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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil on Aging Minutes 1-12-2021 North Andover Council on Aging Virtual Meeting(via Google-Meet) January 12,2021 @ 9:00 A.M. Minutes Attendance Members Present: Jennifer Abou-ezzi, Quentara Costa, Joseph McCarthy,Maria Rosati {Treasurer}, Patricia Riley, Tracy Shea {Secretary}, Laurence Smith {Chair}, David VanArsdale {Vice-Chair} Absent: John Graham Others Present: Irene O'Brien, Director of Elder Services; Cahla Ahlstrom, Outreach Manager& Assistant Director Call to order: 9:04 AM Roll call& Governor's Notice on Open Meeting/Virtual Meeting was read by Larry Smith Minutes: The meetings were approved on motion by Maria Rosati, second by Dave VanArsdale. Discussion: Nominating Committee: Maria Rosati- Several individuals have shown interest for the COA Board Jennifer Malanian-Activities director for seniors for the last 13 years Eileen Donovan-Community services director at Brightview Steve St.Jean-Retired engineer Heather Takesian-has already met with Selectmen Board of NA. Maria spoke with Heather and feels she would be a nice fit. Larry Smith mentioned that when they are ready,the nominating committee should make a motion to the Board of a candidate they want the Board of Selectmen to consider. Dave Van Arsdale mentioned that we have no position over the Board of Selectmen to accept or not any new board member. Larry Smith mentioned that we have our nominating committee to give recommendations to the town Board of Selectmen. Additional committee member Quentara Costa, suggested they shelve the motion for a week to allow the committee to speak with Board of Selectmen on who may have already come forward with interest in the COA. Maria agreed that would be a good idea. Quentara asked the group who she should reach out to at the town for this information and both Larry and Irene suggested Quentara contact Jillian Brothers at the NA Town Hall. Joe McCarty mentioned that the past town manager did not solicit input from the town boards on recommendations for new appointees and was happy with this new progress under our new town manager. Finance Committee:David VanArsdale- No current information to report. Tax Abatement Committee: Quentara Costa- Quentara has spoken with the Town Assessor,William Mitchell. She has an upcoming meeting with William and the new NA web developer John Hyland at 9:OOAM on 01/14/21. All board members are invited to the meeting and Quentara will send out the GOOGLE evite. From this meeting Quentara is hoping to further this project along. This project will allow our seniors to have access to a portal where they can find out if they have eligibility for any tax abatement credits. Building Committee: Patricia Riley- No current information to report. Senior Center Updates: Irene O'Brien- The budget has been submitted to the town manager for level funding. Items that contribute to the budget: Equipment: lease/maintenance/copies Training and education Telephones and two cellphones Postage Community Education Health Clinic Social Activities Office Supplies Uniform and clothing Dues and Memberships Grand Total $292, 159.54 Irene will send out a copy of the above budget report to the board prior to the next meeting. Dave VanArsdale made a motion for the board to acknowledge these figures were provided by Irene. The motion was seconded by Joseph Nahill and approved unanimously. Community food distribution sites that had a twice weekly drive thru has ended. FY2021 Irene has requested more food donations to drop off at senior housing. They provided 16 sessions with a total of 133 participants for the return to work program. The average age of the attendee was 64. They are maintaining the friendly visit program and do a quarterly outreach. A test pilot program"soup is on" at two housing communities was successful in 2020. Due to COVID 19, this program is shut down for the time being. In June of FY2020 the NA Board of Selectmen increased their tax abatement work off program by 10 additional spots. COVID 19 prevented some of the participants from completing their work off hours,however the Board of Selectmen waived the remainder of the hours and granted them their abatement. $20,000 has been received in gift cards and checks for their nutrition program to help keep their food distribution site well stocked. In December over 9,000 food items were collected from the cram the cruise fund raiser. Board Member David VanArsdale,volunteered to help build bags for the food delivery. 2021 Division Goals: 1. Continue to collaborate with other town agencies 2. Compile a team to begin a purge of items that will not be needed in the new senior center 3. Have a senior friendly health fair. Irene thought having it at the Stevens Estate would be a great choice for space and functionality. Joseph McCarthy asked Irene if anyone has had a meeting with Susan McGuire,the replacement to Martha Kashins for the Friends Group. Irene stated that no,they have only met with Sharron in order to hand off checks for deposit. Joseph McCarthy also asked Irene if there was any oversight on who has access to the funds from the Friends Group. Irene stated that Sharron is the gate keeper and that Lya and herself have access to funds for food purchases. Only 25% of the staff is allowed into the senior center at one time. Irene stated that this equates to one person in the building at a time. Staff of the senior center has not been given priority for receipt of the COVID vaccine. Irene stated that she doesn't see a safe way to open in the near future. Joseph McCarthy commented that we can't make that statement today and we will have to wait and see how things progress months down the line. Board of Health update: Joe McCarthy- Joe also serves as the Chair of the North Andover Board of Health and he gave an update on the COVID- 19 statistics locally and nationally. Please see the attached update. Adjournment at 09:59A.M.,by a motion by Joe Nahill, second by Maria Rosati and approved unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Tracy A. Shea, Secretary