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Town of Hampden

Regular Meeting of Council on Aging Board
9:00AM at the Hampden Senior Center
Feb. 8, 2005

Approved: March 8, 2005

In Attendance: Brian Macleod, Becky Moriarty, Al Ouimet, Shirley Gouvan, Arlene Fisher, Ruth Haley, Rita Vail, Virginia Schneider, Pat Clark, John Flynn.  

Absent: John Shay

Brian called the meeting to order at 8:35 am

The Secretary’s report was reviewed and accepted

The Treasurer’s report was reviewed and accepted

The Director’s report was reviewed and accepted,

• Becky has requested building policies from other senior centers, but has not heard anything back. She will notify the board when she receives information.
• The Advisory Board meeting will be February 28th at 6:45 PM please try to attend!!
• The Brown Bag Program is up and running, Becky will give us an update at the next meeting as to how it is flowing.
• The weekly movie will stay in the Library

• The Friends did not vote on the new sign at their last meeting because they did not have a quorum. Their next meeting will be on March 8th and a vote will take place at that meeting.
• Becky. Rita, and Shirley met to review our budget for next year. It was felt that expenses The Friends of the Seniors have assisted us with should be listed, as many of the items were for maintenance. Concern was expressed as to the town’s interpretation of this.  We do not want there to be an assumption that, due to our having The Friend’s, we will not need an increase in our budget funding.  The consensus of this group was that The Friend’s, funded by donations from individuals, should be able to utilize their monies to increase options and programs within the Center.
• Discussion continued as to how to make individual townspeople aware of what our needs are and how they may contribute.  Ideas were to publish a wish list, identify how people have donated in the past, and to utilize The Scribe and the Wilbraham /Hampden Times for this purpose as both are well received in the community.
• The arm chairs for the dining room have been priced at $85.95 apiece by Arlene. Shipping and handling would be additional. The desire is to have 8 chairs donated for the great room. Conklin office supply did not have chairs that would meet our needs. Pat will bring in a catalog as another option and Arlene will look into these.
• Friends have approved the cost of the picture rail system as presented by Arlene. She will order the system and contact Marty Artioli for installation.
• The Board of Health has given Becky forms that can be filled out for individuals to obtain temporary Handicap Placards. These are issued for a 3-month period and can be renewed one time. She has forms for long-term placards as well. They do require a physician signature. Once completed The Board of Health will process them
• Becky received a request form a staff person that we open the Senior Center at 9 am on Mondays. Becky does appreciate that some individuals are confused by the fact that it is the only day that opens at 9:30 instead of 9:00.  This was changed due to the budgetary losses and will remain the same until July 1, 2005.
• The Selectmen would like to develop a building usage policy.  They have requested that we apprise them of what needs to be identified when our building is utilized by other groups in the community. Cleaning costs, potential damage repair, Utility fees, and staffing salaries were identified. We also want to address which group functions would be appropriate for the facility. It was expressed that onetime gatherings by non-profit organizations may be appropriate. Requests have been made in the past for baby showers, funeral receptions, etc. it was felt that this may not be the proper venue for these types of affairs. Becky will do a search to see if other Senior Centers in the state have already developed policies regarding this. It was also noted that alternative options are available in the community e.g. Town Hall, Green Meadows, churches, and the Historical Society. We will further address this at our next meeting.
• There is a forthcoming need to paint our building. Becky will identify this to the town. There was some discussion as to individuals donating their talents in this endeavor. Thank you Brian!
• The exercise bike, table shuffle board and ping pong table in the pool room are consistently not be utilized yet take up a fair amount of space. Arlene suggested having these items removed and card table setup so that individuals can play cards, games, etc. it was felt that this would be a better option.
• The Toenail clinic being held in the craft room has been looked upon unfavorable by many. The thought of airborne toenails as well as the large room being occupied for a small physical need were concerns. The clinic is here 2 days a month, Becky will look into the option of using the Health room instead. The Health room is limited as Tedi-Ann works in that office three times per week. She will evaluate the BP clinic location as well.
• It was noted that the trip to Foxwoods ,shared by the Monson Senior Travel Group ,was attended by 26 people from Hampden.  They expressed having had a wonderful time and looking forward to other joint ventures.
• Rita Vail brought up an idea about the generator being put onto a mobile unit which would allow the generator to be moved in the event of a town emergency. The Selectmen were looking into the purchase of a trailer to put the generator on. There was much discussion regarding this idea. Nothing is definite at this time. Becky will look into getting estimates for installing the generator here at the senior center.
• Becky is still looking for additional volunteers for the BRIDGES program.

The meeting was ended at 9:50 am. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, March 8, 2005.

Respectfully submitted,

Ruth Haley, Secretary