Lincoln Council on Aging
Board Meeting, September 19, 2006
Present were: Eleven Board members, (Peggy Boyer, Flo Caras .John Caswell, Valerie Lee, Bob Lenington, Jack McCandless, Fez Morse, Julie Pugh, Mary Shelden, Bob Sutherland and Dot Taylor), the COA staff (Karen Santucci and Liz King-), Avram Kalisky and Laura Eschenroeder for the Friends, Tim Higgins and Sara Mattes representing the Selectmen, and guests (Peggy and Al Schmertzler and Rachel Mason).
Chairman Sutherland called the meeting to order at 3PM.
1) The minutes of the June meeting were approved as corrected.
2) Treasurer’s Report. Bob Lenington stated that we finished the last fiscal year “on the button”, and that the first two months of this fiscal year are also on budget. The budget report was accepted.
3) John Caswell announced that the annual meeting of the Minute Man Senior Services will be on October 31. There will be an informational Shine meeting at Bemis Hall on November 7.
4) Welcome: Upon the arrival of Tim Higgins and Sara Mattes, our chairman welcomed all.
5) Director’s Report
Proposal for a full time Assistant Director
Karen stated that she and Liz are exhausted with the increased workload, number of activities and demands on their time. The increased number of volunteers, volunteer hours and sub committees have required energy and attention.
She showed a chart depicting former and newly-formed programs plus duplicated and non-duplicated numbers of participants. She held up newsletters from 1999 when she joined us, and a copy of our current issue, emphasizing the increase in programming. There is an increase in incoming calls. Outgoing calls have not been counted. Another of her charts showed COA staffing per numbers of seniors in comparable towns. Lincoln ranks 12 out of 14 towns with 22% of residents over age 60 in relation to the total population. There are people under age 60 who call for help with the Emergency Assistance Fund, coping with elder parents, borrowing of durable equipment, fuel assistance and other information. Karen stressed that we need a second social worker who can help with home assessments, the above issues and the total population, as well as
covering the office when the director is on vacation or away from Bemis Hall.
6) Tim praised the early timing of our request, stating that we’ve presented our materials, data and information in time for favorable consideration. He clarified the process by which the Town will consider this request. (Budget Packet-Nov. 21, and First Budget Workshop-Dec. 7th plus Guidelines from the Finance Committee). He mentioned comparison to the Firefighters, staffing, etc.
Peggy asked Sara what additional material we will need to gather for presentation to the Finance Committee and Townspeople. Sara suggested charging for programs to cover the costs the way the Rec. Committee does. She says we need contingency plans for the possibility that we don’t get the additional funding for a half of an Assistant Director. Avram said that we keep our fees affordable, especially for low income residents. Sara recommends emphasizing the social services component and cross-generational aspect of the needed extra hours. John mentioned that most of our social services such as SHINE counseling, home evaluation visits and income tax preparation are confidential. He urged us to explore the ways we might contract out some services,.such as Lincoln’s Town Engineer.
In conclusion, Karen outlined the advantages of adding the full time position of Assistant Director.
(scheduling programs on Fridays, five-day (8:30-4:30) professional office coverage, crisis intervention, more ability to recruit, train and supervise volunteers for interaction with elders.)
Tim and Sara departed after our presentation and discussion of the need for a full time assistant director. The Board members praised Karen for her presentation.
Bob urged us all to attend the Nov. 4th Special Town Meeting to support the Deaconess Project.
The meeting adjourned at 3:55 PM
Respectfully Submitted,
Julie Pugh, Recorder
| 
