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BOARD MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 10, 2011
The meeting was called to order at 4:30 pm by Chairman Tom Hickey.
Attending: Katherine Bennett, Leah Godfrey, Chrisanne Gregoire, Thomas Hickey, Norma Jackson,
Susan Kiernan, Particia LaLiberte, Ann Manning, Arthur LeMay, Joanne Pollick, Barbara
Farnworth, Director
Absent: Peter Hanson
SECRETARY'S REPORT – Susan Kiernan noted that the call to order time should be 4:30 pm, not 5:30 pm. Motion by Chrisanne Gregoire, 2nd by Arthur LeMay to accept the minutes of the December 13, 2010 meeting as corrected. Motion passed unanimously.
TREASURER'S REPORT – Norma Jackson reported that the Donation Account revenues for December were $1,933 and year-to-date is $52,381. Expenses for December were $1,682.55. The Donation Account balance as of 12/31/2010 was $29,733.14
Norma Jackson reviewed a comparison chart of Annual Appeal donations from 2006 to present. Tom Hickey asked for information regarding the amount that we usually receive from January – April. Barbara Farnsworth stated that we generally received approximately $2000 - $3000 during this time frame. Patricia LaLiberte asked about a reminder in the newsletter and Barbara Farnsworth stated that there is one along with the "more thank yous" in the February newsletter. Chirsanne Gregoire commented that 09/10 was a much bigger year than all the others. Barbara Farnsworth stated that there was no particular reason that she could find for the increase in 09/10.
Municipal Account balance as of 12/31/2010 was $146,649.59.
Motion by Joanne Pollick, second by Katherine Bennett to accept the Treasurer's report as presented. Motion passed unanimously.
Barbara Farnsworth reported that she will be submitting a request for a Reserve Fund transfer in the amount of $3,000 to cover the repair and maintenance line item for vehicles.
DIRECTOR'S REPORT
FISCAL 2012 BUDGET UPDATE
• Operating Budget – The Selectmen have voted the budgets following their meetings with all Departments and the Elder Services Budget was voted at the level services budget including the requested increase for the Property Tax-Work Off Program. Our meeting with the Advisory Board has not yet been scheduled.
• We met with the Capital Budget Committee on Thursday, December 23 to discuss our request for a vehicle this year and the replacement schedule for the other vehicles – black van and medical van. Capital Budget will make their recommendations following their review of all requests. Capital Budget is aware of our grant application for a new vehicle.
• Formula Grant for FY2012 – The Governor's Budget will be released in January as House 2. Again, if the new census numbers are implemented for Fiscal Year 2012, the Formula Grant line item will need an additional 1.2 million to maintain the $7.00/elder. MCOA is looking at several scenarios to recommend to Elder Affairs – one scenario is to delay the implementation of the new census numbers until Fiscal Year 2013.
Chrisanne Gregoire asked if the Formula Grant allocation included the Linden Ponds Census. Barbara Farnsworth explained that the Formula Grant allocation is based on the Federal Census because it is the most consistent – not every community conducts an annual census. The Formula Grant will be utilizing the 2012 Census for implementation of this grant and at that time, the numbers from Linden Ponds will be included.
MAP5 – The transition of this grant from Norwell to Hingham has gone very smoothly. Our first on-site monitoring has been scheduled for January 20. During this visit, SSES will review our compliance with the grant requirements.
WISDOM WORKS – The second session of this program will start on January 20. The Journal featured the program in last week's edition. Carol Meyer did a great job writing the article. Barbara has forwarded it Elder Affairs who then circulated to all the COA's in the state. Based on the comments from the evaluations during the first round and the workshop leaders comments, we will be making some adjustments to the program. It will now be a five week not four week program. The mentors will begin working one-on-one following the second session and more time will be devoted to on-line networks that are available for job searches.
UP AND COMING PROGRAMS – In March, we will be hosting "Navigating Senior Services" on Wednesday, evening March 2. A light supper will be served and is being provided by Allerton House, the program sponsor. Also, we will again hold the "Upside of Downsizing" Program. This program was very successful last year and provides very useful information about issues that you need to consider to either stay in your own home vs. moving to a smaller residence.
SHINE – SHINE Counselors Joan Brown and Cecilie Godderidge "went above and beyond" during the Open Enrollment for Medicare D. This particularly busy season was further complicated because Harvard/Pilgrim terminated its Advantage Plan and many of the physicians in the area are no longer accepting Tufts. Both women worked additional hours and days to make sure that all those who had contacted SHINE for assistance received this assistance. Susan Kiernan recommended that a "thank you" on behalf of the Board be sent to Joan and Cecilie.
Chrisanne Gregoire discussed the assistance that is available to help cancer patients with grocery shopping, errands and housecleaning. Barbara Farnsworth stated that Elder Services is aware of the program and the information is in our resource file.
OLD BUSINESS – None
NEW BUSINESS
Annual Appeal 2011 – Barbara Farnsworth stated that based on the discussion held at the June 2010 Board meeting, the Board had wanted to ensure that the Annual Appeal was mailed in April as had been in previous years, rather than May. Katherine Bennett volunteered to draft a letter for review by the Board at their February meeting and letter should be finalized at the March meeting. Arthur LeMay discussed expanding how the mailing is sent to businesses and suggested that it be sent in a manner that lists the contact name, instead of just the general business name. Arthur has compiled this information. Katherine Bennett will also draft a separate letter for the businesses.
Susan Kiernan asked about emailing the newsletter and the number who are now receiving the newsletter via email. Currently there are 100 individuals who have opted for email. Discussion regarding why individuals are not signing up for email. Barbara also stated that we are continuing to verify our data base to ensure that we have the correct birth year for everyone. We are doing this verification because we noted on our 2010 EOEA Annual Report that we had a very high percentage of individuals under 75 participating in Senior Center activities. The norm is for the majority of individuals to be 75 and older.
There being no further business, motion by Susan Kiernan, second by Joanne Pollick for adjournment was passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 5:24 pm.
The next regular meeting of the Board will be held on Monday, February 14, 4:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Patricia LaLiberte
Secretary