2005-03-21 TOWN OF BERLIN
COMMISSION FOR THE AGING
Minutes of Monday, March 21, 2005
Berhn Senior Center 7 00 P M
I Call to Order
Chairwoman Gombotz called the meeting to order at 7 00 P M
2 Roll Call
Members in Attendance
Barbara Gombotz Chairwoman
Rev Hugh Penney
Paul MacDonald
Juhet Benjamin Secretary
Bette Baldyga
Connie Marshall
Staff Antoinette Pajor Community Services Director
JoAnn Budzlnskl Senior Center Director
3 Approval of Minutes - January 24~ 2005 Meeting
Commissioner Penney MOVED to accept the Minutes of Monday
January 24 2005 as written SECONDED by Commissioner Gombotz &
UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED
4 Audience of Citizens
None
5 Housing Authority Members
Chairwoman Gombotz noted that the members of the Housing
Authority had been extended an invitation by mall to attend this
meeting to discuss future affordable housing for Berhn Seniors This has
been an ongoing subject of concern for the Commission for the Aging
members and they felt that a meeting with the Housing Authority would
be beneficial in promoting ideas for new affordable units Chairwoman
Gombotz distributed copies of a letter received from Mary Wilcox
Chairperson of the Berhn Housing Authority dechnlng the invitation to
meet tonight and questioning what the Commission for the Aging
intended to accomphsh by adding this issue to their agenda
Chairwoman Gombotz stated that she was very disappointed in
both the tone of the letter and the stance of the Housing Authority The
intent of the invitation was to encourage dialogue between two
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commissions that share the same concerns for the well being of Berhn
Semors In th~s attempt to work together w~th another Town
Commission the Commission for the Aging members had hoped to offer
assistance ~n researching secunng properties and assisting ~n seeking
funding for affordable umts No new affordable housing has been added
to the Town ~n many years and cons~denng that there are only two such
developments of th~s type w~th~n the Town and the number of requests
from semors for th~s type of housing there seems to be a genmne need
For a period last year the hst for semor housing was closed due to a two
year wmt~ng hst Many of the semors ~n town have stated that they th~nk
the new 55 and over or adult targeted commumt~es are wonderful but at
$300 000 to over $400 000 dollars per umt way over their price range
If they were to sell their homes ~n Berhn and get two or three hundred
thousand for them they would still not be able to afford the new umts or
the monthly fees for upkeep The Commission for the Aging w~shed to
develop an ongmng open d~alogue w~th the Housing Authority to d~scuss
the real need for low ~ncome affordable housing and still th~nks that th~s
~s a matter of great concern
6 Community Services Director Report - Antoinette Pajor
Antmnette Pajor D~rector of Commumty Services submitted and
d~scussed her report which ~s attached to these m~nutes
7 Senior Center Director s Report
Semor Center D~rector JoAnn Budmnsk~ reported on events that
have taken place at the Semor Center s~nce the January meeting A copy
of her report ~s attached to these m~nutes
8 Capitol Improvement 2004/2005 - Letter for Parking Lot
Semor Center D~rector Budmnsk~ reviewed the t~me flame from
July 2001 when Town Engineer Ferraro examined the slope ~n the
Semor Center Parking Lot and what could be done to lessen the ~nchne
to the present when the request to re grade the lot was moved ~nto the
Capitol Budget for 2007/08 Th~s ~tem was moved ~nto the 2007/08
t~meframe because ~t was not known when or ~f there would be an
addition bmlt onto the Semor Center S~nce the referendum for the
addition to the bmld~ng d~d not pass members wondered ~f the request
should be moved up ~nto the 2006/07 budget It was also d~scussed that
~f LOCIP funding ~s obtmned ~t may be possible to do the work dunng
the 2006/07 budget season
9 Spring Social - May 19, 2005, Thursday - Senior Week
Semor Center D~r Budmnsk~ noted that Semor Week will be
celebrated dunng the second week of May not the third She asked
whether Commissioners would be ~n favor of moving the date of the
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Social forward to Thursday May 12t~ Commissioner Penney noted that
he would be unavailable on the 12ti because of another engagement and
therefore unable to make and donate the sandwiches After discussion
Commissioner Baldyga MOVED to set the date of the Spring Social for
Thursday May 12ti so that it would be a part of Senior Week
SECONDED by Commissioner Marshall & UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED
Commissioners agreed to change the menu by serving pizza chips
snacks and cake Senior Center Dir Budzinski stated that the theme of
Senior Week this year is Senior Centers on the Move - Meet Us There*
The Spring Social will run from 3 00 to 5 00 and there are usually about
100 people in attendance Entertainment will be secured through the
Senior Center Commissioner Baldyga agreed to provide the punch for
the event and Chairwoman Gombotz will provide the snacks
10 Old Business
None
11 New Business
None
12 Motion to AdJourn
Commissioner Baldyga MOVED to adjourn the meeting at 8 05 P M
SECONDED by Commissioner Marshall & UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED
Respectfully submitted
Juhet K Benjamin Secretary
March 21, 2005
Community Services Director s Report for Commission for the Aging
Community Focal Point for Aging Services Designation - We
apphed for this status with the North Central Area Agency on Aging in
July 2002 I have had recent correspondence from them indicating
that our apphcatlon was outside of the apphcatlon period and
encouraging us to reapply now I have forwarded our new apphcatlon
and will secure three new letters of support from Mayor Sahna AARP
President and Interim Town Manager Mlddlebrooks that will be sent
in April 2005 A review of our apphcatlon and site visit should be
completed and if we are found ehglble we should receive this
designation around June 2005 Apparently we were given incorrect
information in July 2002 about an open enrollment period
Medicare Part D Training - I will be attending at least two
workshops in May and June regarding the new Medicare Part D/Drug
Coverage portion of Medicare in my capacity as a NCAAA CHOICES
Counselor The current Discount Drug Card Program will be ending
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effective December 1 2005 and it will be replaced with the Medicare
Part D
SENIOR CENTER DIRECTOR S REPORT
MARCH 21 2005
Even though ~ts been a snowy cold w~nter we were able to present some fun
and ~nterest~ng programs ~n February
On Monday February 7 h we had Channel 30 Meteorologist Art Horn present a
travehng shde show on weather We served a continental breakfast and had
40 semors attend They enjoyed the program and meeting w~th Art Horn who
was very gracious and took the t~me to hsten to weather stones from the old
days from our semors
On Wednesday February 23 d the Andrews House sponsored a p~zza lunch for
28 semors They had an registered nurse from the complex come and speak about
how pneumoma ~s transmitted and how ~mportant ~t ~s get the pneumoma vaccine
On Friday February 25 h we had a certified flnanoal planner from Walhngford come
and present a program on flnanoal ~ssues that affect semors We had ten
seniors attend
We show mowes on Tuesday afternoons at 1 00 PM and we usually average 6 8 semors
at these mowes But on February 8 h we showed the mowe Shall We Dance w~th
R~chard Gere and we had 27 semors attend ~ All females
The AARP Tax A~de Program for semors that ~s sponsored by the National Chapter and
not the local Berhn Chapter ~s up and runmng again th~s tax season at the semor center
Daws and Grace F~rnhaber both Berhn residents are volunteenng their
services every Thursday mormng thru April 7 h
And Antoinette and I completed 86 energy assistance apphcat~ons here at the Berhn
Semor Center for Iow ~ncome semors Antoinette also made home ws~ts to several
semors who were home bound and unable to come ~nto the semor center to apply
for th~s program
Chuck