===PAGE 1=== Lunenburg Council on Aging Minutes approved at the 6/9/2015 COA meeting Meeting Minutes May 12, 2015 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Pete Lincoln called the meeting to order at 9:31AM. Present: Pete Lincoln (Chairperson), Doreen Noble (Directo r), Debbie Lincoln, Sarah Grant, Diane Nowd, Betty DiGiacomo, Cheryl Moisan, Judy Tarbell, Jacquelyn Dwyer, Brian Guenard & Sue Doherty (Admin. Asst). Excused: Deb Seeley & Kevin McNally ANNOUNCEMENTS: Mr. Lincoln thanked Ms. Grant for teaching the Flower Pin craft at the senior center. Mr. Lincoln mentioned the possibility of taping a s egment of Lunenburg 360 at the Eagle House with the subject being the Longley family who lived in the house many years ago. Ms. Noble announced to the board that she has an op portunity to go to Graduate School and will be taki ng early retirement from the Lunenburg Council on Agin g to pursue other avenues. Her date of retirement will depend on a possible job opportunity at the beginning of June or in November 2015. The board thanked Ms. Noble and wished her the best of luck in her future endeavors. The Senior Citizen Prom scheduled for May 16 th will be cancelled due to lack of participation. T he Director will be meeting with the Lunenburg High School National Honor Society student representative and advisor to discuss the possibility of another project. MINUTES APPROVAL: Ms. Lincoln moved to accept the April 14, 2015 Council on Aging minutes. Ms. DiGiacomo seconded. On vote, motion carried unanimously. CURRENT BUSINESS 1. Director’s Report : Ms. Noble added to her prior comments about her retirement. Ms. Noble stated that Sue Doherty will most likely be given the posi tion of interim Director at the time when she leave s, and she strongly recommends to the board that they consider Sue Doherty for the permanent Director’s position when the time comes. • Budget Report: Ms. Noble shared the MUNIS budget report with the board. The report showed that as of this date 85% of the COA (Council on Aging) FY15 budget has been spent with 1 ½ months remaining in the fiscal year. Town Meeting has vot ed to transfer funds into the COA budget to cover any overages that may occur. Formula Grant funding will be over budget for FY15 but the Town Accountant will draw from other accounts to rectify it. • Building Repair Progress: The Millennium Alarm Company had made numerous call s to the senior center throughout the weekend concerning “low batte ry” alarms which they had been receiving through the system. DPW (Department of Public Works) has r eplaced the batteries and the system is working normally again. • Boston Post Cane Recipient: The board discussed streamlining the procedure for selecting the next Boston Post Cane recipient. The requirements to be come the recipient were developed in 1998 by the Lunenburg Board of Selectmen (BOS) and the COA. ===PAGE 2=== The Advocacy Task Group will review the procedure t o see where changes may be warranted. This will be brought to the next COA meeting for their e ndorsement then presented to the BOS for approval before selecting the next recipient. • Eagle Scout Walkway: The Board of Selectmen had approved the Eagle Scout candidate, Logan Marshall, request to build a walkway between the upper and lower parking lots at the senior center. Mr. Marshall still needs to obtain approval from the Boy Scout Council before he can move forward with this project. 2. Expiring COA Terms Renewal: All term renewal forms of COA members have been received and returned to the BOS for review. 2. Wish List for submission to Supporters of Eagle House Inc. : Ms. Doherty informed the board that she had spoken to the Supporters of the Eagle House Treasurer, Jim Hays about the COA “wish list”. Ms. Do herty will attend the next Supporters meeting on May 19 th to discuss the list and report back to the COA in June. 6. Task Groups (suggestions): • Advocacy (charge of task group is to deal with elder issues within Lunenburg) Discussed under Boston Post Cane •• •• Communication (charge of task group is to deal with how the staff, board members and senior center participants communicate with each other .) The Communication Task Group had developed a “protocol” proposal for the board to review regarding how the public should communicate any issues they may have concerning the senior center or COA as follows: 1) Any issue the Eagle House Director has should be brought to the immediate attention of the Chairman of the COA for timely resolution. If the issue cannot come to a quick and easy resolution, or becomes ongoing, it will be brought to the Board for decision. Otherwise, the problem will be reported at the next Board meeting. 2) We recommend a suggestion box be made available to the Eagle House users. It will be labeled, “Tell us how we can enhance your Eagle House experience”. The Communications Task Force will meet to evaluate the suggestions and comments. The suggestions/comments MUST be signed and dated, and all names will be confidential except to the Task Force. Valid issues or problem not readily solved by the Task Force will be brought to the Board. 3) If a COA member is approached by an Eagle House participant with a problem, the COA member should encourage the use of the suggestion box. Discussion ensued among the board members as follows: • Proposed protocol is restricting the Director to d o the job he/she is charged with by the Town • Wording of proposed protocol is constricting and c ould be considered “micro managing” • Proposed protocol contradicts the suggested guidel ines developed by the Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA) concerning COA board and Director relationships • The intention of the proposed protocol was for boa rd support/advice, not to impede the Director, and only developed as assistance for the Director After due diligent discussion it was decided that the proposed protocol will be revised and brought to the June COA meeting for further review. •• •• Public Relations – (charge of task group is to further investigate how to reach a broader audience) Ms. Grant commented to say that the Flower Pin craft class brought in new clients to the senior center and she encouraged her counter parts in the task group to come up with new ideas for attracting more people to the senior center. NOTICES & COMMUNICATIONS: None ===PAGE 3=== BOARD COMMENT: Mr. Lincoln mentioned the idea of Lunenburg Publi c Access coming to the senior center to film different activities to show on the local cable channel. Ms. Lincoln inquired about Health Insurance/Medicar e programs at the Eagle House for those who are tur ning 65. She was informed that the Central Mass Agency on Ag ing has a SHINE Program (Serving Health Information Needs of Elders) that sends a volunteer counselor t o the senior center once per month to offer free as sistance in those matters. Members discussed a having a light luncheon after the June Annual meeting. Members were reminded that there is no COA meeting in July. PUBLIC COMMENT : None ADJOURNMENT Being no further business, Ms. Dwyer moved to adjourn the COA meeting. Ms. Grant seconded. On vote, motion carried unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 10:39AM UPCOMING MEETING SCHEDULE Annual Meeting June 9, 2015, 9:30am No July meeting August 11, 2015, 9:30am Respectfully Submitted Susan Doherty - Administrative Assistant Lunenburg - Council on Aging