Town of Hampden
Regular Meeting of Council on Aging Board
9:00AM at the Hampden Senior Center
Jan. 11, 2005
Approved: Feb. 8, 2005
In Attendance: Brian Macleod, Becky Moriarty, John Shay, Al Ouimet, Shirley Gouvan, Arlene Fisher, Ruth Haley, Virginia Schneider, Pat Clark, John Flynn. Guest: Bill Olmstead
Absent: Rita Vail
Brian called the meeting to order at 8:35 am
John Flynn was welcomed as our new member
The Secretary’s report was reviewed and accepted
The Treasurer’s report was reviewed and accepted
The Director’s report was reviewed and accepted,
The Automatic doors are now operational. People have expressed their pleasure in having them up and running. Though some comments have been made about them allowing cold air into the building, they are on a timer and this is needed to allow individuals with walkers and wheelchairs time to enter the facility.
The grant requesting $1,800 in funding for the BRDIGES program has been approved by the W.H.A.T.(Wilbraham/ Hampden Academic Trust) organization. Noel Pixley will send for the curriculum materials and work with the 5th grade teachers at Thorton Burgess to initiate the program then let us know about what is needed in terms of senior volunteers to work with the course curriculum.
Becky has requested a delay in presenting our budget, as the salary increases have not yet been identified to her.
The generator at the Town Hall has been repaired, so we no longer need to contribute ours for use by the police department should a power outage occur.
Mr. Moren met with Becky and reviewed placement of the sign as well as obtained a sample of our siding so that he can match the yellow coloration. The town has approved the sign design and it will be placed on the left side of the driveway near the flowerbed.
Becky, Rita, Shirley and Pat met to review our budget for next year. The COA board will meet with the Advisory Board on February 28th at 6:00 p.m. in the Melville Room at the Town Hall to discuss the impact that budget reductions have had in previous years.
Becky spoke with Christine, the director of the Brown Bag Program in Hatfield. The program will start on Tuesday January 18th with Bill Killian picking up the prepared bags in Ludlow. There are 9 seniors signed up to receive the bag on the 18th. John Shay, Ruth Haley, Rita Vail and Virginia Schneider have all volunteered to drive or be involved in some way.
Shirley worked with Joan Day and spoke with the Monson Senior Travel group. They have agreed to send us notices of their trips, we need to fill out their forms and take the checks to send them, and the flow for this will be worked out internally.
Arlene will solidify her thoughts and prices on the picture hanging rails and bookcase then present them to The Friends through Becky.
Arlene discussed the prices for the new armchairs in the dining area. The cost for shipping seemed to be too high. John Flynn mentioned looking at chairs through Conklin Office Furniture. Arlene will look at other options and will bring back to the board.
The meeting was ended at 9:40 am. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, February 8, 2005.
Respectfully submitted, Ruth Haley, Secretary