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Minutes 11-07-11 MINUTES OF THE SENIOR ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7,2011, AT 3:00 P.M. AT THE SENIOR CENTER, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA Present: Katharine Lynch, Chair Denise Chamberlain Blanche Hearst-Girtman Virginia O'Connell Jean Young Lillian Bruzzese, Alternate Betty Spinelli, Alternate Mary DeGraffenreidt, City Liaison Absent: Katharine Cregan I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 3:00 p.m. II. Pledge of Allegiance/Moment of Silent Reflection The members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag followed by a moment of silent reflection. III. Roll Call The roll was called and a quorum was present. IV. Approval of Minutes Motion Ms. O'Connell moved to approve the minutes. Ms. Young seconded the motion that unanimously passed. V. Approval of Agenda Motion Ms. Young moved to approve the agenda. Ms. O'Connell seconded the motion that unanimously passed. Meeting Minutes Senior Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL November 7, 2011 VI. Chairperson's Remarks Chair Lynch reminded Ms. O'Connell and Ms. Hearst-Girtman to make arrangements to view the Ethics video as they were absent at the last meeting. Chair Lynch advised the members that she could no longer accept the position of Chair due to personal reasons and time constraints. She informed the Board she would do whatever she could to help find a replacement. Ms. Chamberlain expressed that the next meeting would not be until January 9, 2012 and hopefully a replacement could be found by the next meeting. In the interim, Ms. Chamberlain would assist Ms. Lynch with the Chair duties. VII. Old Business Ms. Chamberlain discussed the new Shopper Hopper program with Mae Volen. She advised the schedules were posted at the Center but had not yet been posted in the paper. Chair Lynch advised it was delivered to all the condominiums in the area so that the seniors who did not go to the Senior Center would be aware of the program. Ms. Chamberlain advised that everyone should be aware by now that the Senior Center would remain open until 4:00 p.m. Ms. Chamberlain informed the members that all past problems had been worked out and for any future problems the Senior Advisory Board may have, Ms. DeGraffenreidt or Mr. Majors would be the point of contact for intervention with the City. VIII. New Business New Avenues to Assure Permanence for Shopper Hopper Ms. Chamberlain shared that she wanted to look at new avenues to assure the permanence of the Shopper Hopper. Currently, she understood that this would only be a year-long program. A grant would be applied for in January and if the grant was approved, $50,000 would be incorporated into the system. If the grant was not approved, there was concern as to what would happen to the Shopper Hopper. She thought it would be a good idea to look at other transportation possibilities for the future. Problem with Mae Volen's Food Program Chair Lynch indicated there was an issue with the "snowbirds" coming back and not being able to join the food program. Ms. Chamberlain indicated she thought it had to do with the budget cut. She felt if people would contribute something as small as one dollar whenever they came to eat, Mae Volen would have enough funds to provide for 2 Meeting Minutes Senior Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL November 7, 2011 everyone. If everyone could contribute something, the residents that come from the North for the winter, could eat also. Ms. DeGraffenreidt added she spoke to someone about the concern. She had an issue with the fact that the seniors who were not year-round residents were being asked to sit in the lobby rather than joining the year-round residents for lunch. She was told that Mae Volen was not going to add any more meals, so that anyone who had never been there for a year-round program would not be added to the list. This issue would have to be addressed and she, along with someone from the Board, would follow up and find out what can and cannot be done at this point. Other Programs Concerning the Seniors Ms. Chamberlain shared an article she found in the paper regarding a Free National Memory Screening Day in November. This had been occurring for the last eight years. It was an annual initiative sponsored by the Alzheimers Foundation of America that was held each November during National Alzheimers Disease Awareness Month. She felt this should be investigated and the seniors should participate in next years screening. For information purposes, the Christmas function was scheduled for Thursday, December 8th at the Senior Center. Senior Center Report Ms. DeGraffenreidt advised she was trying to set up some kind of sponsorships to offset costs for seniors that want to come to the Center for different activities. There was Mae Volen and Palm Tran at this point. Ms. DeGraffenreidt expressed that one thing she noticed about Palm Tran was that sometimes seniors wait until 3:30 or 4:00 for Palm Tran to return to pick them up. She will confirm what their schedules are. Ms. Chamberlain suggested that when a senior schedules a return time, they should schedule it for an hour earlier. That would ensure they would be picked up without a wait. Ms. DeGraffenreidt informed the members that she was in the process of hiring a young lady for the Center. Her name is Nancy Molena and she would come in as the Senior Center supervisor. She also brought another person on board to help with the paperwork and reports. Ms. DeGraffenreidt would be slowly transitioning some of her responsibilities away from the Senior Center as the new person learns the process. This would enable her to give her time to the other projects she was assigned to. She wants to work it out so that Ms. Forster would always have someone there to help her. There was discussion about what the job responsibilities were going to be for the new people coming in to assist. 3 Meeting Minutes Senior Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL November 7, 2011 There was a brief discussion on the annual Thanksgiving dinner at the Boca center. In previous years, the seniors volunteered to help serve or assist in other duties. Ms. DeGraffenreidt will follow up on this and let the Board know if volunteers were needed. IX. Next Meeting Date The next meeting will be held on January 9, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. at the Boynton Beach Senior Center. X. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was properly adjourned at 4:01 p.m. Q/Lttc ('Q{/L/C(~~- Ellie Caruso Recording Secretary 4