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Minutes 11-06-26 MINUTES OF THE SENIOR ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD ON NOVEMBER 6, 2006, AT 3:00 P.M. AT THE SENIOR CENTER, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA Present: Denise Chamberlain, Chair Rose Love, Vice Chair Lillian Bruzzese Robert James Elizabeth Jenkins Berniece Begleiter, Alternate Betty Spinelli, Alternate Steve Lulkin, City Liaison Absent: Leota Suah Christine Wilson I. Call to Order Chair Chamberlain called the meeting to order at 3:02 p.m. II. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag The members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. III. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared a quorum was present. IV. Approval of Agenda Motion Ms. Jenkins moved to accept the agenda as presented, seconded by Ms. Bruzzese and unanimously carried. V. Approval of Minutes of May 15, 2006 Motion Mr. James moved to approve the minutes of May 15, 2006, seconded by Ms. Bruzzese and unanimously carried. Meeting Minutes Sr. Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 6, 2006 VI. Chairperson's Remarks 1) Uodate on Membershio Chair Chamberlain announced that Christine Wilson had moved to Georgia, and had not notified the City or the Chair of her intention to resign from the board, thereby creating a vacancy. Chair Chamberlain had been unable to reach board member Leota Suah, whose telephone had been disconnected. If she, too, had moved or left the area, that would create another vacancy. Betty Spinelli had served as a regular board member for a long time and when she reapplied, was appointed as an alternate. By consensus, the board expressed a desire to see Betty Spinelli moved up to a regular position. Mr. James declared his telephone number had changed from the one shown on the board list and he would bring his new number to the attention of the City Clerk's office. VII. Old Business A) Discussion of Survey on We Care Responses Chair Chamberlain noted that the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) organization had been invited to this meeting, but notified her today they would not be able to attend. A decision had to be made about whether the board was going to continue with the We Care project. There were only nine responses to the survey that was sent to every homeowners association in the City. Also, when Chair Chamberlain tried to telephone the nine respondents, they appeared to be out of town, causing her to believe they were "snowbirds." Only three of the nine could be reached and only one of the three could come to the meeting that was scheduled. She discussed this with RSVP, saying they could not proceed any further until November, when many of the snowbirds came back. RSVP suggested letting the project go for now until after Christmas, when most of the interested people should be back from up north. B) Report on Meeting at St. John Missionary Baptist Church Chair Chamberlain reported there had been very little response from this meeting to the idea of starting a We Care organization through the church. Ms. Love advised that after the meeting, she had received seven responses from church members and she would get the names and telephone numbers to the Chair. Ms. Love explained the Church would not be hosting the program at this time, and she was submitting the names to add to the pool of volunteers to run the We Care program out of the Senior Center. Ms. Bruzzese reported she had spoken to St. Mark Church about this, but they had their own program for taking care of their parishioners and were not interested in participating in We Care. VIII. New Business A) New Info Sheet on Available Transportation Mr. James expressed interest in the program. He lived in Village Royale on the Green and they paid $39,700 for a big bus with a seating capacity of 42 people. If five or six people got on it, it was notable, so they were looking into alternate means of transportation. He wanted to get more information about the trolley. Chair Chamberlain had further research to do about the 2 Meeting Minutes Sr. Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 6, 2006 trolley, and would include it on the list when available. Mr. Lulkin observed that the trolley had set stops, unlike some of the other forms of transportation, but could still be used to get from Point A to Point B for a medical appointment if it happened to be near one of those set stops. It also did not pick you up at your door, as some of the other transportation alternatives. Chair Chamberlain noted the Senior Center had several brochures about transportation and she had tried to collect that information on one sheet for ease of reference. She presented the various transportation alternatives and their unique requirements. She would have a member of the Senior Center type it, keep a copy at the Senior Center for reference, distribute it to the board members and the residential complexes in the City. A draft copy of the list is on file with the minutes of this meeting. During the discussion, an addition was made to the list for the Palm Tran Connection. It was noted reservations had to be made 5 days in advance for this service. One problem with many of the transportation alternatives was that although you could get to your appointment, you often had to wait hours until you could be picked up and taken home. This was one of the main reasons the Senior Advisory Board was exploring the possibility of having a We Care operation at the Senior Center. The We Care organization provides drivers by appointment at a reasonable price to seniors in need of the service. B) Results from Leisureville Survey There were only two responses from the Boynton Beach Leisureville, even though Ms. Bruzzese advertised in their local newspaper. Adding these two responses to the seven from the church and the nine who responded to the initial survey, there were a total of eighteen potential volunteers for the program and these were the volunteers they would work with in January. Ms. Chamberlain planned to talk to RSVP about this in December. She would like the board to meet with the base volunteer group to see how many were really interested in participating in the program. C) Calling Area Residential Complexes About the We Care Program The board distributed some 700 flyers about this program to various churches and homeowner associations in late spring. Colonial Club and one other condominium on Federal Highway expressed interest in having a representative from the board come out to explain the We Care program. However, they suggested doing it later, since most of their residents had gone back up north. Chair Chamberlain planned to contact the heads of other homeowner associations and/or men's or women's organizations in the various residential complexes to see if they were interested in having a presentation about We Care. She would be looking for volunteers to go to the places to present the program, if interest were expressed. D) Possible Setup of We Care Program at Senior Center This will be discussed in January. It would have to be preceded by a meeting of the potential volunteers. Mr. Lulkin thought the Senior Center would have to start the program with a base of volunteers and when it was established and people heard about it, the calls of interest would start to come in. 3 Meeting Minutes Sr. Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 6, 2006 E) Meeting with Seniors who Responded to Survey See items VII-A and VIII-B, C and D. IX. Senior Center Report - Steve Lulkin Mr. Lulkin reported they now had scanners set up for the front doors of the Senior Center, but were working out some bugs in the system before using them full-time. Re-registration began on October 1, 2006 and in one month they had already re-registered over 500 individuals. Last year they had 975 registrations for the entire nine months. A hOliday party was planned at the Senior Center for December 14 with a singer, door prizes, and food. The event was free through sponsorship by local companies, but tickets were required. Free flu shots were provided in October to those with Medicare Part B. On Wednesday, November 8, the Area Agency on Agency was providing flu shots for those with no medical coverage. On December 3, a group from the Senior Center was going on a trip to Las Vegas. An evening trip on the Jungle Queen boat out of Ft. Lauderdale was planned also. On Wednesday, November 8, a buffet was planned for 4:00 p.m. at the Senior Center for the purpose of introducing the two peer reviewers from the Senior Center Accreditation team to the Senior Center and Recreation & Park staff and board members. All members of these boards were invited to the buffet. Mr. Lulkin was pleased the long-term project of preparing for accreditation was complete and it was hoped that after the review, the Boynton Beach Senior Center could be added to the five senior centers in Florida who had already achieved accreditation. Mr. James inquired about the status of the budget for the Senior Center. Mr. Lulkin remarked the Senior Center was the only department in Recreation & Parks that had met and exceeded (by 73%) its revenue target during the past year. Mr. James inquired whether the Senior Center had been financially audited. Mr. Lulkin reported that individual departments were not audited, but the City's finances were audited by an independent, professional auditor and there had been no exceptions shown in the most recent report. Mr. Lulkin reported the Senior Center had just added five new programs: 1) Sign Language; 2) Spanish; 3) Tai Chi; 4) Arts and Crafts; and 5) Tap Dance. In January, a Self Hypnosis class would be given. There was a charge for this class, but all the other classes were free. X. Adjournment Motion Ms. Bruzzese moved to adjourn the meeting at 4:25 p.m. Ms. Jenkins seconded the motion that passed unanimously. 4 Meeting Minutes Sr. Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 6, 2006 Next Meeting: Monday, January 8, 2007, Senior Center, 3:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~a1,(~'J Susan Collins Recording Secretary (110706) 5