ARLINGTON COUNCIL ON AGING
27 Maple Street
Arlington, MA 02476-4909
Robert Tosi, Jr., Chair
Karen Nichols, Vice Chair
Shirley Chapski, Secretary
Regular Meeting of the Council on Aging
January 17, 2008
MINUTES
Place and Time of Meeting: ~Arlington Senior Center, 27 Maple St., Arlington, 7:30 p.m.
Members Present: ~Robert Tosi, Jr., Harry McCabe, Ann MacGowan, Karen Nichols and Shirley Chapski.
Members Absent: ~William Carey and Mildred Hurd ~
Others Present: ~John Jope, COA Executive Director, and Joan Caterino, Arlington Seniors Association.
Quorum Identification/Call to Order: ~Bob Tosi, Jr. presided and Shirley Chapski kept the minutes. A quorum of 5 was present.
Minutes of the November 8, 2007 Special Meeting: ~ Shirley moved to approve the Minutes of the November 8, 2007 meeting, Ann seconded, all in favor. ~Motion carried.
Minutes of the November 15, 2007 Regular Meeting: ~Harry moved to receive the Minutes of the November 15, 2007 meeting, Ann seconded. ~John made the following correction to the minutes: P. 2, Unfinished Business, Recommendations for Funding for FY 2009, line 3: delete the word “received” and insert the words, “applied for.” Ann moved that the Minutes be approved, as amended, Shirley seconded, all in favor. ~Motion carried.
Citizens’ Open Forum: ~None
REPORT OF THE CHAIR:
•COA Board: ~Paul West finished his term on the Council on Aging at the end of December. There are now two open positions on the board. In Bob’s article for an upcoming issue of Senior Notes he describes the function and makeup of the COA board and encourages people to consider becoming either a member or an associate member of the COA board.
•Correspondence: ~Bob read a thank you note from Kay McCabe for the flower arrangements she received from the COA during her recent illness.
•Warrant Article for Town Meeting: ~A warrant article has been submitted to continue the Harry Barber Community Service Program.
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT: ~In addition to the Director’s Report, attached hereto, John added the following:
•Item 3 — ~Request to Approve Annual Transfer of $10,000 from the Sevoyan Trust to the Sevoyan Dental Subsidy Program: ~Karen moved to approve the transfer of $10,000 from the Sevoyan Trust Fund to the Sevoyan Dental Subsidy Program; Shirley seconded; all in favor. ~Motion carried.
•Item 4 — 1991 Council Work Session Notes: ~John feels it would be worthwhile to review the notes to determine how we are doing. This is something the board members can peruse on their own. The 2008 and 2009 Objectives, as determined by the department, are reflected in the Annual Report which was approved by the Executive Committee. A copy of the Annual Report is included in this meeting’s board package. ~Bob noted that in the report, page 8 - “Performance/Workload Indicators”: the chart depicting “Units of Service Delivered” lacks verbiage. John explained that it was his intent to just give an indication of the rising number of units of service provided, but he will provide the board with supporting numbers. ~Discussion followed on keeping a log on duplicated and unduplicated
units of service delivered.
•Item 5 — Dial-A-Ride Taxi Contract: ~In December, the Executive Committee approved the Dial-A-Ride taxi contract. It is in place and will be signed by Arlex Taxi and then delivered to the Town Purchasing Agent. In the new contract, a one-way taxi ride will cost $6.95 which is less than the fee for a one-way trip in the prior contract.
~•Item 6 — Suggested Increase in One-Way Van Ride to and From the Senior Center: ~John will qualify this suggestion in a presentation he will give later in the meeting to update everyone on the state of the Transportation Enterprise Fund.
•Formula Grant: ~The Formula Grant Award Letter for his fiscal year has been received. The amount is $57,740.
~OTHER ~REPORTS:
•COA Representative/Liaison to Minuteman Senior Services: ~Harry had nothing unusual to report at this time.
•COA Representative/Liaison to the Seniors Association: John recalled that Karen and Bill were going to get information on a possible joint endeavor with the ASA, a “Walkathon,” and present their findings to the ASA board. Karen said she has not been able to follow up on this yet but will report back when she has the information.
•Arlington Seniors Association Representative to COA: ~Joan Caterino, ASA representative, said because of the holidays and her travel out of state she is a bit behind. She is busy coordinating trips and movies for the ASA. Discussion followed on program participants’ sign in procedures and record keeping.
•Budget Committee: The December meeting was canceled because of the weather. The next meeting is Monday, February 4, 2008 at 11:30 a.m.
•Joint ASA/COA Committee: ~The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, February
4, 2008 at 10:30 a.m.
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
Bob said he would like to include two items not listed on the Agenda, namely: Meeting Times and the letter to Christine Connolly concerning recommendations for FY09 funding.
•Transportation Program Update & Discussion: ~John made a presentation on the Transportation Enterprise Program. Total income for the fiscal year is approximately $111,180 less expenses of ~$91,990 leaving a balance of $19,190 which is not enough to go into FY09 with. Assuming we receive $57,000 in block grant funding for next year we will still have a $30,000 to $35,000 shortfall. At this point he sees two possibilities, (a) bring over $30,000 -$35,000 from the Sevoyan Bequest Fund to the Transportation Enterprise Fund to buttress what we need for next year, or (b) lay off the drivers and sell the vans. Bob questioned the figures saying every time we look at the numbers they are new again--they change; he thought we were good for FY09 and that FY10 would be the difficult time. After a lengthy discussion, Bob
thanked John for his presentation and said further financial information on each element of the program would be
helpful.
•Recommendations for Funding for FY2009 COA Budget: ~At the November meeting John distributed a draft of a letter to Christine Connolly delineating the COA’s recommendations for FY2009 funding. ~The revised letter which includes the board’s suggestions is in tonight’s board package. ~Bob asked that the board vote on each item individually.
Item 1: ~ ~ As this agency has applied for a grant from the Executive Office of Transportation & Construction for 80% of the cost of a new van, that the remaining 20% (approximately $10,000) be taken from the Capital Budget and not from the Transportation Enterprise Fund. Motion was made to approve the foregoing recommendation and all voted in favor. Motion carried.
Item 2: ~ ~ That the agency’s Intake & Referral Worker position is an agency-wide position. In the past decade, this position has been reduced from 36 hours a week to the present 19 hours per week, while the workload has continually increased and additional responsibilities have been incurred. Therefore, the Board is recommending that this position be increased from the present 19 hours a week to 21 hours a week in FY2009, and be funded from the General Fund rather than from the Transportation Enterprise Fund.~ ~ If the hours remained at 19 per week in FY2009 the annual cost would be $20,857. If the hours were increased to 21 per week, the position would then be a benefited position. Thus, the cost would be approximately $23,052 for the 21 hours, and if benefits were at ~25% of salary, the total would come to
$28,815.
After discussion, it was suggested that a sentence be added to the recommendation ~summarizing the Intake & Referral Worker’s position, its importance, and that it is a critical position. John will revise the paragraph to include the foregoing suggestion, send the revision to the board and with the board’s approval, deliver the document to Ms. Connolly. Motion was made to approve the recommendation with the agreed upon job clarification; all voted in favor. Motion carried.
Item 3: ~ ~ That all costs related to the operation of the ~COA vans be funded from the General Fund and not the Transportation Enterprise Fund. These expenses were $92,253 in FY2007 and are projected to be $91,990 in FY2008. A lengthy interchange took place and Bob finally proposed that we not approve Item #3 at this time and address it at a future time, Motion was made not to include Item 3 in the recommendations to Ms. Connolly; all voted in favor.
Motion carried.
•COA Meeting Times: ~Bob explained that changing the time of the COA Regular Meeting to 7:00 p.m. was tried in November, but it ended up starting at 7:30--the usual time. After discussion, Ann moved that, as a pilot plan, to change the time of the next meeting to Monday, February 11, 2008 at 3:00 p.m.; Shirley seconded; all in favor. Motion carried.
NEW BUSINESS:
CORI Checks for COA Board Members: John said that Christine Connolly and he think it would be a good idea for all board members to be CORI checked. CORI Request Forms were istributed to be filled out by the board and returned to John.
~ ~ There being no further business to come before the meeting, Harry moved to adjourn; Shirley seconded; all in favor. Motion carried. ~ Adjourned at 9:25 p.m.
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~ ~ Shirley Chapski, Secretary
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