===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Council on Aging Minutes Approved at the 6/10/2014 COA Meeting Minutes May 13, 2014 Welcome: Ms. Conrad opened the meeting at 10:30AM & welcom ed all to the meeting. Present: Mary Lynn Conrad, (Chairperson), Barbara Brown (Vi ce-Chairperson), Doreen Noble (Director), Jane Doyl e, Joyce Wass, Connie O’Dea, Shirley Bertone, Tony Ber tone, Judy Tarbell, Deb Seeley, Debby Lincoln & Sue Doherty (Admin. Asst.) Guests: Karen Menard, Lunenburg Finance Committee Pete Lincoln Paul & Dee Anderson Kevin McNally Diane Nowd Lorraine Mendoza Caroline Griffis Minutes: Ms. Doyle requested that a change be made to the 3/11/2014 minutes under Director’s report to read “Director’s Evaluation will be performed on an annual basis.” Ms. Bertone moved to change the wording in the minu tes to read “Director’s Evaluation will be performe d on an annual basis.” Ms. O’Dea seconded. On vote, motion carried, 10 in favor, 0 opposed. Ms. Doyle moved to accept the 3/11/2014 COA minutes as corrected. Ms. Brown seconded. On vote, motion carried, 10 in favor, 0 opposed. Director's Report : Ms. Noble reported on the following: • Exercise Class has been postponed until further no tice. The new instructor’s husband has fallen ill and the back- up instructor has only been able to do afternoons u ntil school lets out in the summer. The Director w ill continue to seek an instructor to fill the spot. • The FY15 budget will include more funding to impro ve the food program at the senior center. Currentl y there are between 30-40 people attending the lunch on Thursda ys. The Salad bar on Thursdays has proven to be a great success. Ruth Swiecicki has returned from Florida a nd will be working in the kitchen until the Fall al ong with the Meal Site Coordinator and 2 kitchen aides and 1 Tax -Work Off person. • The Outreach Coordinator has started a House Numbe ring Sign/Carbon Monoxide program partnering with t he Worcester County Sheriff’s Dept. and the Lunenburg Fire Dept. • The Friendly Seniors have sent a letter requesting the use of the Eagle House Senior Center on Octobe r 11, 2014 for their Annual Town Fair. • Helen Balcom has been hired to do the gardening at the senior center. She will be paid through Town Funds along with funds from the Supporters of the Eagle House Inc. • A concrete handicap accessible ramp/platform has b een installed behind the senior center for easy/saf e access to the bocce court area. The Town of Lunenburg is cur rently looking at the Master Plan for the center of Town and should include an extended parking area near the bo cce court. It may be a possibility for Eagle House Staff to use this area for parking if the need should arise. • Town Meeting approved the Capital Plan recommendat ion for new carpeting in the Foyer/Bucky’s Corner a rea of the Eagle House along with new tile flooring in the original section of the building. • As of July 1 st the Eagle House will be open on Tuesdays and Thurs days until 6PM. This will enable transportation to run later on these days and 5 hours have been ad ded to the Administrative Assistant/Dispatcher hour s to cover reservations during that time. Driver’s hours will also be extended on those days and the Town is rei mbursed through MART for their salary. • The Director is currently investigating incorporat ing a User’s Fee of approximately $8 per year for n on-residents. This amount is equivalent to the Formula Grant funding which the Town receives per elder each year. • The Director is scheduled to have her evaluation w ith the Town Manager on 6/2/2014 at 10AM. ===PAGE 2=== Old Business 1. Boston Post Cane: Lunenburg resident Marion Pepin will be the next Bo ston Post Cane Recipient. Ms. Pepin has requested that the presentation be made on her 100 th Birthday in October, at her home. 2. Bocce Court Dedication: The Mario Patacchiola Bocce Court Dedication will b e held this afternoon at 1PM. The landscaping and seating is still a work in progress . Ms. Noble thanked Paul Anderson for his help in finishing up the court and for agreeing to facilitate a Bocce Club start up meeting on 5/19/2014. 3. Capital Plan: Discussed under Director’s Report. New Business 1. Reminder end of year reports for June meeting: Board members were reminded that if any Sub-Commit tees had met during FY14, they need to have an End of the Ye ar report prepared for the June COA meeting. Discussion : In another matter, Ms. Doyle suggested to the COA board that although she will be leaving the board in June, she would like to volunteer as a member of a COA Ad hoc Committee with the purpose of gathering data from surrounding Councils on Aging on their policies on items such as User Fees; Policies; Bylaws; & Direct or’s Evaluation Procedures. Ms. Lincoln offered to help out with this undertaking. 2. New Hours Eagle House Senior Center FY15: Discussed under Director’s report 3. COA Bylaws: Ms. Noble stated that she as a Director, welcomes t he change of the word “Sub-Committee” to “Task Force.” According to the Open Meeting Law a “Subco mmittee” is considered a “Public Body”. A Public B ody is required to follow the Open Meeting Law. If Subcommittee wa s changed to “Task Force or Advisory Body” it would not be subject to comply with the Open Meeting Law which in turn w ould mean that agendas would not need to be posted nor would minutes need to be kept. Ms. Speidel had previously informed Ms. Noble via e mail that “No board or committee (or council) can h ave a policy, procedure or practice that is in conflict with the Town Charter or Town Bylaw. The COA Bylaw which yo u provided me appears to be a document that was created by the CO A for internal use and not adopted by the Board of Selectmen or Town Meeting. Even though it is called a bylaw, it is not a true bylaw because it was not adopted by Town Meeting. Any provision in the COA Bylaw that is more restrictive than Article 18 (below), such as term limits, can’t legally be enforced. If the COA would like to amend Article 18 to include s ome or all of the provisions in the COA Bylaw, it w ould need to submit a warrant article for a future Town Meeting.” Article 18 of the Town Bylaws details the Council on Aging. It states as follows. “Section 1. There is hereby established a local Co uncil on Aging, consisting of eleven (11) voting me mbers who shall be appointed by the Board of Selectmen from the regist ered voters of the Town of Lunenburg. The Chairman of the council shall be elected by the members of the council at t he annual meeting in June. The local Council on Ag ing shall be responsible to the Board of Selectmen, and its memb ers shall serve without compensation, and with the limits of available funds. It may appoint such clerks and other employ ees as it may require with the approval of the Chie f Administrative Financial Officer. It shall be the duty of the loc al Council on Aging to carry out programs designed to meet the needs of the aging in coordination with programs of Executiv e Office of Elder Affairs established by the Common wealth of Massachusetts and to submit an annual report to the Town and a copy thereof to Executive Office. (ATM 5/07, Article 23)” Ms. Seeley moved to change the title “COA Bylaws” t o “COA Policies”. Ms. Bertone seconded. Motion on the floor not resolved or withdrawn. Ms. Seeley moved to create a COA Policy Task Force. Ms. Brown seconded. On vote, motion carried, 10 in favor, 0 opposed. Ms. Lincoln and Ms. Doyle will serve on this task f orce to assist with COA policies. 4. COA Term Limits: Mentioned under COA Bylaws. Further discussion tab led to a future meeting. 5. Discussion of FY15 Potential Board Members: There were a number of people present at this meeti ng who are interested in joining the COA Board Pete Lincoln Paul & Dee Anderson Kevin McNally Diane Nowd Lorraine Mendoza Caroline Griffis ===PAGE 3=== Ms. Brown thanked them all for coming to the meetin g and informed them of the “paperwork” process that needs to be done. Mr. Lincoln mentioned that he has already been appointed to the COA board. Ms. Wass informed the board that she will be resign ing from the COA board in June. She will be submit ting a letter of resignation to the COA board as well as the Board of Selectmen. It was determined that the COA will have 5 vacancies on the board that will need to be filled for FY15 6. Discussion FY15 Slate of COA Officers: Board members were reminded that the slate of COA o fficers for FY15 will need to be voted on at the COA Annual meeting on 6/ 10/2014. The COA thanked Ms. Conrad for her service as Chair to the COA for FY14. 7. Televised BOS Appointment Interviews: Discussion ensued among the board concerning the Se lectmen Televised meetings where they appoint people to various boards/committees. Ms. Lincoln mentioned that she had brought that sub ject up at the BOS meeting where she was appointed to the COA board. She suggested that perhaps a “Volunteer Job Fair” could be held with various Town Departments/Boards/Committees, that would not be te levised, where interested parties could meet. She also apologized for her quick appointment by the BOS and said that she was glad to be here and hopes that everything t urns out positive. Sub-Committee Reports/Minutes – Finance, Board Deve lopment, Advocacy, Bylaw, Director’s Evaluation: No Reports/Minutes 1. Discussion Striking Sub-Committees from COA Byla ws : Discussed under COA Bylaws 2. COA Board Member Guideline Packet: Will continue to be a work in progress to incorpora te previously discussed changes. Correspondence : Ms. Conrad read a letter from the Lunenburg Frien dly Seniors requesting use of the Eagle House Senior Center on 10/11/2014 for their Fall Fair. N o vote was required from the board on this matter a nd she will respond in writing to them with approval for building use. Ms. Conrad read a note from Judith Lindstedt inform ing the board that “she will no longer be conductin g Exercise Class at the Eagle House due to the unreasonable demand of a $200 user fee.” Ms. Doyle stated that this was an unfortunate development. Ms. Brown stated that she has received numerous com plaints about this issue. General Discussion Ms. Bertone & Mr. Bertone excused themselves from the meeting at 11:35AM due to a prior commitment. Adjournment: Ms. Seeley moved to change the Annual COA Meeting o n 6/10/2014 to 9:30AM. Ms. Brown seconded. On vote, motion carried, 8 in favor, 0 opposed. Being no further business, Ms.Wass moved to adjourn the meeting. Ms. Brown seconded. On vote, motion carried unanim ously. Meeting adjourned at 11:45AM. Upcoming Meeting Annual Meeting June 10, 2014 No meeting in July August 12, 2014 (1 st meeting of FY15) Respectfully Submitted Susan Doherty, Administrative Assistant Lunenburg Council on Aging