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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Leadership Committee For Senior Services - 02/07/2013 Leadership Committee for Senior Services Meeting Minutes Broadmoor Senior Center Thursday, February 7, 2013 The meeting was called to order at 3:40 p.m. by B. Sayles, Chairperson. ► Roll Call ► Roll call was conducted by I. Hobbs, Secretary. Members present: W. Hardeman, H. Lopez, E. Savoy, C. Mutchler, K. Mutchler, B. Rye, B. Sayles, and I. Hobbs. V. Garza was absent. Approval of Minutes ► Minutes from the January 10, 2013 meeting were distributed for review. A motion was made by E. Savoy and seconded by A. Martinez to approve the minutes. The motion was unanimously approved. New Business ► New LCSS Member Endorsements – (2) Community at Large Vacancies and Member Reappointments  Two Community at Large vacancies need to be filled. Elsa Munoz advised that the City Council preference is to receive more “bios” than vacancies available. The City Secretary’s Office has received three (3) additional names which were included in the packets. Members reviewed the Biographical Information packets as distributed along with a ballot sheet for voting. Mr. Lewis Hardeman and Mr. Bob Irwin introduced themselves to the board, as prospective candidates to fill the vacant LCSS slots. Discussion of the available slots revealed that there are four (4) Community at Large and one (1) Senior Center Representative vacancy. During the January 2013, meeting there were two (2) recommendations approved which leaves two (2) Community at Large and one (1) Senior Center Representative positions available. L. Oliver advised that there are two (2) candidates eligible under the Senior Center Representatives designation including Mr. Irwin and Mr. Hardeman. A. Martinez made motion to table the vote until the next meeting in anticipation of receiving more candidates. I. Hobbs seconded the motion. Discussion was opened and members noted apparent interest by Mr. Lewis Hardeman and Mr. Bob Irwin in showing up for the meeting. They noted that Ms. Laurel Garza is more than qualified to fill a vacancy. The motion to table the vote was not approved. I. Hobbs made a motion to recommend the three candidates to the City Council and was seconded by C. Mutchler. The motion was unanimous to endorse Lewis Hardeman, Bob Irwin and Laurel Garza to the City Council for appointment to the LCSS. B. Sayles later advised both Mr. Irwin and Mr. Hardeman they will be recommended by the LCSS to the City Council for appointment.  RTA Bus Token Project Update summary was presented by Evila Salinas, Lindale Senior Center Supervisor; RTA is providing a shuttle to the Seniors Center. They are investigating how many people would be interested to ride the shuttle and who currently rides uses the bus system. Lisa collected the data to provide to RTA. Free shuttle to the Centers is an option that is being evaluated. The rider would have to pay a small portion of the fare. The current program will 1 continue with some minor modifications. The rider would have a pass and pay a quarter (one way) for each trip to the Center. The difference with the shuttle would be taking them off the para transit system and creating a special shuttle for Senior Center Service separate from the para transit system. RTA officials are reviewing options to determine the best option. Subcommittee Reports ► Program Operations  I. Hobbs advised that revisions to the Site Council elections processes will be recommended as noted below. The election calendar was reviewed at the last meeting.  Revisions: On the final day of the election the election committee must be present to tabulate the ballots and complete the required documentation. It was noted the prior election committee was not aware of the responsibility.  Nominations will be held on March 25, 2013 to April 1, 2013.  There will be no proxies or absentee ballots for elections.  The biggest change is that site council membership was based on a 10% daily meal count average. For example an average meal count at Ethel Eyerly is 41, but the total activity units for the month are 1,752. The Site Council is really more involved with the activities than the meals. Another example was Garden Senior Center. The meal average is 60 and the total activity is 1957, which reflects higher meals and higher activity as well. The recommendation is to base membership on the total monthly average of activity units. Activity Units being defined as “every time someone participates in activity,” (i.e., bingo or exercise, etc.) Thus, except for Ethel Eyerly Senior Center will go from 9 members to 11 members. There will be a minimum of 9 and maximum of 11. Ethel Eyerly, Garden, Greenwood, and Lindale Senior Centers are at 11. Northwest and Oveal Williams will be at 9. Nominations will be accepted for President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Sargent at Arms. Individuals can only be nominated for one (1) officer position. Robert’s Rules of Order will be followed in the nomination process. In the event that there is more than one (1) nominee per office, the election will be held by ballot. In the event there is a Site Council who does not have the requisite 5 members to serve as officers, a written request for other options must be submitted to the LCSS Programs Operations Subcommittee within one (1) week of the officer elections. There were some instances where there were not enough eligible people to take office because they had served two (2) terms as officers. If that happens again then they can request to serve another term or to recommend other option  E. Savoy asked if there is an impeachment process available for Site Councils. E. Munoz advised that it depends on what your Rules of Operations are but there would be recommendations to follow Robert’s Rules of Order for impeachment. It is possible to impeach a member or an officer for not meeting regularly or adhering to the Rules of Operations. This issue should be reviewed and amended to the current consolidated Bylaws at the next meeting. 2  I. Hobbs made a motion to accept the revisions as recommended by the Program Operations Committee. The motion was seconded by Mr. Savoy. The motion was approved unanimously. st  I. Hobbs reported that the Joint Ad Hoc Committee 21 Century Town Hall Meeting has had two (2) more Town Hall meetings. L. Oliver advised that a meeting was held a few weeks ago and four (4) people were in attendance. Of those four (4) persons in attendance, all were considered regular Senior Center members. I. Hobbs reported that the meeting held last night, Wednesday, February 6, 2013, was at Doctor’s Regional. There were ten (10) people in attendance, including a reporter from the Caller Times who wrote an article in today’s paper. The difference of this particular meeting was there were no Senior Center members. They were all people interested in what Senior Centers offer and made recommendations on what they would like to see. The Ad Hoc Committee will meet again to review the recommendations and finalize their report. They will then formulate an official plan. Clearly there is a certain segment of the aging population that is under served by our centers. In the past, people were retiring at an early age (around 60) and now they are working to a much older age. They have different needs and people who are 50 or 60 years of age don’t consider themselves as seniors. We have to look to see what we can offer that population. These individuals desire adult enrichment type of classes and want courses offered at night. This could mean a makeover for our Senior Centers.  B. Rye asked if the notes were being compiled and at the end of all these meetings will the report be shared with all members of LCSS. The response was “yes”.  I. Hobbs advised that the biggest concern is communication. People don’t know what is available at the Senior Centers. Even though this meeting was advertised in the news paper and L. Oliver was on the television, we still didn’t get a lot of people at the meeting.  Mr. Sayles wanted to extend our thanks for the great hospitality; the refreshments and the decorations. Ms. Enriquetta (Katy) Arrerondon stated that Broadmoor has beautiful plants and the committee works with the members together. Everyone knows what they are doing, because they have committees for Bingo, Chalupa, Chair Volleyball, and dominos. Broadmoor is doing great and they have a lot of new members. For a small center, she feels that they are greatly prospering. She thanked the LCSS and welcomed the group back anytime.  Susan Luna from the Broadmoor Senior Center announced that they have two chair volleyball teams and have been practicing for the volleyball tournament next month. Funding & Resource/Special Events  B. Rye advised there are several events coming up. The 2012 Holiday Dinner has preliminary numbers but they still need to be finalized. It was a very successful event and we have started planning for the 2013 event. Surveys have been sent out to the Senior Centers for theme ideas th for next year. Sponsor letters are in draft as well. This year will mark the 30 anniversary of the Holiday Dinner event.  The Chair Volleyball Tournament will be held February 28, 2013 at the Ben Garza Gym, 1815 Howard Street from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. This will be a great event with lots of people coming out and lots of teams as well. Volunteers will be trained as Line Judges. Sportsmanship training will 3 be held on Wednesday, February 20, 2013, at the Lindale Center at 1:30 p.m. and the Line Judge training at 2:30 p.m. No entry fee.  The trip to Austin for Senior Day at the Capital will be on Monday, February 11, 2013 and returning Tuesday, February 12,2013. There will be one member from the LCSS Committee who will be participating on this trip. B. Rye advised that they would like to sponsor one (1) LCSS member to participate. The Cost is sixty-five dollars ($65) per person which includes the hotel, the transportation, one (1) complimentary breakfast and dinner for the event. The LCSS is requesting a report from the committee member on whether this is a viable event or any recommendations from committee. H. Lopez advised she would attend. B. Rye made a motion to sponsor H. Lopez to attend the Senior Day and E. Savoy seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved.  Amendments to the Special Events calendar. The Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Grandchildren event will be moved to Wednesday, September 25, 2013. In late, August 29 and 30th, the Senior Center Directors’ Summit will be switched but no date has been finalized. Also, st May 31 is currently scheduled as Senior Day at the Park at the Natatorium. This event will be thth moved to either May 24 or June 7 depending on the availability of the Natatorium.  The Senior Law Day is planned for Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at the American Bank Center. Information will be sent electronically to all LCSS members.  The packet for March for Meals was received by E. Munoz with promotional items. There is a prospect for a motorcycle group to participate in a motorcycle ride to raise money for the event. Mr. and Mrs. Mutchler have a contact with a group who may be able to provide assistance.  E. Munoz reported on the upcoming “Join the Pacemakers” event. This event will be held at the th Lindale Senior Center on Tuesday, March 26. The flyers should be going out early next week. We are finalizing our logos to put on the print materials for distribution. L. Oliver is setting up interviews with local media outlets to promote this as a community event on a Tuesday before the dance. A local cardiologist will conduct a brief presentation and answer questions. Either a dinner or refreshments will be provided. th  A senior casino trip is scheduled on April 10 – 12 to Coushatta. The final price has not been set yet but it will be between seventy ($70) and eighty ($80) dollars per person for a 2 night stay. L. Oliver advised that the trip will be held the week of the Site Council elections. We will need to encourage the seniors that attend the Senior Centers to vote before they go on the trip. There will be a full week to vote before the scheduled trip Program Evaluations  E. Savoy advised that E. Salinas would report on the comment cards. Mrs. Salinas stated there were many comments for the kitchen. Overall, everyone liked the meals. The only negative comment was regarding the goulash. We received 844 comment cards; 814 were satisfied. Overall it was good. There were no requests for follow up contact. 4 SCS Division Program Updates ► Program Performance Review  E. Munoz reported that the Ethel Eyerly project update is the same as last month. We will be relocating temporarily to the Waldron Road Baptist Church on March 4, 2013 on a modified schedule during the remodeling of the Ethel Eyerly restrooms.  E. Munoz advised we have received additional funding from the Texas Department of Agriculture for the Texans Feeding Texans grant with an increase in funding. Ms. Munoz commends C. Reschman for doing a great job on the grant application that began February 1, 2013, and provides supplemental funds to support the Elderly Nutrition Program.  C. Reschman advised that the Dietician conducted a Site evaluation last Thursday, January 28, 2013. Everything was satisfactory. Staff was working on rolls when she arrived and she noted that we were having problems with the rolls rising. She advised that it takes quite some time because we do not have a “Proofer”. We will be indentifying funds and seek bids to purchase the equipment. The lowest bids came in at $1600 and this equipment would save significant time in cook the rolls. It is currently taking 2 to 3 hours to cook the rolls. The Proofer will cut the cooking time in half.  Mrs. Reschman is currently working with all the senior centers in conducting an onsite monitoring visits and nutrition education presentations. She is also training volunteers that assist in kitchen regarding proper food handling and sanitation rules. She has received feedback from the members that they are glad we are conducting these training. The federal monitoring will be conducted again this year and we are preparing staff and volunteers for the monitoring. Ms. Reschman visited four (4) sites and has identified some items that need to be corrected. There are four (4) more sites to visit.  Staffing at the NESC (Kitchen) is at 99 percent capacity. The last vacancy (part-time cook) was hired about a week ago. We are working closely with the cooks trying to enhance our menus and have more support and communication with the dietician. During the staff meeting, she is explaining that the feedback from the comment cards is being shared with the dietician so we can either improve or modify menu items. Overall, the comment cards have been satisfactory.  We currently have one hundred fifty-eight (158) clients on our Meals on Wheels waiting list. We added fifteen (15) new clients last month. Due to limited funding we must closely monitor how many clients can be added. We have been contacting our clients to ensure they are still in need or want the serve anymore. We are receiving two or three individuals daily who are seeking our services.  We have also been working very closely with the Meals on Wheels drivers. We had our first quarterly meeting and they were pleased to hear about some positive changes that have come about. We are soliciting their feedback because they are the ones who see the Meals on Wheels clients and identify issues and concerns.  C. Multcher wanted to give a round of applause to C. Reschman for her hard work on the grant and site visits. 5  E. Munoz advised the committee that she personally contacted the individual who made a very derogatory comment about the meals at the last meeting. We invited him to visit the kitchen to observe meal production. He seems to be more satisfied and has a deeper appreciation for the meals served at the center. He did commend the kitchen staff and their operation. Senior Center Operations Report  L. Oliver advised that she will email the Senior Center Activity Data report to the LCSS members so they may review the information the number of participants involved in activity level by each site for the month in addition to the nutrition program data. Agenda Items for February 2013 Meeting ►  Recommendations for amendments made to the Bylaws Old Business ► None Public Comment ► E. Munoz would like to commend Mr. Erwin, Mr. Hardeman, and Elena Flores for their commitment and interest in attending the meeting and their interest in serving on the LCSS. Adjournment ► The meeting was adjourned at 5:20 p.m. 6