===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Council on Aging Minutes Approved at the April 14, 2015 COA Meeting Meeting Minutes March 10, 2015 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Pete Lincoln called the meeting to or der at 9:30AM. Present: Pete Lincoln (Chairperson), Doreen Noble (Directo r), Debbie Lincoln, Sarah Grant, Diane Nowd, Betty DiGiacomo, Cheryl Moisan, Judy Tarbell, Jacqu elyn Dwyer, Brian Guenard & Sue Doherty (Admin. Ass t). Not present: Deb Seeley (Vice Chair) & Kevin McNally ANNOUNCEMENTS: Mr. Lincoln informed the board that COA board photos will be rescheduled to the April meeting. MINUTES APPROVAL: Ms. Grant moved to accept the February 10, 2015 C ouncil on Aging minutes. Ms. DiGiacomo seconded. On vote, motion carried unanimously. CURRENT BUSINESS 1. Director’s Report: • Budget Report: Ms. Noble presented the COA FY16 budget request to the Lunenburg Finance Committee (FinCom) on February 26 th and reviewed that presentation with the COA board. Included in her report she stressed that the COA on ly makes up .5% of the Towns overall municipal budg et & that the elder to staff ratio at the senior center is un acceptable. Ms. Noble would like to see another of fice staff person hired to help with programming at the senior center. Ms. Noble explained to the COA board that the FY15 COA budget has gone over due to staffing issues. Th e Town Manager had designated $5000 towards improving the nutrition program but has since readjusted tha t amount in FY16 to $500, due to the need to use those funds for appropriate staffing. The Eagle House Supporters Inc. provides a $200 pet ty cash fund for the Director to use for Soup & San dwich day along with the salad bar day at the senior center meal site. The Director would like to operate a food program i ndependent from MOC Nutrition’s program, which is c urrently used at the senior center, but has determined that it would not be financially feasible to do so. • Building Repair Progress: The repairs to the ceiling/duct work in the large f unction room are ongoing and should be completed soon. This damage had occurred during the ice storm of 2008. Currently there is a new leak in the ceiling locate d in the hallway which connects the new building to the old and also to the wall behind the water cooler by the foy er. DPW has been working on clearing the ice dams from the roof which are causing the problem and are explorin g the possibility of installing a rubber roof over that section of the building. • Boston Post Cane Recipient: The current Boston Post Cane recipient, Marion Pepi n, passed away in February. Out of respect to Ms. Pepin, Ms. Noble would like t o let a brief period of time pass before awarding t he cane to the next recipient. In the meantime, there are certain procedures and c riteria that are followed to determine who the next cane recipient will be and Ms. Noble will begin that process. • Eagle Scout Walkway: Eagle Scout candidate, Logan Marshall, had contacte d the Director in regards to a walkway project he would like to do to connect the upper parking lot to the lower parking lot at the E agle House. His thought was to install a concrete walkway which would run from the top lot towards the pergola whi ch would connect with the existing concrete walkway via the foot bridge. Board members discussed the practicality of this pr oject voicing their concerns of the cost of concret e, snow & ice removal, and making sure that it stays in compliance with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). Board members asked how they could help support the Director in procuring more funding in the COA budg et. The Director explained that the COA falls into “Non-Dis cretionary Funding” along with the Police and Fire Depts. who require most of that funding therefore leaving the COA with less. She suggested that this would be a good und ertaking for the ===PAGE 2=== COA Advocacy Task Force and that there was always t he possibility of speaking to this at Town Meeting by putting a hold on the COA budget line item when it is brought forw ard. 2. Expiring COA Terms Renewal Mr. Lincoln reviewed with the board the Selectmen’s process for board appointment renewals. Currently there are three COA board members, Brian Guenard, Debby Lincoln, & Betty DiGiacomo, whose te rms will be ending in June 2015. All expressed their desire to be re-appointed to the COA board. Ms. Doherty will get hold of the re-appointment for ms from the Selectmen’s office and they will be dis tributed to them at the April COA meeting. 3. Wish List for submission to Supporters of Eagle House Inc. Board members discussed adding copy paper to the wi sh list for submission to Supporters of the Eagle H ouse Inc. They also discussed contacting Monty Tech for help with any construction needs for future projects in the o utdoor recreation area at the Eagle House. 4. Volunteer Recognition Gathering Mr. Lincoln reminded the COA board members that the Selectmen Volunteer Recognition Gathering has been rescheduled to March 31 st at 6PM at the Eagle House Senior Center. He encouraged all board members to attend. 5. Eagle House Senior Center Handbook Copies of the current updated Eagle House Informati onal pamphlet were distributed to board members for review. Board members commented saying that they would like to se e informational phone numbers be added to the pamph let. They would also like to look into the possibility of having this inserted in the Lunenburg Ledger for distr ibution. 6. Task Groups (suggestions): Members from all three COA task groups met with Sta te Rep. Jennifer Benson to discuss elder legislatio n on 3/2/15 at the Eagle House Senior Center. Members present were Pe te Lincoln, Kevin McNally, Diane Nowd, Jacquelyn Dw yer, Brian Guenard, and COA Director Doreen Noble. The discus sion pertained to elder legislation/issues and Rep. Benson told them that although the elder line in the State budg et has not risen, it has not been cut either. In r egards to the Property Tax Workoff issue of participants being taxed in th at program, she referred them to Congresswoman Tson gas as this is a Federal issue. Task group members came back with varying descripti ons of how the meeting went ranging from “positive meeting” to “business as usual from the State”. • Advocacy (charge of task group is to deal with elder issues within Lunenburg) No Report •• •• Communication (charge of task group is to deal with how the staff , board members and senior center participants communicate with each other .) Ms. Lincoln met with the Town Manager to discuss the issue of the Eagle House closing policy during inclement weather. Although the Town Manager agreed that the safety of the elder population was important, she would like one staff member of the Eagle House physically available at the Town Hall, if the center were to be closed, in order to handle elder needs if they should arise. •• •• Public Relations – (charge of task group is to further investigate how to reach a broader audience) No Report NOTICES & COMMUNICATIONS: Ms. Noble has received notification that all depa rtments who wish to submit an article on the warrant for May Town Meeting need to do so b y 3/28/2015 by 12 Noon. BOARD COMMENT: Ms. Dwyer informed all that she will begin workin g on the Eagle House Facebook page today and would like pictures and information submitted to her for posting. PUBLIC COMMENT : None ADJOURNMENT Being no further business, Mr. Guenard moved to adjourn the COA meeting. Ms. Dwyer seconded. On vote, motion carried unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 11:20AM UPCOMING MEETING SCHEDULE May 12, 2015 Respectfully Submitted Susan Doherty - Administrative Assistant Lunenburg - Council on Aging ===PAGE 3===