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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSenior Advisory Board - Minutes - 11/12/2008CITY OF FORT COLLINS SENIOR ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES Meeting held November 12, 2008 MacKenzie Place 4750 Pleasant Oak Drive Fort Collins, CO 80525 Chair — Marcia Richards - 970-613-1505 Staff Liaison — Barbara Schoenberger — 970-224-6026 City Council Liaison — Doug Hutchinson, Mayor — 970-221-6506 Note: This was a quarterly outreach meeting. The Senior Advisory Board met at MacKenzie Place at 12:45 p.m. for a tour of the facility prior to the regularly scheduled 1:30 meeting. Attendance: Marcia Richards Anita Basham Stan Ulrich Kathy Schuster Joan Defines Cathy Martin Peggy McGough Bob Phillips Excused Absence: Valerie DiBenedetto Bud Herin Guests: Sanyathe Bayna — Concierge M.P. Agnes Benedict Liaison: Douglas Hutchinson, Mayor Staff: Barbara Schoenberger Karen Bryner Ginny Sawyer I. Meeting Called to Order The meeting was called to order by Chairperson, Marcia Richards at 1:37 p.m. II. Attendance An attendance sheet was passed. III. Marcia Richards introduced the members of the Senior Advisory Board and led a discussion about the purpose and activities of the Board. BREAK: Refreshments were served while evaluations were completed and collected. IV. Approval of Minutes Bob Phillips moved that the minutes of October 8, 2008 be accepted as written. Stan Ulrich seconded the motion. The motion carried. V. Correspondence • A resignation letter has been received from Valerie DiBenedetto. Although time constraints prevent her from continuing to serve on the SAB, she volunteered to assist with Bridging the Gap in 2009. • Bud Herin notified the SAB of his absence due to illness. VI. Old Business A. Senior Center Expansion Committee — Peggy McGough reported that the Expansion Committee will host a booth at the Holiday Market which will include an announcement of the S.C. Expansion campaign, information about plans for the expansion, and an opportunity to contribute to the project. B. Liaison Reports Anita Basham Transportation: Questions that came up during the September off -site meeting were: 1. Extend Transfort to Park & Ride on Harmony Rd. 2. More frequent stop at the Senior Center during time periods when CSU students are not in town. 3. Realign routes and increase time. Response: Phone contact with Kurt Ravenslag indicated that all 3 concerns are being discussed in the Long Range Strategic Transfort Plan that is currently in progress and is scheduled to go to City Council for approval in April or May 2009. Specifically: • Extended route to Park & Ride on Harmony is included in LRP connected with the residential/commercial development on the south side of Harmony at I-25. • Studies show that the ridership numbers do not change significantly with or without students on the route that stops at the Senior Center. • Realignment and time schedules are also addressed in the LRP. The Atzlan Center is one of the routes that will be aligned so riders will exit the bus directly in front of the center. The Strategic Long Range Plan for Transit will be reviewed at two more public hearings (Nov. 19` ' 4:30 — 7:00 at the Lincoln Center and Dec. 18`h' 3:30 — 6:00 at the CSU Transit Center) before the Plan is presented to Council for approval in April or May of 2009. Options that have been offered to carry Northern Colorado's transportation needs in to 2030 include: capitalizing on existing freight rail lines to create a commuter rail system, widening the Interstate to six lanes from Fort Collins to Longmont, providing commuter bus service between Greeley and Denver, creating toll lanes along parts of I-25, and rapid transit bus service fed by the cities of Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley. The Air Quality Plan will be presented to Council this week. In the next 5 years we will be using less energy and using more natural resource energy in Fort Collins. Kathy Schuster VOA/RSVP Blizzard Boxes are now being prepared and delivered. Information regarding the availability of these boxes is being distributed at the congregate meal sights, as well as through the VOA frozen meal program. There are slots available for the home delivery of frozen meals. If you know of someone who would benefit from this program, contact VOA. Attendance continues to remain steady at the congregate meal sights. VOA will offer a 6 week course on Healthier Living in 2009. This course is designed to improve the well being of those living with chronic health problems. It is made possible by a grant from the Office on Aging. As an outgrowth of the Caring Companion program, a new course is being developed called: Powerful Tools for Caregivers. It, too, is a result of grant money from the OOA. UniverCity; The FortZED Task Group of UniverCity was a recipient of the 2008 Environmental Stewardship Award, given by the Environmental Advisory Board and the Latimer County Commissioners. A sub -Task Group has been spawned from the Transit & Mobility Task Group. It will be called the Downtown Experience Project: "getting there is as much fun as being there". Stan Ulrich: AARP Over 300 people attended the conference entitled "Are You Protected or Have You Been Had?", hosted by Chapter 759 of AARP at the Senior Center on Oct. 16 th . The local Chapter will be recognized at the annual Celebration Conference of AARP Colorado for sponsoring the frauds and scams conference. Office on Aging Advisory Council Three new members have been added to the Office on Aging Advisory Council. At the Oct. 9 s Council meeting, Gordon Thibedeau, president/CEO of United Way, reported on the organization's progress in addressing the issue of poverty in Latimer County. Through community planning and input, the United Way has come up with dual strategies: Pathways Past Poverty and Solid Foundations. The first strategy is a program that helps clients to go from poverty to self-sufficiency and the second one focuses on meeting the basic needs of the clients. Funding of the programs will depend on the success of the United Way campaign. Ellen Philstrom reported that the OOA Arch program is only funded through 2010 since an extension of the grant has not been received. Other sources of funding are being investigated. Katy Mason reported that the Legislative Breakfast was a great success. PRSEA At the Poudre Retired School Employees Association's Nov. 4th meeting, Co -President Cathy Kamer reported that PRSEA had a membership of 608 last year. That figure made PRSEA the largest unit in the state. Tom Tonoli reported that the Public Employees Retirement Association has suffered some great losses in the current market upheaval, but that PERA is still on solid ground. Communications Committee Report: Anita Basham submitted an article on "transportation", which was published in the Nov. issue of the 50+ Marketplace. The winner of the Senior Service Award, Peggy McGough, was recognized in this issue as well. Peggy McGough Senior Center Council A letter was sent from Eric Biedermann concerning the mail box in front of the Senior Center, it read: "This is just to inform you concerning the Senior Center Council action about the mail box. You made an inquiry about this at our annual meeting. We discussed it pretty thoroughly at our Council meetings. It is my understanding that the Post Office Dept. requires us to have a box on the premises and the City is not inclined towards installing an opening into the building to provide inside delivery. A consensus of the Council was that though theft was, indeed, a possibility from the current box, they didn't feel that it was a probability. Also that if theft was a concern then there was other nearby safe boxes in which mail could be deposited. This may or may not resolve your concern; however, we do appreciate your bringing it to our attention. Please feel welcome to bring to the Council any other issues or concerns that you may have." More research is underway concerning the extended pool hours at the Senior Center. D. Bridging the Gap - committee meeting will not resume until planning begins for 2009 BTG event. E. Follow up on response to public input at 3rd quarter Outreach meeting - see follow up under Transportation and Senior Center Council (above) F. Medicare Advantage - At a previous SAB meeting, Yvonne Myers suggested that the SAB, in conjunction with the Aspen Club and other resources from the community, develop a hand-out dealing with questions to ask when deciding on a Medicare Plan. The Board learned that the Aspen Club has already published an educational pamphlet : "Your Medicare Matters Protect it!" The SAB decided not to continue with this project, since it appears the concerns have been addressed. Cathy Martin will contact Yvonne Myers to advise her of the Board's decision. G. Bicycle Board as a sub committee of the Transportation Department —this is a new Board and Marcia Richards volunteered to serve on it. She will represent the SAB. VII. New Business A. Development of 2009 Work Plan — (facilitated by Ginny Sawyer) - The Board focused on simplifying the Work Plan for 2009. Providing a framework of goals, the Work Plan will be augmented by a more detailed Action Plan to be developed at the January meeting. Ginny Sawyer will type the draft and send to Barbara Schoenberger, who will distribute it to SAB members via e-mail for final input and approval. The 2009 Work Plan is to be submitted to Council by Nov. 301'. B. Holiday Gathering — There will be no holiday gathering this year. C. Presentation for Jan. SAB meeting —There is no presentation planned for the January meeting, since the Board will be focusing on developing the 2009 Action Plan. The next SAB meeting will be Jan. 14`h at the Senior Center. SAB members need to study the Work Plan and come prepared to develop an action plan based on the goals outlined in the Work Plan. Anita Basham reiterated the Mayor's comments at her meeting with him in August. He thinks SAB has very good goals, but we could be more innovative in our actions plans. She suggested that we need to get more current with what's happening today and need to think about baby boomers. VIII. Other Business Follow-up on applications for SAB —there are three applicants. IX. Adjourn — The meeting was adjourned at 3:34 pm. Submitted by KarenB�r�yner, Recording Secretary col/YA.Cgiz:, I-2.4" Marcia Richards, Chair Kathy Schu ter, Secretary