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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-04-12-COA-minLEXINGTON COUNCIL ON AGING Minutes of COA Meeting April 12, 2005 Attending; Marian Cohen, Chairperson Betty Borghesani Don Chisholm Bob Edwards Dan Fenn Lauren MacNeil, Social Services Director Frieda Oliner Richard Pagett, Selectmen Liaison Jane Trudeau Mimi Aarens, Visitor Minutes of Previous Meeting Not discussed. COA Membership The question was raised regarding the procedure when the normal three year term of duty of members on the COA has been completed. Richard Pagett and Marian stated they believed that someone from the Town Offices would ask whether that person was interested in staying for another term, and if so, that person might re- apply for appointment. Otherwise replacements would be sought. The Board of Selectmen would still have to make the usual final approval of the appointment. Marian agreed to obtain further specifics on the process. Senior Center Facility Plans Most of the remainder of the meeting was devoted to this subject. Marian reported the outcome of the Town Meeting debate and vote on use of the North Street property. Although she and a number of others spoke in favor delaying action until better studies of the potential for use as either a site for a new Senior Center or for use by LEXHAB, the meeting members voted instead to allocate the property for Conservation Land. This appears to tie it up for an indefinite period, and effectively removes it from further consideration as a Senior Center site. Selectman Hank Manz said he is sympathetic to the need for a new Senior Center, but evidently felt the environmental considerations outweighed that in this case. He may be a helpful supporter in the future, however. John Rosenberg said the North Street property was too far from the town center to make a good location for seniors. He also has distributed an e -mail saying that the COA has been adamantly opposed to re -use of existing structures, and wants only a new building. This, of course, is untrue. Marian will compose an e -mail correcting this impression, to be sent to Town Meeting members, Several of the members at this COA meeting had opinions on possible reconsideration of the Monroe School building for a Senior Center. Although the location is convenient, there are several drawbacks. The site occupies only a little over an acre of land. Parking is limited. Neighbors may be against it. The building is in bad condition, has numerous small rooms, and would need a lot of expensive reworking, for which funds are very limited. However, we only considered sharing the building with the Arts group in previous studies. It was agreed to review the site again with the idea of using it solely for COA functions. Dan Fenn offered to go through it for another look. The Battlegreen Inn site was considered briefly, but Richard Pagett felt that the high costs of dismantling the present layout and completely rebuilding it would be prohibitive, and would not receive the necessary financial support from the town. Leo McSweeney said that because there were so few funds likely to be available for a new senior center, we should concentrate on fixing up the present facility, plus outsourcing programs to other venues to increase services where needed. We may decide to pursue both approaches, i.e., continue looking at alternate sites while at the same time upgrading and expanding utilization of what we have. Richard Pagett suggested we should try to get a release from the School Committee on future use of the old Harrington School for our needs, even though it is as much as ten years away. We need to establish whether there is really any possibility of its assignment to us, or whether other plans are already being made. Marian will talk to Tom Diaz about this. Dan Fenn suggested a forum be set up, to include members of various town committees and interested parties, for airing the needs for improving or replacing the Senior Center, and the status of, or prospects for, other sites. The segmented, piecemeal discussions seem to be continually running into obstacles from various groups, and need a broader discussion format. Dan also recommended we review past studies that were made several years ago, which provided strong evidence that a new center was necessary, and that outlined the specific interests of our senior population. Marian will talk to one or more of the Selectmen on the idea of a broad forum, a public hearing, to try to reach some conclusions on the Senior Center problem, as suggested by Dan. Lauren stated that the nature of participation by seniors at our center is changing. We do not get as many volunteers, nor do we get people who come and stay to socialize, as we used to. People now are more inclined come to specific programs and then leave afterward. Also, we are getting people who are still in relatively active and in good health for their age, and probably have other outside interests. She feels this could have an influence on the type of center we plan for the near future. She sees a need for more offices for private consultations, tax workers, social service consultations, etc., and thinks we might want to send some activities, such as exercise programs, out to other locations to conserve space in the present building. There has not been much input from the FCOA recently, and their help will be essential in refurbishing the present senior center facility and planning any renovations. It was decided another joint meeting was needed between the COA and FCOA groups to see how to coordinate our activities better. A tentative date of Wednesday, May 25 , was selected for this meeting, subject to agreement from the FCOA. The next COA regular meeting will be Wednesday, May 11 at 4 PM Respectfully submitted, Robert E. Edwards Acting Secretary