DRAFT
Salem Council on Aging
Board of Directors
Minutes of the annual and regular monthly meeting, September 21, 2011, 6:30 p.m.
Present: Pat Donahue (PD, chair), Elaine Heredeen (EH, vice chair), Donna Clifford (DC), Julie Carver (JC), Pam Greaves (PG), Joan Lovely (JL, City Council liaison).
ANNUAL MEETING
PD:
· Opens the floor for nominations for COA Board officers for the 2011-2011 term.
· Nominates Elaine Heredeen for vice chair. Seconded by JC.
EH: Nominates Dolores Nangle for treasurer. Seconded by PD.
JC: Nominates Donna Clifford for secretary. Seconded by EH.
PD:
· Votes on the slate of nominees will be taken upon resumption of the Annual Meeting.
· Makes a motion to adjourn the Annual Meeting, for continuation on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011. Seconded by EH.
· Adjourns Annual Meeting at 6:45 p.m.
REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING
PD: Makes a motion to waive reading of minutes from the June meeting and to accept them. Seconded by EH. VOTE: Unanimous in favor.
PD:
· Mentions review of the COA bylaws earlier in the year, and emphasizes the part referring to attendance at Board meetings.
· Asks members to notify Doug Bollen or Bill Woolley if unable to attend a meeting.
· Asks Doug Bollen for his director’s report.
DB:
· Notes that recording secretary Stacy Kilb would not be present during the meeting and that Bill Woolley would take meeting minutes in her absence. (Kilb had previously said she intended to discontinue her service to the COA Board.) Recognizes Christine O’Brien and Sharon Kearny, in the audience, who may be interested in taking Kilb’s place.
· The municipal budget for the COA was level-funded for Fiscal Year 2011-2012, but North Shore Elder Services (NSES) may make cuts in grant funding to the Salem COA. NSES grant support the COA’s transportation and meal programs. The State Formula Grant – approximately $50,000 – remains the same, with funding per senior citizen going down, but offset by an increase in people 60 and older residing in Salem.
· In regard to plans for a new senior/community center, defers to Joan Lovely.
JL: The City is still working on the issue of Chapter 91 licensing. That’s the only approval remaining. Otherwise financing is in place, so we’re ready to go after Chapter 91 licensing is resolved.
DB:
· A $160,000 bequest to the Salem COA from Salem resident Irene Willey was received.
· Refers to document, distributed among COA Board members, regarding monthly participation statistics. (See Appendix A.)
· Notes that the annual fall/winter Recreation booklet has been printed and will be mailed to all households in Salem by the end of September. Booklets are published at no cost to taxpayers, since it is covered by the Revolving Fund of the Park, Recreation & Community Services Department.
· Bill Woolley attended the National Hispanic COA conference and summit in Washington, D.C., in September. Meghan Murtagh (COA activity coordinator/receptionist), Sharon Felton (social work coordinator) and Lynne Barrett (outreach social worker) will be going to Massachusetts COA conference in Sturbridge, Mass., in October.
· Murtagh is pursuing MCOA certification as a COA Program Director.
· Three Advanced Spanish Salem State University students have been welcomed as interns for the fall semester. They will support the continuing effort to reach out and enhance access to Spanish-speaking senior citizens.
· A flu clinic, arranged by the Salem Board of Health, will take place at the Senior Center on Wednesday, Oct. 19. There is a limited amount of vaccines that were made available to the City of Salem.
· The COA is still waiting for a determination on a federal grant application for a new passenger van and two-way radio equipment for the transportation program. Friends of the Salem COA President Andy LaPointe was informed about the COA’s interest in having his organization cover 20 percent of the total cost (approx. $10,000 to $12,000), which is required by the terms of the grant. LaPointe’s response was encouraging.
· The COA adopted and hosted several activities for Senior Recognition Week, in August, due to the disbanding of the Senior Recognition Week Committee. The activities included a lunch at the Senior Center, a dinner-dance at the Moose Family Center, and a cookout at Winter Island.
· A pizza party scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 29, was sold out.
· Representatives from the MBTA processed 247 requests for reduced-fare subway, bus and train cards.
· Special trips to Portland, Maine, and the Bourne Scallop Festival were taken.
· A trip to the Topsfield Fair will be offered for Monday, Oct. 3.
· A lunch trip to the Black Cat Café at Salem High School will be offered Tuesday, Oct. 18.
· Representatives from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be held Friday, Oct. 7. They will address topics pertinent to enrollment and affordable health care.
· A fiesta will be hosted at the Senior Center on Thursday, Oct. 13. Since the COA’s Service Incentive Grant has expired, tickets will cost $6. These events will no longer be free of charge.
· Two senior citizens in job retraining, hired through the National Senior Network, have been cut from 20 to 12 hours per week, due to a cut in funding to the NSN.
· The Melrose COA will host a training for COA Board members in October or November. (JC and PG expressed interest.)
· Distributed a document for the treasurer’s report and noted there are no apparent areas of concern at this time. (See Appendix B.)
PD: Opens the floor for any new business.
DC: Asks what became of issue of creating and implementing a First Aid policy.
DB: A formal policy was abandoned. Staff members are advised to use their best discretion and to call 911 when deemed appropriate.
PD: Opens the floor for visitors to comment, after recognizing Christine O’Brien, Sharon Kearney and Teasie Riley-Goggin (TRG).
TRG: Questions the potential use of COA passenger vans to take senior citizens to polls on Election Day, Nov. 8, 2011.
DB: Notes that senior citizens can get rides to the polls in COA passenger vans in accordance with existing COA policy. Two business days notice is required and rides to medical appointments are prioritized. The policy for securing rides is printed regularly in the monthly “Senior Power” newsletter.
PD: Suggests emphasizing, in the newsletter, that the COA transportation service available for taking senior citizens to polls. Also suggests submitting that information to the Salem Gazette.
JL: Offers to make sure the same information is announced on SATV community bulletin board.
PD:
· The next meeting of the Salem COA Board will be Wednesday, Oct 19.
· Makes a motion to adjourn. Seconded by PG.
· Adjourns regular monthly meeting at 7:22 p.m.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Bill Woolley.
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