with additional discussion at our next regular
meeting, formulation of a statement to be taken to the Board of Selectmen, urging
them to single out as a standalone line item in the April Prop 2 Y2 override vote,
Elder Services funding (akin to the singling out that Peter mentioned would be done
for the library, infrastructure, schools, safety, et al).
• The meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
(~a y W auawvw
Gay Williams, Sec'y