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2006-09-18 TOWN OF BERLIN COMMISSION FOR THE AGING Minutes of Monday, September 18, 2006 * Berlin Senior Center * 7:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order: Chairwoman Gombotz called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. 2. Roll Call: Members in Attendance: Barbara Gombotz, Chairwoman Connie Marshall Paul MacDonald Thomas Murphy Juliet Benjamin, Secretary Excused: Sue Buckley Staff in Attendance: Antoinette Pajor, Community Services Director JoAnn Budzinski, Senior Center Director Guest: Carolyn Wysocki 3. Approval of Minutes – June 19, 2006: Commissioner Murphy made a motion to accept the Minutes of Monday, June 19, 2006, as written. The motion was seconded by Chairwoman Gombotz. Minutes approved. 4. Audience of Citizens: Ms Carolyn Wysocki noted that she wished to call attention to two concerns for the Commission to discuss. 1) Tax Freeze – Ms Wysocki discussed how other Towns have programs in place that freeze taxes for seniors and she wondered if that was something that the Town of Berlin might consider. She asked if the Commission would be in favor of looking into this idea. 2) Subsidized Housing for seniors – Ms. Wysocki noted that there is a lack of subsidized housing in the Town of Berlin and seniors have their name on lists with the Berlin Housing Authority for Minutes of the Commission For The Aging – September 18, 2006 - Page 2 years. Many seniors end up moving into senior housing in a surrounding town because it becomes available sooner than Berlin. Chairwoman Gombotz stated that it would be interesting to find out which towns have tax freeze programs in place and what the qualifications might be. Dir. Community Services Antoinette Pajor suggested that she could contact the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM), of which Berlin is a member, and request whatever information on property tax freezes they might have on file. Chairwoman Gombotz noted that Florence Lyons, a senior currently living in Berlin, had attended a meeting of the Commission for the Aging and discussed the lack of affordable senior housing within the center area of Berlin. She noted that she and her friends were not in favor of having to cross the Berlin Turnpike every time they needed to go out. She requested that the Town look at building senior housing within the core area of town. Chairwoman Gombotz suggested that Ms. Lyons ask her friends to get together and go before the Town Council to express their concerns about senior housing. Chairwoman Gombotz spoke with Ms. Lyons recently and found that she was unsuccessful in trying to get her friends to go with her to speak before the Council. Chairwoman Gombotz assured Ms. Wysocki that senior housing is a subject that she brings up at every Commission meeting and is always foremost in her mind, whether subsidized or other forms of senior housing. 5. Community Services Director Report – Antoinette Pajor: A copy of Dir. Pajor’s report can be found at the end of these minutes. Community Services Dir. Pajor elaborated on her information Medicare Part D regarding and explained that on Wednesday, October th 18 from 1:00 to 4:00 experts would be at the Senior Center to discuss the various plans available and give advice related to choosing the best plan. State of CT Dept. of Transportation Grant – Dir. Pajor noted that the grant has added twelve hours of extra ride time for the seniors, which has been beneficial to the Senior Center. Section 8-24 Review for acceptance of an Easement to the Town of Berlin from the Berlin Housing Authority Dir. Pajor discussed the request from Town Manager Middlebrooks through Jim Mahoney, Economic Development Dir. asking that the Commission discuss the request and report back to the Town Manager. The proposal is for an easement through Berlin Housing Authority property next to Marjorie Moore Village to connect up the properties housing the Town Hall complex and Percival Field to create a pedestrian Minutes of the Commission For The Aging – September 18, 2006 - Page 3 connection. Commissioners had several questions regarding the proposal. 1) Who would be walking along this area and where is the walking path to be located? 2) Are the seniors living within the Marjorie Moore Village in favor of this connecting path? 3) What is the definitive purpose of this path and traffic estimate of how many people would make use of the path? 4) Will this path be designed for seniors to walk along? 5) Who will maintain this pathway? 6) If this pathway is part of a broader strategic plan, what is that plan? Commissioners questioned why the easement was shown on the plan and not the proposed path. Shouldn’t the pathway be outlined to show exactly where it goes from which property to which property? Commissioners were in agreement that more information was needed to make a decision on this proposal. 6. Senior Center Director’s Report: Senior Center Director JoAnn Budzinski read her report outlining activities held at the Senior Center since the June meeting. A copy of the report can be found at the end of these minutes. 7. Speaker – Senior Health Issues: Ms. Carolyn Wysocki appeared before the Commission as a representative of the Central Connecticut Health District, of which Berlin is a member. She gave some background on the CCHD, explaining that it is comprised of Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, Berlin and most recently Newington. The CCHD has one Director of Health and four Sanitarians, one assigned to each Town. The Sanitarians do all restaurant and food license inspections, motel inspections and septic tank determinations and recommendations. The Connecticut Health Educator coordinates health programs and recently directed an emergency preparedness drill. There is also an Emergency Preparedness Coordinator and the CCHD is still actively recruiting volunteers for an Emergency Management Crisis Program. Ms. Wysocki forwarded a copy of the 2004-2005 Report of the Number of Services Provided to Chairwoman Gombotz and asked whether there were any other needs or programs that the CCHD could provide or partner with. Many CCHD sponsored health programs are now offered through the Senior Center and they have been very successful. Ms. Wysocki stated that she is looking for any concerns or input from the Commission or from seniors, with the emphasis on prevention. Minutes of the Commission For The Aging – September 18, 2006 - Page 4 Senior Center Dir. Budzinski noted that they are always looking for suggestions for programs at the Senior Center and Ms. Wysocki is welcome to make arrangements, through her, to come to the Senior Center and speak to the seniors. Ms. Wysocki also wished to convey that any citizen of Berlin is welcome at any program that is sponsored by the CCHD, whether the program takes place in Berlin, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield or Newington. 8. Petition – New Pool Table: The Commission discussed the request for a new pool table and the petition signed by 16 seniors requesting the table. Ms. Pajor and Ms. Budzinski noted that they were unaware of the petition but will look into the cost of a new table and possibly putting it into the budget request for next year, (2007-08). Putting in a request for funding by the Marjorie Moore Foundation was also discussed. Ms. Budzinski will check with the Community Center on the type and cost of the new pool tables that they have. The Community Center has two new pool tables, but because of space constraints, the Senior Center has room for only one. 9. Old Business - from June Meeting – Senior Housing – Other Old Business: Chairwoman Gombotz noted that Senior Housing was already discussed earlier in the meeting. Fall Social – The date of the Fall Social has been set for Thursday, th October 26, with entertainment starting at 3:00 and food served from 4:00 to5:00. Commissioner Buckley had agreed to supply sandwich fillings and rolls, (Tuna, Egg Salad & Ham & Pickle). Senior Center Dir. Budzinski will supply the cake, punch ingredients, coffee and paper products. Commissioner MacDonald will bring the chips. Chairwoman Gombotz is in charge of the fruit platters. Commissioners agreed to meet th at 1:00 on Oct. 26 to prepare sandwiches. Elderhostel Trips – Commissioner Murphy distributed copies of information on the web site for Elderhostel’s for Commissioners to review. Senior Center Dir. Budzinski stated that the Senior Center has a copy of the complete Elderhostel Catalog available at the Senior Center. 10. New Business: Commissioner Murphy, who is a docent at the New Britain Museum of American Art, suggested that Senior Center Dir. Budzinski might like to arrange a van trip from the Berlin Senior Center to the museum. Ms. Budzinski felt that a museum trip was a very good suggestion for a program. Minutes of the Commission For The Aging – September 18, 2006 - Page 5 Commissioner Murphy asked whether an approximate count of seniors in Berlin was available. Dir. Pajor noted that there were approximately 3,000 people 65 or over as of the 2000 census. She noted that she would try to get an update on the senior population. Chairwoman Gombotz noted that the Plainville Senior Center Director had sent her a copy of their Newsletter and she wished to share it with the Commission. She noticed that there were several programs listed for younger, more active seniors. A copy of the newsletter will be sent to Commissioners for review. 11. Motion to Adjourn: Commissioner MacDonald moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:00 P.M. Seconded by Commissioner Marshall & unanimously approved. Respectfully submitted, Juliet K. Benjamin, Secretary Community Services Director’s Report for the Commission for the Aging September 18, 2006 ? Fall Social —You have a new budget of $500 for the Fiscal Year 2006/07 for your th two socials. We have booked entertainment for October 26-“Perfect Partners” for a fee of $75. They are a husband and wife who play guitar, fiddle and sing. ? Medicare Part D —We start the redetermination process for seniors who will once again have to pick a plan for the new year. The Medicare Website will be up and th running with information by October 15 and the open enrollment period will run from November 15 to December 31, 2006. We will not know what plans will be th offered until after September 15-the deadline for Companies to submit their plans to the State of CT for approval. ? State of CT Department of Transportation Grant— We began the new van service th that we are purchasing from the Bristol Community Organization on July18. It is off to a slow start but we hope the cooler weather and regular schedules of the Fall will show an increase in usage. In July we had 19 riders. In August we had 22. We may look at changing the Tuesday morning time to Tuesday afternoon to increase ridership. ? Renter’s Rebate Program —The deadline for Renters Rebate applications was thst Friday, September 15. We have until October 31 to send in all of our applications. th The state begins to send payments to applicants on October 15. I will report the total numbers of applications we have processed at your next meeting. ? Municipal Agent for the Elderly Annual Report 2005 —Mayor Salina had forwarded a copy of the Connecticut State Unit on Aging’s Municipal Agent for the Elderly Annual Report 2005. I will give the copy to Chair Gombotz. As Municipal Agent for the Elderly, I am required to complete a yearly report on the number and type of requests for information that I receive from the public. Minutes of the Commission For The Aging – September 18, 2006 - Page 6 ? Section 8-24 Review for acceptance of an Easement to the Town of Berlin from the Berlin Housing Authority —I was asked by Jim Mahoney, Economic Development Director, to deliver the attached item from the Town Manager for this Commission’s input. They would like a report to the Town Manager after tonight’s meeting. (Copies for all members distributed except for map-only one copy of that for the Chair to share.) Senior Center Director’s Report Monday, September 18, 2006 th It’s been a busy and fun summer. In July, on the 10, we had Gia, a belly dancer entertain! After the show, we served coffee and “sweet th treats” to 44 seniors who attended. On the 11 of July we held an risk factors. informative program on Osteoporosis, and its Only 14 seniors th attended. But on the 12 of July, we held our annual ice cream social. It was a hot day and the 86 seniors who came enjoyed a performance by pianist Bob Alexander and of course, an ice cream sundae. And on July th 25 we held another informative program, this time about medication management. We had 24 seniors attend. We also had a free hearing th screening here on the 25. Kensington Hearing Services donated their time to come and screen our seniors. 10 seniors were screened. And finally in July, we sponsored (along with the local AARP chapter) our annual blood drive here at the st senior center on Friday, the 21. They had 55 good pints presented. th In August, we held our annual picnic on the 15. 96 seniors enjoyed a hot dog, baked beans and peaches, macaroni salad, and a brownie. Entertainment was provided by the Harwood Country Band, a three piece country/western band from Rhode Island. Also in August, we began a new “dance” class. We tried three different types of dance classes on three consecutive Mondays. The one that was best received was a “Movement Class” similar to Tai Chi and Yoga. We will be continuing that class in fall. We also held two informational programs in August. nd On Tuesday, the 22, we had a speaker from the United Ways of Connecticut come and speak about 2-1-1, a statewide free infoline th available 24 hours a day. We had 19 seniors attending. And on the 30 of August, we had Dr. Borohovich, from New Britain come and speak to our seniors about cataracts and dry eyes. We had 12 seniors attend. th In September, we held an herbal class on the 14. 6 seniors came and learned about herbs and each made herbal vinegar to take home with them. We are also having a free blood glucose screening sponsored by thth Berlin VNA on the 19 and on the 20we are having a free hearing screening sponsored by Beltone.