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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSenior Advisory Board - Minutes - 02/09/1994FORT COLLINS SENIOR ADVISORY BOARD Minutes of the February 9, 1994 Meeting CALL TO ORDER The regular monthly meeting of the Fort Collins Senior Advisory Board was called to order by Stan Ulrich, secretary, at 2:05 P. M. on February 9, 1994, in the Horsetooth Room of the Senior Center. ATTENDANCE Members Lawrence Heglund Peggy Santich Kathleen Jones Marjorie McTaggart Ed Johnson Jill Taylor Wayne Moellenberg Stan Ulrich Yvonne Myers Kay Rios Excused Absence: Margaret Watts MINUTES Guests Yetta Rollin Staff Personnel Luanna Ackerman Barbara Schoenberger Council Liaison: None The minutes of the January 12, 1994, Senior Advisory Board meeting were approved as written. CORRESPONDENCE Barbara Schoenberger stated that the committee had received a letter from the Human Relations Commission requesting a nominee from the SAB for the Fort Collins Human Relations Award. Marjorie McTaggart was nominated. The winner will receive his/her award at a breakfast on Friday, May 6. The envelope, please! The city had sent a copy of the annual reports of all 23 boards and commissions. The reports are filed in Barbara's office and any member may examine them and have copies made. Barbara also mentioned that the latest issue of the Colorado Senior Lobby newsletter came in the mail, and she passed the copy around for the members to see. OLD BUSINESS Outreach Meetings Kay Rios, Jill Taylor and Yvonne Myers have been organizing Outreach meetings with Los Ancianos, The Worthington and Cliff Barber's class at CSU. Kay reported that she has tentatively scheduled a meeting with the officers of Los Ancianos on Tuesday, February 22. Marjorie McTaggart will accompany her. The only other confirmed date is with Cliff Barber's class on April 13. Network Luncheon Parkwood Estates has offered its facilities for the Network luncheon May 11, the regular meeting date for the SAB. The menu and price have still not been determined. For the enlighenment of the new members, Barbara explained that the purpose of the Network luncheon is to provide an opportunity for all individuals, organizations and agencies who work with seniors to meet each other and find out what the others are doing. In this way, the various organizations and agencies will be able to Page 2, SAB Minutes, Februo.y 9, 1994 avoid duplication of effort and to cooperate on projects of mutual interest. A question was raised whether or not the Parkwood Estates dining room is large enough to accommodate a group as large as the network coalition, and Kay agreed to discuss that problem with the management. Network Newsletter Jill reported that the SAB newsletter, "S. A. G. E. Net," has been mailed. It was sent to all the organizations and agencies in the network. Retirement Brochure The retirement brochure has still not come back from the printers. Barbara stated that it should be finished soon and then it will be distributed to the Network and other organizations. New Senior Center Ed Johnson, liaison to the Building Team of the new senior center, reported that he had met with Steve White, project manager, and reviewed some of the specifica- tions and plans. He also attended the contractors' meeting at the site and was given a tour of the building. Ed was impressed with the professionalism of the Building.Team and the project manager's insistence that the center will be completed on time. Ed did, however, have one concern: assist bars are not specified for every stall in the restrooms, but only in the handicapped stalls. Steve Budner, Ed added, would be willing to consider a request from the SAB to provide assist bars in every stall in every bathroom, but the request would have to come very quickly because it would require a change in the design of the partitions that separate the stalls. Marjorie McTaggart moved that the SAB should request in writing that all the stalls in the restrooms of the new senior center should be equipped with assist bars. Wayne Moellenberg seconded the motion. It carried unanimously. Ed Johnson agreed to write a draft of a letter to Steve Budner and have Barbara approve it. Ed concluded his report by saying that he intends to visit the site every Tuesday to check on the center's progress. Marjorie added that Ed had also made some suggestions on how to improve the lighting in the pool area and they have been accepted. After Ed's report, the SAB thanked Ed officially for the work is doing. NEW BUSINESS Dial -A -Ride Request for a Presentation A schedule for open houses for Dial -A -Ride was distributed to each member, but the Senior Center was not listed as one of the sites. Kay felt that an open house should be presented in the Senior Center, and she will try to have one held there. Marjorie added that she had mentioned Dial -A -Ride in her newspaper article that should be published soon. She also stated that the program is getting quite a bit of publicity in the newspapers and in other media. Kay Rios, who had just arrived and taken over the duty of -the chairperson, will talk with the director of Dial -A -Ride and invite a representative from that organization to speak to the SAB and perhaps conduct an open house in the Senior Center as well. Paint -A -Thou Yvonne Myers stated that she had finally contacted Patty Coupens at the First Interstate Bank about sponsoring another Paint -A -Thou. Yvonne was informed that Mrs. Coupens hopes to have at least twelve teams this year and that she is already doing much of the organizational work. An immediate concern, Patty told Yvonne, ♦Page 3, SAB Minutes, Fe"6ruary 9, 1994 • is publicity and she asked Yvonne for names of newsletters that would carry articles about seniors. The following newsletters were suggested: Aspen Club, American Association of Retired Persons, RSVP, the Network and several others. Yvonne was unable to get any more information or a commitment from Patty because Patty felt that it was still too early in the year and she really hadn't given the Paint-A-Thon too much attention. Service Organizations Reports 1. RSVP Vet Pet Report. Although inquiries have been made about the Vet Pet Project, Luanna Ackerman stated that not one of the callers was eligible to receive help because his/her income was above the maximum to,qualify for help. As yet, no vouchers had been issued. Marjorie added that after one of her columns had appeared in print, she had received a call -from a person who was a member of Larimer Animal People Partnership (LAPP), and the caller wanted to know what was needed for the Vet Pet Project. Marjorie identified two areas in which Vet Pet needed help: care for sick animals and transportation to the vet at odd hours. The Lady from LAPP told Marjorie that they have a van that could be used for transpor- tation and they have loaner carriers for large and small dogs. LAPP also has dog -sitters for owners who may be gone for a short period of time. Marjorie asked the LAPP representative to put all the services that LAPP provides in writing and send it to Kay or her. 2. RSVP. Luanna reported that RSVP will conduct a contest to design a card for Lights of Life and Memories,.a fund-raiser in December. Euanna concluded her report by saying that the VITA Program is going well. 3. Office on Agina. Stan Ulrich reported that the Office on Aging Advisory ' Council has a new chair, Michele Johnston, and two new members: Stan Ulrich and Steve Budner. The Helpline Information Cards are now available and are ready for distribution. The city of Fort Collins has recently signed an agreement with COMSIS to operate central dispatch for transportation within the city of Fort Collins. The Transportation Committee of the AoA Advisory Council also plans to expand its services into Estes Park, Wellington, Loveland and perhaps Timnath. St::: added that the Office on Aging, United Way and the Human Development Program have met to discuss I & R issues. They want to form a consortium and possibly pool their resources. Ombudsman volunteers have been trained and are now working in the community. Senior Chuckwagon started a new program that offers frozen meals delivered to dis- abled low-income individuals under age 60. Finally, Stan stated that Rena Mackrill toed the Advisory Council that the VITA and Tax Workoff Programs are underway. 4. Senior Center Council. Larry Heglund reported that the Senior Center Council is hosting the Women's Financial Program and volunteers are busily baking cookies for the event. -Friends of the Senior Center. -Kay reported that the Friends of the Senior Center . 9 sored a very successful Mardi Gras dance on Saturday, February 5, and they are now looking forward to the next event, a performance by SOAP at the Lincoln Center in the middle of March. The cost of admission will be $3.00 per person, and transportation will be available for those who will need it. She added that drafts of the Gift Catalog will be available for members to peruse at the next Friends of the Senior Center meeting on February 24. The catalog will go to the printers on February 28, and should be back from the printers by March 11. The last project in the works, Kay continued, is the garage sale Page 4, SAB Minutes, February 9, 1994 that will be held at Northside Center in June. Kay concluded her report with the announcement that a grant had been presented to Gannett for equipment in the fitness room, one had been presented to Anheuser Busch and a -request hhs. been submitted to Hewlett Packard to supply computers for the computer room. 6. Seniors Airborne. Kay reported that KIIX Radio will be making a program format change that should increase the listening audience for Seniors Airborne. The program, according to the station manager, has had good feedback and the management is pleased with its performance. After Kay's report, Larry Heglund moved that the SAB should continue SeniotsAirborne as an on -going project. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Health Task Force Kay stated that she'had no additional information about the Health Task Force, but she added that the director will be interviewed on Seniors Airborne in March. Kay also stated that she will continue to attend the Task Force's meetings. Board Liaison from Council At this point, Kay reported, City Council has not appointed a liaison for the Senior Advisory Board. She added that Council had just started interviewing, and a liaison should be appointed soon. PVH Privatization Jill Taylor stated that she had attended many meetings in the past few weeks, and she feels that privatization of PVH will become a reality. She added that the hospital board was meeting at the same time as the SAB, and it should make a decision soon. After a long discussion following Jill's report, the SAB decided to invite an official of the hospital to address the concerns of seniors if PVH becomes a private entity. OTHER BUSINESS Under Other Business, every member was given the opportunity to make comments about concerns, or to tell the other members about activities in which he/she participated since the last meeting. Their comments follow: Kathleen Jones Kay stated that she is interested in the Widowed Persons Services and that she had been active in its operation. Yvonne Myers In addition to her duties as a social worker at West, Yvonne announced that she now has the added responsibility of being an administrator at New Mercer. Con- struction of New Mercer is well underway, and Yvonne stated that 103 names are already on the waiting list. Wayne MoellenberA Wayne is on the board of Fostering Family Strengths and he stated that he is very much interested in getting seniors involved in strengthening the family in the community. He asked for volunteers to help. 'Page 5, SAB Minutes, A uary 9, 1994 • Jill Taylor Jill passed out lists of VITA sites and told about fund-raising projects and other activities of the Aspen Club. A coffee -tasting and pastry -sampling fund-raiser is scheduled for Sunday, February 13, at The Worthington, and the Healthy Senior Expo will be coming up on Thursday, May 12, at the Mall. She invited the SAB to "man" a booth at the event. Barbara Schoenberger Barbara announced that the Moonlight and Roses dance will be held on Friday, February 11, at the Lincoln Center. Tickets are $5.00 each. She also stated that she will be attending Steve's Breakfast Club on Feburary 23. Ed Johnson Ed reported that he had met with Steve White to go over the plans of the new senior center, and he was assured that it would be completed on time. He said he would write a letter requesting that assist bars should be installed in every stall of the restrooms in the new senior center. He added that the Fort Collins Columbus Club has a large hall that is available to non-profit groups. Yetta Rollin Yetta expressed a concern that programs for children of the middle grades are non-existent in the city. She stated that perhaps the SAB could take the initiative to provide programs and activities for that age group. Peggy Santich After working on the Madri Gras food committee, Peggy was amazed that the senior center has no freezer in its kitchen. She stated that she will be particularly interested in looking at storage space for -food in the new senior center. Marjorie McTaggart Marjorie announced that the Larimer County/Fort Collins Hazardous Pollutant Forum will be held on Wednesday, February 16, and she hopes to attend. She also mentioned that Fort Collins will be looking at a new ordinance that will be similar to the Green River one. One of its features will be to allow more door-to-door solici- tation under certain circumstances unless a No Solicitation sign is displayed in the homeowner's window. Stan Ulrich Stan stated tht he had attended meetings.of Capitol City Task Force, a sub -committee of AARP's Colorado Legislation Committee, in Denver on Monday mornings and reviewed several bills that could affect seniors. Kay Rios Kay wound up.the.Show and Tell period by sayind^,that the city) will •be.lookiag at vending machine perhits'a[ the Council debting on March 5. ADJOURNMENT Since there was no further business to conduct, a meeting was adjourned at 4:28 P. M. PL( ,