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News/Events - Meeting Minutes

Attendees: Pam Davis-Chairman, Florence Choate-Director, Dale Balog, Gerard Fierimonte, Joan Powers, Richard Mitchell, John Danehey, BOS Liaison

Meeting called to order at 6:00 PM

2.Vote To Accept Minutes of January, 2012 Meeting:
--Accepted unanimously

Staff and Director Reports:

Director:

--January (alas, there was no meeting held in Feb.) was a busy month. Attendance for many of our programs is growing. The Director stated that we will have to increase programming which will result in the need for more funds. It could also result in learning to work with fewer resources.
--The Director thanked the Rotary for their generous donation. It is being used to help seniors heat their homes.
--The Director also wished the best to Town Clerk, Bernice Brown, who is retiring soon.

Outreach
-- Home visits 2, Office visits 21, meetings attended 3, telephone calls 78, referrals
made 29, duplicated numbers 112 and unduplicated 54. Outreach has been taking part in Webinars through NCOA.

Transportation
--Daily (Scituate) van rides 522, LINK 68, Volunteer 11, TOTAL RIDES 599. Our Volunteers donated 60 hours driving seniors to their medical appointments and 15 hours escorting seniors to same. Our vans drove a total of 1304 miles.

Director:

--February started with the first phase of our Health and Wellness workshops at the Scituate Harbor Community Center. We had a huge crowd; triple the numbers from the COA building. The second phase is on March 6 and the third and final phase on April 11. It’s a great series.
--The Valentine’s Day luncheon was well attended—max numbers that we are able to house on Brook St.
--The Volunteer Luncheon is scheduled for May 2nd and will be held at the Maritime Center. Jim Cantwell will be the guest speaker.

Outreach
--Home visits 4, Office visits 44, meetings attended 2, Telephone calls 54, Referrals made 34, Duplicated numbers 103, unduplicated numbers 58.

Transportation
--Daily vans 516, LINK 44, Volunteer 14. Our LINK transport to dialysis has fallen off a bit. We use the budgeted funds to transport more seniors to out of town medical rides. Our volunteers donated 44 hours driving and escorting our seniors. Total miles driven in February, 2012 were 1358.

Old Business
--John Danehy, our liaison from the BOS, attended the meeting. He delivered to our Board, some ideas concerning the long term strategic plan for the Town. The Gates School has been studied by engineers and deemed structurally sound. The question is do we tear it down and rebuild or enhance it and bring it up to today’s standard? Do we then use it for a Town Hall, a Senior Center, a Rec Dept., and a Middle School? Do we tear down existing Town Hall and Fire Station and use for new Middle School? So many questions will be answered within 2-3 years with a feasibility study. Hopefully from there, another 2 years to build.
--Ms Davis asked Mr. Danehy for use of the current Harbor Community Building until we have a new location for the Senior Center. He said that the Pier 44 Committee may have an answer by the end of March. He also suggested that the present Senior Center could be offices and the Community Building could be used for programs.
--Mr. Danehy also mentioned a parcel of land on 3A that is a possibility for the seniors.
--Mrs. Choate asked if perhaps this land could be used for 55+ housing. This would be very helpful to seniors and create a tax base for the Town. She also stated that GATRA certification may come by the end of March. Following a vote by Selectmen, the BOS and COA can meet to establish the best routes for seniors and good routes for tourism.
--Mr. Mitchell asked Mr. Danehy about the development of new business in our town
to broaden our tax base. Mr. Danehy replied that Greenbush is the preferable area due to location. The water is 180 degrees is Scituate. We can draw on the boaters for business but with only one harbor. Greenbush does not have water problems, plus there is sewer service there unlike Humarock, N. Scituate, and Scituate Harbor. Mr. Danehy cited Cohasset and their good visibility in establishing their businesses on 3A. Scituate’s 3A area is “green.” Therefore Greenbush and the Driftway are our best locations for business development.
--Ms Davis asked Mr. Danehy our chances of keeping our 1.9 mil authorized by the Town in 2004 for a new Senior Center (and reauthorized in 2006). Mr. Danehy explained that that money is unfunded and must be stricken from the books in order for the Town to improve its rating.
--The Director raised the point of our successful fund-raising and the security of those funds, i.e. not being transferred to the General Fund. He assured the Director that our funds are secure.
--Mr. Danehy said that the BOS and COA Board need to set up a meeting in April.

New Business
--Ms Davis passed out the parts in the Town Meeting Warrant that affect the Senior Center. This included the Revolving Fund (programs), Article 4, J. the 375K engineering services for feasibility of Master Plan and Article 6, the COA’s 1.9 Mil that the Town wants rescinded.
--In regard to the COA Budget, The Director is transferring 9K from a Transportation Grand and 3K from the 07 Formula Grant. These funds are being used to pay for the new van. The program/revolving account has $ 23,981 and the Gift Account has $31, 160.

Reports
--SSES Update by Joan Powers
--There is a home care waiting list (State)
--Cuts for Meals on Wheels (no new)
--Visiting Angels Dance Fund Raiser at the River Club on April 21 @ 6:30 PM
Donation is $50.00 per person.

--Comm. On Disabilities by Jerry Fiermonte
--Jerry attended a meeting on Feb. 15, 2012 and GATRA was discussed. The next meeting will be on March 29, 2012.

--Meeting Adjourned at 7:35 PM.

Respectfully submitted

Quincie-Ann Cutler

ADDENDUM TO COA BOARD MEETING MINUTES OF MARCH 14, 2012

Agenda and minutes of the January 2012 meeting are available at the Town Clerks office

Staff and Director reports are available at the COA, 27 Brook St., Scituate

Town Warrant is available at the Town Clerk’s office