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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1971-01-27 Council on Aging MinutesCOUNCIL ON AGING Regular Meeting Held on January 27, 1971 The regular monthly meeting of the Reading Council on Aging was held on Wednesday evening, January 27, 1970, at 7:30 P.M. at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Reading, Massachusetts. The meeting was called to order by Rev. Donald D. Gardner, who had been appointed by the Selectmen as Temporary Chairman of the council. He asked Mrs. Beaton to serve as Secretary of the meeting. Those members present in addition to Mr. Gardner were 11,21r. Evans, Mr. Dube, Mr. Farnham., and Mrs. Beaton. Mr. Gardner reported that Mir . Willson had telephoned his regrets that he would not be able to attend the meeting. Mr. Gardner commented that Mrs. Raymond Nelson, as reported in a recent issue of the Reading Chronicle, had resigned as Chairman and member of the council effective January 1, 1971. He also read a letter of resigna- tion from airs. Sally Carroll as Secretary and member. Since she had origin- allj been appointed by the Chairman, and upon motion duly rade and seconded, it was unanimously: VOTE: To accept with regret 11r°s. Carroll's resignation and to express to her the council's appreciation of her work with the council. Mr. Gardner then read the minutes of the December meeting sub,- rnitted by Mrs. Carroll, and upon motion duly made and seconded it was un- animously: VOTED: To accept for the record these minutes as read:. Mr. Gardner then read to the meeting the section of the Town of Reading By haws pertaining to the makeup of the Council on Aging, a copy of which is attached to and made a part of the minutes of this meeting. It was noted that there were at least four vacancies on the council that might be filled to bring it up to its fullest potential strength, and it was decided to discuss the matter more fully later in the meeting. Mr. Farnham was then asked to report on progress made in his investigation regarding a possible Hot Lunch Program. He said that Mr. Jack McGrane of the Massachusetts Aging Bureau had spoken to the Golden Age Club at one of its recent meetings about the program.. When Mr. McGrane asked how many of the older people present would be interested in participat- ing in such a program, 70 responded that they would; two said they were not interested; and there was no expression of opinion from the rest. Mr. Farnham said he felt that this response was definitely a sufficiently strong mandate to pursue the matter further, He outlined the step that he thought should be taken as follows: 1 To make a decision to proceed 2 To locate a place where the lunches could be served 3. To present the matter to the Superintendent of Schools as an agenda item. for a School Committee meeting. 1. Mr. Farnham felt that the key problem at the moment was to find a suitable place to serve the lunches. He thought that any school should probably be ruled out, as the only one that could handle the program would be the Coolidge School, and even there the elderly would have to wait until 1000 P.M. to be served, which would be quite late in the day for older people. The matter of transportation was brought up as a possible diffi- culty, but 11r. Gardner said that Mr. McGrane had urged that we try to get the program going as if there were no problem because after such a program is established in a community, solutions to such a problem often turn up. The important thing is to have the application filed by the School Depart- ment and get 'Reading on the list of towns that want funds. It was noted that occasionally a local car dealer will help out with transportation, and there may be other possibilities, such as the I'D' van. Mr. Farnham said that while the food would be prepared in a school, it could be transported in big thermal chests which keep 30 to 60 lunches hot for two or three hours, as is now done in providing school lunches for the Lowell and Prospect Street Schools under the "Satellite" program. He also said that Mrs. Lois Piper, the School Department Dietician is fully aware of Hot Lunch Programs for the Elderly and would be willing to go along with the program if it seemed feasible and would vary menus to suit the elderly. It was noted that any person 59 years of age or over would be eligible to participate the the program and would pay 500 for a substan- tial balanced meal. Any cost above that up to 80¢ per meal would be absorbed by the state. Mr. Farnham said that Mr. McGrane would be happy to come out at the proper time and talk to Dr. hells, the Superintendent of Schools, and the School Committee about details of the program, and that he had said that it was important that it was important to keep Dr. Wells informed of any developments with regard to it. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously: VOTED: That Mr. Farnham should go ahead and consult with clergy- men and others to find out what specific places such as churches, the Com- munity Center, Housing for the :elderly, etc., would be available, and reply to the Council at its next meeting with a recommendation. Mrs. :Beaton was asked to report what she had found out about the possibility of using the Y.M.C.A. Ford van to transport elderly people to shopping centers occasionally. She said that the "Y" had expressed a willing- ness to do this at a cost of 14~ffl cents a mile including gasoline. Because of the adequate insurance coverage carried by the "Y" and because it would probably cost around 50 a year to place the Council on Aging under Town of Reading coverage, she suggested that these trips should actually be operated by the "Y" with the Council on Aging cooperating. It might be necessary to arrange for some sort of a "Y" membership possibly costing around $10. After considerable discussion, and upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unani- mously: VOTE): That Mrs. Beaton should make the following arrangements to get a program of van trips established: 1. Contact the new President of the FISH Program (later discovered to be Mrs. Anne Brissenden) to get a list of FISH volunteers to be com- pared with "Y" m mbership lists to see if possible volunteer drivers 2. might already be "'T' members, 2. Set up with Mr. Brockway, Executive Director of the "Y" a starting schedule of weekly trips to the Burlington Mall on Thursday mornings .from. ~:30 A.M, to be back in Reading y 12<80 Moon. These would start from the Coamunity Center, and if more than one van load wanted to go, two trips could be made over and two trips back if that seemed .feasible. The first trip would be scheduled for February 18th. All trips would be subject to weather conditions, 3. Each elderly person would be charged 500 for the round trip. 4. Reservations would be made by telephone, only on the morning of the day before the scheduled trip, by calling a designated volunteer and on the basis of first come, first served. 5. The scheduled driver for the trip would arrive a little early, pick up the van key from the "Y" office, collect the 50~i charge from each passenger, which would be turned in directly to the "Y" office. Any overage from the 5N fees could be credited toward a "Y" membership if necessary or any other expenses necessarily incurred. o. The trips would be publicized through the golden age Club, the Tannerville Club and Sousing for the Elderly, and the Senior Citizens Group at the Methodist Church. 7. At present the program would be on an experimental basis with trips scheduled only to the Burlington Mall for the tires: being, and it would be reviewed periodically by the Council at its regular meetings. Mr. Gardner then brought up the matter of the Council's budget for the year 1971. Since, because of increased costs, only two bus trips and the Thanksgiving Sinner ran over the $1,000 allowed by the Town of Heading and had to be made up by a contribution from the. Junior unity, unpon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously.* VOTED : That Mr. Gardner write a letter to the Board of Selectmen requesting that $1,500 be allowed the Council for 1971 as follows: Bus Trips $1,050 Thanksgiving Dinner, office supplies and incidentals ALO $1,500 It was noted that the Council has no funds available at present, but that Town Boards are usually allowed to spend 10% of the current budget up until the March Town Meeting. Reverting to the matter of the number of members on the Council for Aging, Isar. Gardner remarked that there were four places open and pos- sibly a fifth one if tk,- Board of Health does not provide a representative and that could be filled by a member-at-large. After some discussion and upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously= 3. 11OT D: That after Mr. Dube has consulted with Mr. Charles Stratton, and Gardner has consulted with the others to see if they ?mould accept being members of the Council on aging, Mr. Gardner would then recommend to the ?leading Board of Selectmen, that the following be appointed as merrLbers by the Selectmen: 10 Mrs. Luck E. Glennon 2. The President of the Golden Age Club or other representative of that club 3. Mrs. Janet Pierce 4. Mr. Charles Stratton And that after he has consulted with Mrs. Verna Lang and if she will accept, Mr, Gardner will appoint her as Secretary=Clerk of the Council; and also that should any of the above four people not be able to serve as members, Mr. Gardner would recommend that Mrs. Lantz by appointed by the Selectmen as a member of the Council, Since Mr. Gardner, Mr. Dube, and Dirs. Beaton are now serving on both the Council on aging and the Advisory Committee for the Leading Housing Authority Community Program for the Elderly, and aso ic 1,frs. Luck Glennon if she is appointed to the Council would also be serving in the double capacity, and since Mrs. Janet Pierce is the ;executive Director of that program., upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously: V077D : To recommend to the Leading Housing Housing authority that the Advisory Connittee be dissolved and to voluntarily offer the services of the Council on aging to act in an advisory capacity in place of the Advisory Committee established iehen the program was initiated. There being no further business to come before the meeting, and upon motion duly made and seconded, it was unanimously: VOTED: To adjourn, and the Chairman adjourned the meeting at 9:45 P.M. xRes a ctfully submitted, Mathalie C. Beaton Temporary Secretary P.S. It was noted that the next meeting would be held on February 24th at 7:30 P,M, at the Church of the Good Shepherd; and since Mr. Gardner would have to be a little late, he asked Mr. Farnham to open the meeting. 410