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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-01-12-COA-minMINUTES Council on Aging January 12, 2006 Attendin Marian Cohen, Chairperson Betty Borghesani Guest; Shirley Buck Bob Edwards Don Graham Paul Lapointe Leo McSweeney Frieda Oliner Jane Trudeau Richard Pagett, Selectman Tom Griffiths, School Committee Lauren MacNeil, Director of Social Services The minutes of the Dec 13, 2005 meeting were accepted, Adult� - following decisions Lauren reported that she met with Carl Valente the Town Manager and the been made subject to approval by the Selectmen; Fees; As of 2/1/06 out of town clients will be charged $14,05 per person per ride which is the actual cost. Residents per de t er erso e ch nut man Seni per ride per or or Ser icesgives us a t l grant to b subsidize increased $1.0o pe p p individual clients who provide proof of need. We are subsidizing four (4) clients at the present time, Schedule; The program will be increased to five days per week as of July 1, 2006, Richard Pagett asked if we would be able to fill our 30 slots, Lauren believes it will fill because there is a need for a five (5) day program, Staffing With expanded pro oeach p art n addition, we hire a full -time administrator ator each, Presently, they y work eight (8) hours per week for billing who will also be an extra person at the ADC to help when needed, ViceVice Chan Marian Cohen nominated Paul Lapointe to fill the vacancy created by the death of Don Chisholm as Vice Chairman of the COA, The COA voted unanimously in favor of his appointment. Volunteer Grant Opportuni ear' rants to Senior Marian Cohen reported that the National Council on Aging is awarding three (3) y g Centers who will work with their community to mobilize newly retired Seniors to address community needs. The grant which is for $26,000 over the three -year period seeks to address the problem that retired persons multipurpose to identify community needs have the lowest e physical and mental well being of the people a to benefit the physical who keep active by volunteering. A letter of intent must be submitted to NCA by the end of February, Fifteen or twenty g rants will be awarded. MetLife is funding the program The COA voted unanimously to submit a letter of intent. Senior Center Action Committee Marian Cohen reported that the Committee has eliminated both Muzzey Field because of lack of space for night and weekend parking and Moriam Street parking lot because of lack of space for both a Senior Center and Town parking from consideration for the new Senior Center. Harrington School and Munroe School are still under consideration, The disadvantage of Harrington School is the to -year delay in availability. The advantage of Munroe is that it could be available in the near future, The disadvantages are that we would have to split the Senior Center into two locations and use an alternate site for large room events, Torn Griffiths listed the questions and issues that he thought would be raised by Town Meeting regarding the Munroe site as follows; 1. Is it architecturally feasible to create a Senior Center that meets our program needs; 2. How will the arts programs presently using the site be relocated and supported; 3. Justifying the need for a new, larger Senior Center; 4. Have we exhausted all other sites; $, Why is it not possible to use multiple sites for our program; 6. Why a single use rather than a combined community center and therefore shouldn =t this question of use be given to a committee to study (the death knell). Building ing Community Support Paul Lapointe stated that we must malce a stronger case for support to increase public awareness of the need for a new Senior Center, Marian Cohen would like to form a public relations subcommittee. Shirley Buck and Marilyn Stone have arranged with the Minuteman to publish bi- weekly articles on individual Senior volunteers, They need a name for their column. FCOA Bob Edwards reported that Mary Ellen Goodwin has agreed to serve as Treasurer. The next COA meeting will be February 14, 2006 at 3;30 p.m, pectf4 mitted, ne A. Tretary