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Minutes 05-04-15 MINUTES OF THE SENIOR ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD AT THE SENIOR CENTER, 1021 S. FEDERAL HIGHWAY, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON MONDAY, MAY 4, 2015, AT 2:00 P.M. PRESENT: Katie Lynch, Chair Nancy Molina, City Liaison Denise Chamberlain Janet Harris Tony LaRiccia Jean Young Floyd Zonenstein I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Lynch called the meeting to order at 2:07 p.m. II. ATTENDANCE Roll call revealed a quorum was present. Also present was Joy Pile and Pat Torso. III. PLEDGE The members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. IV. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Lynch advised the members the agendas are available a week before the meeting. Ms. Molina explained the members could add items to the agenda two weeks before the meeting. 1. Additions, Deletions, Corrections None. 2. Adoption Motion Mr. Zonenstein moved to accept the agenda. Ms. Harris seconded the motion that unanimously passed. Meeting Minutes Senior Advisory Board B o y nton Beach, FIL May 4, 2015 V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion Ms. Chamberlain moved to approve the (March 2015) minutes. Mr. Zonenstein seconded the motion that unanimously passed. VI. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Sunshine Law Code of Ethics literature Ms. Molina distributed information on the Sunshine Law and encouraged the members to read it. B. Senior Advisory Board vacancies Chair Lynch announced Joy Pile submitted an Advisory Board Application to serve on the Board. Ms. Chamberlain explained membership has been an ongoing problem. Individuals do not seem to want to be involved and there were vacancies. While change was good, she was unsure why there were vacancies. Ms. Young opined the Board was not productive and brief discussion followed most members obtain information about senior programs and services from Officer Rita Swan of the Boynton Beach Police Department. C. Election of Chair Each year elections for Chair and Vice Chair take place. Ms. Chamberlain commented she had served on the Board as Chair for years and during that time, no one advised her there needed to be an election each May. Wally Majors, Recreation and Parks Director, had brought up the subject at the last meeting. If they were doing something wrong, they should have been told. The election of Chair and Vice Chair would take place at the end of the meeting. D. Advisory board agenda items discussed at prior meeting Ms. Chamberlain commented she was not present, but noted the items she wanted to discuss were on the agenda. Ms. Molina clarified Old Business was on the agenda so if a member wanted any further clarification of past items, they could discuss them. E. Status of crosswalk timing Ms. Molina explained the crosswalk timing was a County issue, and she had contacted the Police Chief about the matter. She queried whether there were specific intersections in mind, and commented the County will not reprogram each crosswalk in the City for a single complaint. 2 Meeting Minutes Senior Advisory Board B oynton Beach, FL May 4, 2015 Ms. Chamberlain observed she was going to turn right onto Congress and there was a woman with a child and an elderly man. They barely made it to the other side the street when the light changed. She emphasized the timing was too short to adequately cross the street and the traffic engineers should consider accidents, mishaps, or people who complain about a specific crosswalk. This was a City -wide issue and the issue was raised in the past. Ms. Chamberlain anticipated as the population increases, the situation would worsen. She suggested if the comment came from the Senior Advisory Board, it was not from just one person. Other crosswalks that were problematic were Boynton Beach Boulevard, Boynton Lakes Boulevard, and Congress Avenue. The members discussed the walk sign turns on, but the left turn signal activates at the same time and the same timing occurs at all intersections, which was why there are injuries, even though pedestrians have the right of way. Drivers are supposed to stop before turning right and discussion followed a green light does not mean go; it means go only when the roadway is clear. Ms. Chamberlain thought drivers do not see pedestrians until the last minute and thought adding seconds to the crossing times could be easily accomplished. Ms. Molina had received a response from Chief Katz about concerns at one intersection and would continue to work through him. Ms. Chamberlain suggested Public Works Director Jeff Livergood could be helpful and Mr. Zonenstein noted Mr. Livergood was successful in approaching the County to obtain a street sign. The focal point for the timings of the crossings were at Congress Avenue and Boynton Beach Boulevard, but any major street by 1 -95 was dangerous to cross because traffic does not stop. They could address the matter one intersection at the time and Ms. Molina will forward the information on the intersection to Chief Katz, who had agreed to forward the information to the County. VII. NEW BUSINESS A. Members acquiring agenda This item was previously discussed. Ms. Molina can email the agendas to the members and members could email agenda items to Ms. Molina. They could also call to obtain agendas. B. Scams targeting seniors /planning event Ms. Young was concerned about the different scamming schemes, credit card skimming and other techniques where a person could obtain credit card information simply by standing next to another person. Officer Swan had mentioned this and Ms. Molina inquired what could be done to promote awareness of this type of theft. The Senior Center holds seminars and issues press releases. Ms. Young suggested when they know Officer Swan is coming to the Center, they promote her visits. Ms. Molina was aware Officer Swan has a list of topics and would find out if she could speak about this 3 Meeting Minutes Senior Advisory Board B oynton Beach, FL May 4, 2015 type of issue. Chair Lynch would like to see everyone get other people involved. Mr. LaRiccia noted there is a metal credit card holder that will protect credit card information. In the past, a sponsor had distributed the special card holder. C. Combining advisory boards 1. Night vs. Days no nights 2. Merging boards Chair Lynch asked how the members felt about merging with the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board, and if they wanted to meet during the night or the day. Mr. Zonenstein explained he was on the Community Relations Board, which was disbanded. Instead of citizens going to the Community Relations Board, residents went straight to the City Commission. Mr. Zonenstein thought it would be advantageous to merge with the Recreation and Parks Board. Ms. Chamberlain did not know how that would associate with the Senior Advisory Board. The Senior Center was already part of the Recreation and Parks Department. She thought that items such as the crosswalks the members had previously discussed would not come up with the Recreation and Parks Board. Mr. Zonenstein explained it would if there were Senior Advisory Board members on the Board. Chair Lynch polled the members if they wanted to merge and determined the members did not want to merge, nor did they want to meet at night. Ms. Chamberlain saw the Board remaining status quo. It is a senior board, and the members are generally 75 years old and over. Chair Lynch thought Recreation and Parks would be dealing with youth and younger adults. She favored having a Board just for seniors. Chair Lynch explained they would speak with Mr. Majors about it and he would have the final decision. Mr. Zonenstein commented with the Community Relations Board, it was not up to the Board whether to disband. Chair Lynch reiterated the members unanimously did not want to merge boards. VIII. NEW CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR ELECTION Mr. Zonenstein suggested Chair Lynch remain as Chair and Chair Lynch declined. Ms. Chamberlain explained members had complained the buses seniors take for doctor appointments often involved a four -hour wait. Ms. Chamberlain attempted to solve that problem and went to Delray Beach to research the We Care program. She advised Leisureville has the program. A suggestion was made developments should have their own transportation system. She took all the information back to the Senior Center to see if it could be instituted and was able to obtain volunteers to man phones, but not volunteers to drive, even though they are given a stipend for gas. The individuals advised they did not want that responsibility. They also tried to institute the program through the churches. Ms. Chamberlain did not understand why, when people get older, 4 Meeting Minutes Senior Advisory Board B oynton Beach, FL May 4, 2015 they do not want to volunteer. She was aware the driver would be covered by the Good Samaritan Law and there was a great deal of paperwork and records involved with the program. If there were an accident, the Good Samaritan Law would cover it. One Center member was purportedly sued by her passenger when there was an accident. Ms. Young thought the individuals were friends. Mr. Zonenstein commented he went to different boards as a representative of the Senior Advisory Board encouraging individuals with issues about seniors come to the meetings or notify him and no one stepped forward. The We Care program involved paperwork that indicated if a person was hurt, the driver was not liable. Ms. Harris inquired if Ms. Chamberlain would serve as Chair and she declined. Mr. LaRiccia commented the problem is there was no one knowledgeable to run the meetings. Ms. Lynch nominated Janet Harris as Chair. Ms. Young seconded the nomination and Ms. Harris accepted the nomination. Ms. Lynch inquired if Mr. Zonenstein would serve as Vice Chair and he agreed. It was pointed out there were four meetings. The next meeting will be November 2nd at 2 p.m. Ms. Chamberlain counselled the members should read newspapers and articles, and anything involving cities and seniors should be given to Ms. Molina to put on the agenda. The members unanimously elected Ms. Harris as Chair and Mr. Zonenstein as Vice Chair. IX. REMARKS FROM CITY LIAISON I. Focus Group Ms. Molina explained each facility had to meet for focus groups to review issues that required feedback from the advisory boards. Topics they discussed were extending the Senior Center hours later during the week and possibly opening on Saturdays and Sundays. The conclusion from the Focus Group participants was not to have longer hours on the weekend, but have extended hours one night a week. One trend at Senior Centers was remaining open longer and being open on the weekends. Ms. Chamberlain explained for years, they were open until five o'clock and they were busy. They were also open early Saturday morning. Unless there was band or line dancing, the facility was slow in the afternoons, so more activities were needed. Ms. Chamberlain suggested rescheduling activities. The Center is busy as long as there are activities. Discussion also followed longer hours may be an option for younger seniors. 5 Meeting Minutes Senior Advisory Board Boyn , 2015 Joy Pile commented individuals 65 years old and older would not stay at the Center until 7 p.m. and the buses would not accommodate them. Ms. Chamberlain commented with the shorter hours, activities are rushed. Ms. Young was fine with staying open until 7 p.m. Ms. Harris did not favor the longer hours. Ms. Chamberlain commented shorter hours occurred because of the recession. Chair Lynch thought ending at 4 p.m. or 5 p.m. may be alright, but she questioned attendance due to the buses. Ms. Molina commented many complexes have activities at 7 p.m. Ms. Molina explained the Focus Group discussed charging residents. This fee would be to charge non - residents $40 per year, and charge residents $10. The participants agreed that charging a $10 fee per year seemed fair, and to also offer scholarships for low income members. Ms. Molina polled the members if charging $10 was fair and half of the six members thought it was and Messrs. LaRiccia and Zonenstein, and Ms. Harris did not. Kings Point residents have to pay $5 and outsiders pay $7. It was suggested the members pay a dollar a month. The Focus Group suggested offering programs to attract baby boomers. Participants thought it would be great to have overnight and out of state trips, cruises and one late night event every few months. Activities such as a group painting class, wine glass painting and younger entertainment to have an intergenerational facility was suggested. Ms. Harris questioned whether baby boomers would come to a facility named a Senior Center. Ms. Molina explained the trips the Center holds do attract boomers. Ms. Lynch would like to see more seniors participate and not allow anyone under 55 to do so. The Focus Group contemplated what could make the Senior Center better and the following suggestions were received: • ballroom dancing, • more crossword puzzles, • social functions • Latin and themed parties • qualified instructors which, if the Center charged, could offset the cost; • professional trainers, • cooking classes, and • seminars about long term care. Ms. Lynch thought they had these items and Ms. Molina responded they had some of the suggested activities. The participants and employees had pros and cons about opening a thrift shop in the puzzle room. The items would be donated and the proceeds invested in the Center. The donated items should also be inspected and approved by staff. Ms. Molina commented most senior centers have thrift stores. All of the members liked the thrift store concept. Members would bring donations and a volunteer would manage them. 6 Meeting Minutes Senior Advisory Board B o y nton each, FIL May 4, 2015 Janet Harris left the meeting at 3:11 p.m. The Focus Group discussed changing the name of the facility. The participants agreed removing the word "senior" was appropriate and having a contest to obtain ideas would be helpful. Ms. Molina explained a trend analysis revealed the words "resource" or "longevity center" were often used. After brief discussion, it was agreed the members would think of names and discuss it at the next meeting. It was important to have a way to involve and attract both seniors and younger individuals. Ms. Molina had also heard there are cliques at the Center and had received complaints. It was thought a volunteer to circulate and greet patrons would be helpful. X. NEXT MEETING: There will not be a September 14, 2015 meeting. The next meeting would be held November 2, 2015, at 2 p.m. XI. ADJOURNMENT Motion Mr. Zonenstein moved to adjourn. Mr. LaRiccia seconded the motion that unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 3:19 p.m. ItL (u Oiufl Catherine Cherry Minutes Specialist 052915 7