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News/Events - Meeting Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 6:02PM.
Attendees: Pam Davis-Chairman, Jim Harmon- Vice Chairman, Brendan Lynch – Treasurer, Rocky Carrabes, Gerry Fierimonte, Joan Paley, Joan Powers, Meg Stillman, and Florence Choate- COA Director.

The minutes of the December 10, 2008 meeting were approved.

Directors Reports:
Programs: There were 41 people at the Christmas Party. The field trip to Springfield and Spencer was a success. We’ve had quite a bit of feedback from the Seniors who appreciate the field trips Carolyn is putting together. They like not having to go to the surrounding COA’s for their outings now. Our snow shoveling program pairing Seniors with Gates students is a huge success, and there are extra shovelers available if anyone needs them. Seniors can call the COA for assistance.
The budget will be presented to the Advisory Board on January 8th and to the BOS on January 20th. Your attendance would be appreciated.
The Outreach Coordinator had many calls for help with the changes to the drug coverage program and fuel assistance. Transportation reported 583 rides were provided in December.
We aren’t submitting the budget with a 5% reduction. Until the cuts come down from the State in March we are staying with the present budget. Our storm windows seem to make the building much more comfortable. We’re waiting to see the fuel bills in the next 2 months to see what the benefit is. AARP is presenting a program on January 13th for Senior defensive driving. A certificate will be presented at the end of the one day course and it should help with their insurance. AARP tax preparation assistance starts the first week of February for Seniors needing assistance. Two tax preparers will be available.
Budget: The budget has already been approved by the Town Administrator. Salaries are up due to Union negotiations and the longevity factor for two of our employees. We reduced the amount for Repair and Maintenance and increased Electricity and Nat. Gas by $1K each, vehicle services increased by $700, Cleaning supplies is increased by $200, and Fuels and Lubricants is increased by $1.6K . Postage stays the same and several suggestions were made as to possible ways to reduce it in the future, such as direct emailing to the Seniors. The budget request for 2010 is $234,644.00. The budget was approved.
Old Business:
Feasibility Study- there is a meeting of the PBC at the COA center on January 13th at 7PM. Anyone wishing to attend may come. The RFP will be discussed.
New Business:
Florence obtained an estimate of $650. to have the kitchen and bathroom professionally cleaned. There was a fire in Q Cutler’s office, in an outlet. The fire dept. was called. An electrician replaced the faulty circuit breaker and replaced the outlet. We’ll look into providing additional outlets so as not to overload the existing outlets.

Florence received an email from Emmett Schmarsow, Office of Elder Affairs, regarding green building projects that could be submitted to the State for consideration. They must be shovel ready projects and the deadline was Jan. 8th. The board agrees that this should be an important factor as we work on the project of a new senior center.

Pam Davis reported that we haven’t had a response from Bond Council yet on the $1.9M appropriation. We will ask the BOS to request the Town Council follow up with Bond Council.

SSA Update:

SSA is going to send out their annual fund raising letter sometime in the next few months.
They are planning a program featuring Marsha Estabrook, who re-enacts historical figures, in the spring.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:47 PM

Pam Davis