HomeMy WebLinkAboutSenior Advisory Board - Minutes - 04/08/2009CITY OF FORT COLLINS
SENIOR ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES
Meeting held April 8, 2009
Fort Collins Senior Center
1200 Raintree Dr.
Fort Collins, CO 80526
Chair — Marcia Richards - 970-613-1505
Staff Liaison — Barbara Schoenberger — 970-224-6026
City Council Liaison — Doug Hutchinson, Mayor — 970-221-6506
Attendance:
Marcia Richards
Stan Ulrich
Kathy Schuster
Gale Criswell
Palmer Withrow
Bob Phillips
Cathy Martin
Joan Dienes
Anita Basham
Excused Absence:
Linda Iverson
Uexcused Absence:
Guests:
Elaine Boni, HRC
Nicole Hahn—Transfort
Kurt Ravenschlay --- Transfort Assistant GM
Liaison:
Douglas Hutchinson, Mayor
Staff:
Barbara Schoenberger
Karen Bryner
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 around.
III. Public Participation
Kurt Ravenschlay --- Transfort Assistant GM — Reported on the Transit Strategic Plan which is
a partnership between Loveland, Fort Collins and School District.
Phase 1:
Phase 2:
Phase 3
• Modest transit service growth over existing service
• Implementation of MAX Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Fort Collins
• Refinement of other routes to coordinate with MAX
• Bi-directional service for Loveland -COLT system
• Expansion of transit service in Fort Collins and Loveland with greater route
coverage, higher service frequencies, and longer service hours
• Continuation of MAX service in Fort Collins
• Expansion of regional connections to Denver, Greeley, and Longmont
• Additional regional route connections
• Additional transit growth in Fort Collins and Loveland including longer service
hours and limited Sunday transit service
• Extension of MAX service to areas outside of Mason Corridor
• Improved service along Enhanced Travel Corridors in Fort Collins (Mason,
Timberline, Harmony and Vine to North College)
• New regional routes to Berthoud, Windsor and Boulder, and addition trips on
other regional routes
IV. Approval of Minutes
A motion was made by Bob Phillips to accept the Minutes for the March meeting. The motion
was seconded by Stan Ulrich. The motion carried.
V. Correspondence
Office on Aging income sheet.
VII. Old Business
A. Liaison Reports
Palmer Withrow — Expo at the Drake Center in October hosting will be Office on
Aging, CSU, Loveland SAB and Fort Collins SAB (should they decide they want to). It
will be educational event to discuss Long Term Care Insurance, Medicaid, Medicare
and Medicare Advantage Plans. More Info to follow.
AARP
Kathy Schuster — Univercity — Article in yesterday paper about what is going on down
town and what they would like to see happen downtown.
Cathy Martin — Eldercare Network- August 8`h at CSU
Bob Phillips — May 171h will be a Saloon Show which will support the Expansion.
Stan Ulrich -
Office On Aging- Margaret Long reported that the state audit had been completed and
that the Larimer County Office on Aging received many "Best Practices" marks. She
added that the state particularly commended the LCOOA for instituting the special
needs registry for which Tracy Hayes was mostly responsible.
The Senior Tax Work -Off Program has been completed for 2009 and Margaret reported_
for Katy Mason, who operates the program, that 76 people have been enrolled in the
program, but a sad footnote is that 25 more had to be excluded because of a lack of
funds. The budget is only $20,000. The need will probably be much greater for tax
relief in 2010 because Margaret surmised that the Homestead Exemption may be
nullified because of the state budget crunch.
The Office on Aging partner presentation was provided by Tracy Hayes, United Way
211 Program director. First, Tracy gave a brief history of the 211 program. The system
was developed after 9/11 occurred. After the tragedy, many people had many questions
to answer and no service was available to make non -emergency calls, 211 was the
answer. It was set up to provide information and referrals to the community for answers
to all questions that were not of an emergency nature.
211 contain three major departments: Information & Referral, Volunteer Management
and disaster Response. Information & Referral is the largest component. In normal
times, its focus is to advertise its services so that everyone will know that the service
exists and how to use it. Currently, 211 is working with 911 to provide relief services.
In this working agreement, 211 is able to connect 911 callers who have non -emergency
needs to the appropriate services which provide social services.
Margaret discussed budget concerns. She explained that the Legislature is considering
a one million dollar cut for senior services in the Long Bill because Colorado might get
$1 million in the federal stimulus bill. The joker is that the federal money may be
earmarked for nutrition only. That means that all the other programs would suffer.
The AARP Board of Directors has still not decided to organize a conference in October.
Attendance was lower at the 2008 conference, and some board members thought it
might be wise to skip a year. Besides, a similar conference is scheduled for the same
week in Loveland.
IX.
KI
On Saturday, May 30, the local chapter of AARP will be sponsoring a shredding day on
the parking lot of Public Service Credit Union. The shredder will be in operation from
9:OOa.m. until 12:00 noon. Everyone is encouraged to bring outdated and confidential
papers to be shredded that day. Public Service Credit Union and the Aspen Club will be
the major sponsors.
Poudre Retired School Employees Association
Over 60 persons attended the PRSEA retirement seminar on a snowy Saturday in
March.
On Tuesday, May 5 PRSEA will hold its annual spring luncheon. The highlight of the
activities will be the presentation of two scholarships — one boy and one girl — to Fort
Collins seniors. The luncheon will be the last activity until the picnic in September.
As of April 7, membership in PRSEA reached 569, an increase of 60 over the 2008
count. The Fort Collins unit is the largest in the state.
Gavle Criswell -Senior Center —reported on the new "Enrich". Feels it is much improved.
Gayle felt the Expansion Launch was wonderful.
Elaine Boni — Elder Abuse Event will be May 201h @ 6:30p.m.
B.
C.
D.
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I.
Senior Center Expansion Committee — Report — Barbara reported that $15,000 were raised at
the Expansion Launch.
Communications Committee — Report — An article on the expansion was in the 50+ this
month. Stan met with Barb and it was decided they need to conform to City policies. The
committee will meet Monday @ 4p.m.
Community Chat with HRC on Elder Abuse — Report —Thanks to Bob Phillips for
nominating Bud Herin for the HRC award.
Bridging the Gap — Report — The format has been approved, which will be a short video after
lunch followed by problem solving and then another video. Negotiations are still going with
the Hilton and the Drake Center.
Senior Volunteer Nomination — follow-up — Thanks to Barbara for putting together a
nomination for Bud Herin for the volunteer award.
SAB Self Assessment Questionnaire — This will be done next month.
Social Meeting with Mayor and City Council — May 2"d from 4pm to 6pm during the Craft
Show. Everyone is encouraged to call their Council Member and invite them to the show.
Nominating Committee — Report — The nominees are Cathy Martin — Chair, Anita Basham —
Vice Chair, Kathy Schuster — Secretary.
New Business
Presentations at future SAB meetings.
The Senior Advisory Board 2009 Action Plan was reviewed and made changes.
Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 3:38p.m.