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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSenior Advisory Board - Minutes - 09/10/2008CITY OF FORT COLLINS SENIOR ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES Meeting held September 10, 2008 Fort Collins Senior Center 1200 Raintree Dr. Fort Collins, CO 80526 Vice Chair — Anita Basham — 970-491-9938 Staff Liaison — Barbara Schoenberger — 970-224-6026 City Council Liaison — Doug Hutchinson, Mayor — 970-221-6506 Attendance: Anita Basham Stan Ulrich Kathy Schuster Joan Defines Cathy Martin Peggy McGough Valerie DiBenedetto Bud Herin Bob Phillips Excused Absence: Marcia Richards Guests: Elaine Boni Darrel W. Lownsberry Carole Tuttle Dorris Taylor Bob Manbeck Evelyn Lambert Mildred Johnson Staff Guests: John Pfeiffenberger Pat Moore Peggy Bowers Marcia Cloyd Jennifer Mayan Council Guests: Part Moore Jeanette Namuth Jan Hamann Stan Ulrich Peggy McGough Eric Biedermann Joanna Lambert Mia Johnson Steve Dietemann Liaison: Douglas Hutchinson, Mayor Staff: Barbara Schoenberger Karen Bryner Note: This was a quarterly outreach meeting. The Senior Advisory Board and the Senior Center Council met at 12:30p.m. for lunch at the Senior Center, followed by a question and answer time for members of the Senior Center. The Senior Advisory Board meeting followed at 1:30 p.m. I. Call Meeting to Order The meeting was called to order by Vice Chairperson, Anita Basham, at 1:37 p.m. II. Attendance An attendance sheet was passed. III. Public Participation Acting Chair person, Anita Basham, introduced the members of the SAB and explained the purpose and function of the Board by using a question and answer exercise entitled "Meet Your Senior Advisory Board." This new format proved effective in soliciting input from the the guests. Concerns and suggestions included: 1) readily accessible transportation options between Fort Collins and MCR 2) increased bus service to the Senior Center even when CSU is not in session 3) extension of bus route to Harmony Park & Ride 4) increase Senior Center swimming pool hours to include Sundays 5) remove unsecured mail box in front of the Senior Center 6) invite City Council members to attend the SAB meetings 7) SAB members attend City Council meetings to voice senior concerns 8) host a SAB outreach meeting at the Harmony Library BREAK: Refreshments served and evaluations were collected. IV. Approval of Minutes Valerie DiBenedetto moved that the minutes of July 9, 2008 and August 13, 2008 be accepted as written. Stan Ulrich seconded the motion. The motion carried. V. Correspondence The City Clerk sent information about the annual recruitment of volunteers for Boards and Commissions. All appointments will be made in December for terms to begin in January. V1. Old Business A. Senior Center Expansion Committee —Bud Herin and Peggy McGough reported that the steering committee has agreed on a logo. The proceeds from the Sundance Music Festival and Chili Cook Off will go to the Expansion Initiative. Currently the effort is to raise $150,000 seed money. The dates given by the City indicate that the design phase is scheduled for 2012 and construction is to begin in 2014. Other planned fund raisers include the quilt squares project and cell phone recycling. Bob Phillips, reporting on the grant writing sub -committee, stated that Jennifer Lang, who has expertise in this area, has volunteered to will help with the grant writing. B. Liaison Reports Valerie DiBenedetto • Housin — no report • Meals on Wheels — A grant of $23,000 from the Daniels Fund of Denver was received for the second year. The Colorado Compassion Initiative provided $7, 300 for Capacity Building Activities which the organization is currently completing. This support is very exciting for Meals on Wheels, enabling the creation of a strategic plan which will include a formal marketing and fund development plan. Cathy Martin • Eldercare Network Senior Law Day was very successful with more than 250 seniors attending the legal seminars. The participants received a continental breakfast; lunch and entertainment were provided for a small fee. Written evaluations of the event were positive. Cathy Martin suggested that the SAB invite a representative from the Eldercare Network to speak at an SAB meeting. Kathy Schuster • VOA- In cooperation with Channel 9, VOA recently ran a very successful "Stuff for Students" campaign. This drive is an effort to provide school supplies for students in need, who live in Larimer and Weld Counties. RSVP is redesigned to help non -profits be more effective in utilizing their volunteers. As a follow-up on the training that was provided a year ago, RSVP is staffed to help non pro -profits move from a volunteer management system to a volunteer encouragement system. This is in response to the Baby Boomer generation who are appearing on the volunteer scene. RSVP is encouraging and providing assistance to non -profits in areas such as: rewriting and creating new job descriptions, setting up pro-bono positions, and redesigning ads to attract volunteers. A gentleman from the RSVP Handyman Program has been selected as a "Channel 7 Everyday Herd". He will be recognized in a channel 7 TV spot during September. Peggy McGough • Front Range Forum: The new semester is beginning with nine classes. At least three of the classes went to lottery as there were more registrations than chairs available in the rooms. Classes are usually limited to 20-22 people. One class had more than 40 registrations (it was a new offering). It is unsure if they will offer two sessions or program the same class for next semester. The fall registration usually brings more FCSC members. Once again, the FRF is offering a program that is running concurrently with the Senior Center cultural diversity program. • Fort Collins Senior Center: will begin work on renewing the accreditation. This project is time consuming and expensive but carries a lot of prestige to be recognized as such. • Cemetery Stroll: will be the 20d' of September. The theme this year is celebrating 100 years of the Cache la Poudre chapter. Members of the local DAR have assisted in research, costuming, and will be providing the actors and actresses. In addition to DAR, members of the SAR, CAR, Historical Society and the Larimer County Genealogical Society have assisted and are assisting the day of the event. Stan Ulrich Office on Aeine — At the August meeting, Margaret Long announced that the Office on Aging has moved and the new address is now 2601 Midpoint Drive. An Open House has been scheduled for September 24, 2008. The Caregiver Coalition completed a 15 minute video that will be shown at the next meeting. It will probably be available for viewing by other organizations after September. Margaret Long reported that the Office on Aging is working on the latest edition of the Answers on Aging Resource Guide. The OOA plans to print 25,000 copies at various intervals during the year in increments of 5,000 copies at each printing to enable the OOA to make corrections and changes throughout the year. Margaret Long also reported on the Special Needs Registry which is a registry for people who live alone, who do not have a car or other transportation available, and who have medical problems (special needs). The registry was spearheaded by 211 to better prepare first responders in case of an emergency or evacuation. The Sheriff's Department will maintain the database and 211 will enter the data. Katy Mason distributed sign-up sheets for provider site visits. Members will visit nine sites in September and their recommendations will help to determine the amount of money allocated to each agency or organization. Poudre Retired School Employees — The Poudre Retired School Employees Association held its first meeting of the 2008-09 school year on Tuesday, September 2"d in conjunction with a picnic at Fossil Creek Park. Superintendent Wilson was the main speaker and spoke about the objectives and problems in the 2008-09 school years. Tom Tonelli spoke briefly about upcoming legislation that will affect education and mentioned that the Denver Public Schools Retirement System may merge with PERA if all conditions are met. A law that was passed in the 2007-08 legislative session authorized the merger if both parties agree on the terms and conditions. AARP Report _Chapter 759 of AARP will hold its first meeting of the 2008-09 season on Thursday, September 18, in the Senior Center at 9:15 a.m. The 759 Chapter's Board of Directors met on Thursday, September 5`s and spent most of the time making final arrangements for the conference that will be held on Thursday, October 16a'. The title of the conference is "Are You Protected or Have You Been Had?" and the keynote speaker will be John Suthers, Colorado State Attorney General. His top assistant, Jan Zavislan, will also be a featured speaker. The conference will start at 8:OOa.m. with a continental breakfast and end with a luncheon at 12:15 p.m. Admission is free and door prizes will be given away. Information booths of sponsors and non-profit organizations that assisted in the planning will be available for additional information about scams and frauds. Registration is required. Applications are available at the Senior Center. Another topic that was discussed was Amendment 59, which will appear on the ballot in November. Amendment 59 is a ballot initiative that would create a savings account for public education and would provide a permanent source of funding for public education. It would also preserve the right for citizens to vote on tax increases and untangle the fiscal knot that amendment C and Tabor caused in the constitution. • TRIAD — appears to be a dead organization. It has not met for six or seven months. Anita Basham • Transportation — The PTAG group is watching transportation as it affects handicap and disabled people. This is an outside group working independently on their own. Anita went to transportation meeting at Transfort to hear speaker Kurt Ravenschlag, Assistant Manager of Transfort. He reported that a strategic long range plan for transportation has been put together that affects Fort Collins, Loveland and the Poudre School District. Transfort is soliciting input, and following this initial phase, they will begin designing the plan. At the meeting, Anita let it be known that both the SAB and Senior Center Council feel there is a necessity for transportation to the Medical Center of the Rockies. So far, the Medical Center of the Rockies has offered no solution to this problem. Because of students having to travel to different schools, there will be a problem for schools to provide transportation, causing more PR 1 students to use the bus system. The Metropolitan Planning Organization gave a 3 year grant to Loveland and Greeley to move people to Centerra. This transportation will also service the Medical Center of the Rockies. C. Communication Committee — Stan Ulrich reported that an article about the Senior Center Expansion project was supposed to be submitted to 50 Plus Marketplace for publication in the September issue. However, the article has been shelved by the Expansion Committee because the members of the committee thought an article would be premature before a logo and other particulars had been decided. Gretchen Gaede had written an excellent article for submission and will be submitted when the Expansion Committee gives its okay. It is too late to turn in an article about the Chili Cook -Off. Anita Basham is scheduled to write an article for the October issue about senior transportation issues and the work of the SAB in this area. D. Bridging the Gan Networking Event — Kathy Schuster reported that the final meeting will be next Wednesday, September 17. All SAB members will be table hosts. Transportation will be furnished from the Senior Center if desired. D. Chili Cook -Off — Pat Moore and Stan Ulrich will cook the chili. Kathy Schuster volunteered to do chopping prior to the event. Kathy Schuster and Anita Basham agreed to help on the day of the Chili Cook -Off. Pat Moore will do the shopping. All SAB members will contribute for the cost of the chili. Silent Auction items are still needed for the Cook -Off. VII. New Business Barbara Schoenberger explained the "Rearing to Go" project which is a series of painted horses that will be displayed throughout the community in conjunction with the Qualifier at the Fort rodeo. Currently one of the horses is on display at the Senior Center. VIII. Other Business Yvonne Myer will be speaking about Medicare at the next meeting. Anita Basham was thanked for arranging the luncheon. It was announced that one can get counseling from the Aspen Club on Medicare. Loveland Advisory Board is now having out -reach programs. IX. Adjourn — The meeting was adjourned at 3:34pm. Submitted by: Karen Bryner, Re offing Secretary Anita Basham, ice Chair Kathy Schuster, Secretary