TOWN OF ARLINGTON
COUNCIL ON AGING
27 Maple Street
Arlington, MA 02476-4909
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Karen Nichols, Vice-Chair
Shirley Chapski, Secretary
Regular Meeting of the Council on Aging
June 19, 2008
MINUTES
Place and Time of Meeting: Arlington Senior Center, 27 Maple St, Arlington, 7:00 p.m.
Members Present: William Carey, Mildred Hurd, Harry McCabe, Karen Nichols and Shirley Chapski
Others Present: John Jope, COA Executive Director; Ann FitzGerald, Lucilia Prates (joined the meeting at 7:30) and Joanne Morel
Quorum Identification/Call to Order: Karen Nichols presided and Shirley Chapski kept the minutes. A quorum of 5 was present.
Minutes of the May 15, 2008 Regular Meeting: Harry moved to receive the minutes of the May 15, 2008 meeting, Shirley seconded. The following corrections were made: Under Executive Director’s Report, Item 5, change “Leahy” to “Lahey” in four instances. Harry moved to approve the minutes, as corrected. All in favor. Motion carried.
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REPORT OF THE VICE-CHAIR: Karen reported that (a) John will conduct an in-house Board Training program for all board members in the fall. b) John, Karen, Ann FitzGerald and Joanne Morel participated in a COA Board Training session conducted by Emmett Schmarsow, Executive Office of Elder Affairs, on June 17 at the Bedford COA. (c) Ann MacGowan has agreed to serve as an associate member. Harry moved to approve the election of Ann MacGowan as an Associate Member of the COA board; Shirley seconded; all in favor. Motion carried.
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT:
?Friends of the COA: The Friends group will be a 501C3 nonprofit organization whose sole purpose will be to raise funds for the Council on Aging. Those involved have been working with the attorney on the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws for submission to the State. The next step will be to file with the IRS for nonprofit status. Harry requested that the board be given a copy of the By-Laws of the Friends group as soon as they are available.
?ASA/COA Survey: The information on the returned surveys is being compiled and once this step has been completed John will tabulate the results and present the findings to the Joint Boards Committee.
?Annual Election of Officers: John suggested that the election of officers be held off until the fall; the board will not meet in July and August.
?Arlington Town Day: This annual event is scheduled for September. John will send out a notice and those interested in covering the table on Mass. Ave. can sign up for two-hour shifts.
?Transportation Enterprise Program: Since March, John has raised $10,000 for the program ($5,000 from Mt. Auburn Hospital and $5,000 from Lahey). If the Board wishes to join him in this effort, he will help with guidelines on how to proceed. Discussion followed on possible donors and how to approach them.
?Joint Board Lunch: It was agreed by the members to meet for lunch at the Arlington Senior Center Meal Site on Thursday, June 26 at noon as a prelude to a proposed visit to other senior centers in the fall which would include lunch at one of the centers.
?Minuteman Meal Site Supervisor, Jean Sullivan, will be leaving shortly. She has done a very good job. Marge Scott will staff the position with personnel from other Minuteman meal sites in the interim.
?Mass. Councils on Aging (MCOA): The MCOA is an association of 349 councils on aging in the state. In March, the National Institute of Senior Centers (NISC) and the American Society on Aging held a joint annual conference in Wash. DC, at which time the MCOA received the state association award as the best state association in the country. The MCOA Fall Conference will be held on October 15-17 at Sea Crest in Falmouth, MA. John will furnish more information on the conference when it becomes available.
?National Councils on Aging (NCOA): Received an email from a committee of the National Councils on Aging. They have been looking at the future of senior centers and John downloaded a Power Point presentation they have done and he would like all members to view it. After discussion, Karen suggested it be shown at an ASA/COA Joint Committee Meeting in the fall as a Power Point presentation.
?John referred to a letter published in the June 19 Advocate from an individual who visited the Tewksbury and Marshfield senior centers and said those centers put Arlington’s senior center to shame. Discussion followed and Bill Carey suggested we invite Rep. Sean Garballey to our September meeting and the new state senator to a later meeting and lay out a shopping list of COA needs. Those interested need to sit down with Bill and work on setting priorities.
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OTHER REPORTS
?COA Representative/Liaison to Minuteman Senior Services: No report.
?COA Representative/Liaison to the ASA: Mildred had no report. She has also not been notified of upcoming meetings and Karen asked Harry to do what he can to see that Mildred receives notice of meetings.
?ASA Representative to COA: Joan Caterino reported trips are going well and next month Maureen Jackson is planning a barbecue with movie to follow. The ASA Annual Meeting and election of officers is July 20 at 12:30. The Program Committee is working on different programs but parking continues to be a problem which affects attendance.
?Budget Committee: The Committee met in June and reviewed the figures. With regard to the Transportation Enterprise budget, John explained that we are spending about $30,000 a year more than we are taking in. One of the things that have happened is that we have not been billed for most of last years’ taxi service nor has the taxi company signed the contract for this year but still provides service. Consequently, we have about $25,000 to $27,000 more in the kitty than was expected. We asked for block grant assistance in the amount of $67,850 and were granted $62,000. We are going into the new year with the transportation enterprise fund just shy of $100,000-- about $25,000 short of the amount needed to fund the program. Karen added that the board had voted previously to transfer up to $12,000 from the Sevoyan Fund towards the
cost of new van. John also added that we have transferred funds from the Sevoyan trust into a subsidy fund to help subsidize transportation to medical appointments for those in need.
?Joint ASA/COA Committee: The committee met on June 2, 2008 and reviewed the results of the Survey which was mailed out this spring. 1000 surveys went out to randomly selected Arlingtonians. Copies were also sent to COA volunteers and Town officials as well as the police and fire department chiefs. Harry asked for a sample copy of the survey and John said he would send copies to the board members.
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Annual Election of Officers: Karen asked that the board consider postponing the annual election of officers until the September meeting by which time the new board members should be sworn in. Shirley moved to table the election of officers to serve until the next Annual Meeting in May 2009 until the September meeting. Bill seconded the motion; all in favor. Motion carried.
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NEW BUSINESS
Harry reported that the Lions Club in Arlington would like to contribute a sum of money to the COA. It was agreed that it be committed to the COA Transportation fund and Harry asked them for a letter with their donation check stipulating that it go into the Transportation fund and it should further stipulate that any interest earned by the town on that money be returned to the Arlington Council on Aging. Karen said we will send a thank you letter to them after receipt of the contribution.
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Discussion took place on the desirability of putting lettering on the new van listing names of donors including the Commonwealth of Mass. Harry asked John to compile a list of donors.
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There being no further business to come before the meeting, Harry moved to adjourn; Shirley seconded; all in favor. Motion carried. Adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
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Shirley Chapski, Secretary
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Next Regular Meeting September 17, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
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