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Human Services Committee Board Meeting Notes: September Meeting, 9/20/11 Members Present: Ellen McDonald, Stephanie Lawrence, Barbara Ciampa, Mimi Ballard, Norm Cohen ( Selectman Representative), Gail Fields, Charlotte Rodgers ( HSD Director), Emily Lavine ( HSD), Lea Gardner Elkin, Chair The meeting came to order. Charlotte reported on the changes in the transit and the Lex Press operations. The operational piece of Lexington transit will be under the direction of the HSD since the HSD `deals with people'. The restructuring will require the hiring of a new management position. Duties will include the management of the Lex Press contract, the new point to point contract ( work of the HSD and COA to provide point to point services for seniors), and laison with the school department. ( 60% of the usage of Lexpress is students.) The focus of this position will be coordination. This person will be located in the town office building. The position is a 28 hour /week one and will titled `Transportation Manager'. Charlotte went on to discuss the connection that transportation holds with the human service needs of the community. The use of public transit by students makes the connection to LHS great. Lexington is also seeing an increase in the senior population. And we are seeing empty buses. Again, coordination will be key. Charlotte also went on to explain the point to point service. Currently, the program provides transportation from senior housing to the senior center. The HSD will be starting a point to point taxi program that will eventually blend with the transportation program. The town has hired a new Veteran's Services Operator, Joe Alfonse. He is a teacher with military experience. He is also a Lexington resident. He will be available 24/7 with office hours on Wed. evenings and Thursdays. We will still receive some support from the Woburn office until he is `at full speed' with the job. Currently there are 1200 declared vets who reside in Lexington. Joe has already been doing outreach in the community. He is hired as a salaried position with available hours of town hall operation. He will continue to have backup throught the HSD staff.There will be a meet - and -greet on Oct. 18 at 1:30 at the HSD, Muzzey St. Please come and welcome Joe. There was a discussion on the Muzzey S.C. Study. This was authorized by the town manager in 2009, as a life safety study. It was presented to the Selectmen this September as part of the facilities department study. The study is recommending improvements costing $955,444, plus $200,000 for fire improvements. The HSD is requesting $82,000. Please see report. The Selectmen have recommended putting in a place holder for next year's budget. Gail and Stephanie spoke about the Community Center Committee. They are currently seeking focus group members. They have had presentation by various groups in town for their needs, including the Library, Recreation Dept., etc. It is clear that the Library is being over - utilized in space needs by outside meetings.