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HomeMy Public PortalAboutCouncil on Aging Board -- 2024-01-18 Minutes i i Town of Brewster Council on Aging Board Meeting—Thursday, January 18, 2024 i i Brewster Town Hall, 2198 Main Street, Brewster, MA 02631 Board members attending: Andrea Nevins,Sharon Tennstedt, Penny Holeman, Laura Usher, Jay Green,Jill Beardsley, Honey Pivirotto and Jan Crocker, alternate Board members absent: Eva Orman, alternate Others attending: Elton Cutler,COA Director, Marilyn Dearborn, President of Friends of Brewster Seniors(FOBS) Absent: Annie Rapaport, COA Program Coordinator, Cindy Bingham, Select Board Liaison 1. Call to Order a. Co-chair Andrea Nevins called the meeting to order at 1;02 p.m. 2. Declaration of a Quorum a. A. Nevins declared a quorum present. 3. Meeting Participation Statement a. A. Nevins read the Meeting Participation Statement. 4. Recording Statement i a. A. Nevins read the Recording Statement. S. Public Announcements and Comment a. No members of the public were present. 6. Approve Minutes: December 21, 2023 a. L. Usher made a motion to approve the minutes of the December 21, 2023 meeting; R Holeman seconded the motion. Minutes were approved with abstention by H. Pivirotto and J. Beardsley who were not present at the December meeting. ' 7. Discussion of Needs Assessment Survey Results a. Actual full report titled "Aging in Brewster—A Community Needs Assessment" commissioned by Town of Brewster arrived this morning on the due date. No j one has had an opportunity to review the full report yet. It Is 95+ pages; E. Cutler will email It to all. If anyone wants hard copies,they are to let him know and COA will provide them. Caitlin Coyle from the Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging—Gerontology Institute—University of 1 11 Page Town of Brewster Council on Aging Board Meeting—Thursday, January 18, 2024 Brewster Town Hall, 2198 Main Street, Brewster, MA 02631 Massachusetts Boston (UMASS) presented highlights of the report to the joint meeting of the Select Board and the COA Board on Monday,January 8, 2024. b. A. Nevins and S.Tennstedt asked what highlights they could identify from the presentation on January 8. E. Cutler indicated the growth In the population of seniors was significant—from 40%to 52%of the town population. E. Cutler also indicated the lack of awareness of the COA, its mission and activities was a key finding. E. Cutler stated he used that finding to support his 2025 budget request for funding to establish a website for COA on which services could be described, promoted and people could sign up for classes and pay fees similar to the Recreation Department. R Holeman identified isolation as a key finding from the report. S.Tennstedt stated isolation was not addressed as strongly in previous five-year study and emphasized the importance of addressing it in the plan to be developed. A. Nevins identified the need for services for people to get out of their home and highlighted that, as people age, there are more illnesses and frailty involved particularly in the 80+population which is growing larger. A. Nevins also identified transportation as a key issue particularly as It impacts a person's ability to get to the pharmacy,grocery store and doctor's appointments. S.Tennstedt indicated transportation across Cape Cod is an issue and wondered if a larger bank of volunteers to provide rides might be considered as public transportation is not likely to improve substantially. R Holeman stated COA is tracking services it does perform and questioned whether it made sense to track services it does not provide or cannot provide when people call to ask for help. i E. Cutler indicated calls to COA are logged, but there is no tracking as to whether the person cancels their appointment or if the appointment is cancelled. He stated there are more than 30 volunteers and pointed to the reports he has provided showing the COA has provided more than 2200 rides to date. E. Cutler also indicated that CCRTA is potentially planning to pilot "uber like" rides which may help. S.Tennstedt stated housing came up as a big issue with data to consider on Accessory Dwelling Units and home sharing. S. Tennstedt stated it seemed housing,transportation, building engagement for programming, and financial insecurity were highlights. E. Cutler highlighted there is a big referral list and the needy fund (formerly the covid assistance fund) is available to assist, making note there are funds at a federal state and local level. S.Tennstedt also noted that the issues of in-home services and support for caregivers were key. S. -- --- .... - -__._....__._.._.__ _.. . ...._.._ .__. .1..__ .... 21 Page i Town of Brewster Council on Aging Board Meeting—Thursday, January 18, 2024 Brewster Town Hall, 2198 Main Street, Brewster, MA 02631 Tennstedt indicated there were some things in this report that were on the previous report while some findings were new i.e., social isolation. 8. Discussion of Proposed Plan for Development of the 5-year Action Plan a. Co-chairs A. Nevins and S.Tennstedt stated the focus is on where to go from here with development of a five-year plan for COA. E. Cutler, S. Tennstedt and A. Nevins met to determine a timeline by which a five-year plan could be developed, presented to the Select Board and implemented July 1, 2024. The goal is to present the plan to the Select Board in June 2024. To accomplish the goal, a "save the date" notice was sent out to all board members, alternates, COA senior staff and M. Dearborn to reserve February 2 for an all-day retreat followed by a field trip to the Dennis Center for Active Living. The retreat will be structured with a large group meeting to decide on key issues to address, followed by small group breakouts to discuss possible actions for each of the areas. Members will be assigned to each breakout depending on interest and/or expertise. A. Nevins and S.Tennstedt floating among the groups. At the end of the day,the group will determine where there is consensus and make writing assignments to begin development of the 5-year plan. A. Nevins and S. Tennstedt will pull the final plan together to assure cohesiveness and a single writing style. The work effort will be reviewed and refined at the COA board meetings in February, March and April. Ideally the text will be finished during March and in April meetings will be held with COA staff for further input. Both E. Cutler and A. Rappaport are included in the retreat with the full complement of staff included in April meeting. b. When preparing the last five year plan, a community forum was held at the Baptist Church in order to gather additional community feedback. A similar I approach could be considered for this plan. Last time the plan was presented to both the Finance Committee and the Select Board. H. Pivirotto recommended this approach be followed again since it is very likely there will be actions that require funding and the finance committee needs to have the important background information. She also noted there were other departments in town that should be aware of the plan and potentially provide input i.e., Health Department, Housing Coordinator, BLL, schools. J. Crocker stated the Cultural Council would be important to include too. S.Tennstedt suggested that E. Cutler I i report our plan at the next Department Head meeting in March.J. Crocker i 31 Page i Town of Brewster i Council on Aging Board Meeting—Thursday,January 18, 2024 Brewster Town Hall, 2198 Main Street, Brewster, MA 02631 indicated that this approach was important for all issues and would be willing to i be tapped to prepare a relevant grid to reflect the approach. c. S.Tennstedt indicated that the retreat a will be held from 9 to 3 and that E. Cutler had arranged for a tour of the Dennis Center at 3;30;the COA van will provide transportation. E. Cutler announced if that is not a good time, people could consider going to the open house on January 24. He encouraged people touring the center to take note of the design features such as separate rooms for health exams and also the sink and area for "day of beauty" with hair styling, nails etc. S.Tennstedt indicated it would be helpful for people to tour the Harwich Community Center as well. A, Nevins encouraged anyone touring the centers to pay attention to the services and room lay out and ask about constraints of the facility. She indicated it would be ideal if a presentation by Brenda Vazquez, Center Director, could be arranged. E, Cutler indicated it was advantageous to have a Center for Active Living. S. Tennstedt indicated it would be ideal if Recreation and COA were together in one location as the opportunity for collaboration would improve simply by the close proximity. J. Crocker indicated the space designed for a community center should be friendly to the COA but was not sure if the town is familiar with what could be done to make the space flexible for multiple uses and adaptable for wide range of users. She used the example of the need to adapt if a person has had a joint replaced. d. H. P!virotto raised Nauset Neighbors as a group that would be helpful In identifying needs and services for Brewster residents and perhaps how those have changed. S.Tennstedt indicated NN met with Denise Rego, the former COA director, at one point. E. Cutler stated that he has their brochure and that ! referrals are made to NN. H. Pivirotto offered to call Frank Bridges to make arrangements for a connection between NN leadership and COA. e. A. Nevins recommended that everyone read the survey report, identify issues, look at the old five-year plan, see what if anything needs to be included in the new plan and which things to discard or give less emphasis. E. Cutler stated he would send out both the new and old reports. 9. Discussion of 50th Anniversary Events a. E. Cutler stated that the Bay Property Planning Committee has approved of the request to hold the 50th anniversary celebration event on the Bay Camp property on June 8 from approximately 10 to 2. E. Cutler wants to put together a I I I I i Town of Brewster Council on Aging Board Meeting—Thursday, January 18, 2024 Brewster Town Hall, 2198 Main Street, Brewster, MA 02631 workgroup with representatives of COA and FOBS to assist him with the planning; he needs help with entertainment assuring it is local, meaningful and age friendly and the legacy project. He indicated there are 4 commitments from people to be part of the Legacy project to date. He also indicated that the Brewster Historical Society has identified about 400 slides on Brewster's past to display at the event. He indicated that the Recreation Department has committed 10 volunteers and use of their equipment to make popcorn, snow cones and cotton candy. Porta-potty arrangements are on hold until the new company contract is executed. E. Cutler indicated the mobi-mats for the walkway are committed to the beaches and not available. S.Tennstedt raised the idea of purchasing additional mats for this event that could then be used at beaches not having them. J. Crocker raised the idea of securing golf carts for transportation of people with disabilities or other mobility limitations. J. Crocker asked E. Cutler to send out a list of what is needed. J. Crocker states the photographer is committed for the Legacy project and commitment from the other possible participants in the Legacy project are needed so that time can be scheduled for interviews. E. Cutler indicated he is looking at March to do Legacy work. Discussion continued about the retractable banners that could be used at the event and then subsequently hang in town hall. 10. Report of Monthly Activities by COA Director a. E. Cutler presented the Director's report with statistics on services from "My Senior Center" software program. He explained the data was not comparable to ? the prior year as the system was not utilized in the same fashion as it has been this year. Much more emphasis is now placed on tracking data. S.Tennstedt and A. Nevin emphasized the need to secure data as it is key to requests for funding both in budget and from outside funders. E. Cutler indicated there is a minivan I that is not usable. 11. Report on Planned Programs by Program Coordinator i a. In A. Rapaport's absence, E. Cutler indicated the report on programs is in the meeting package. 12. Fundraising Updates f a. J. Green indicated that the MA Health Aging Fund deadline is March 29. He �. stated he has heard nothing from the letters of Intent he has submitted to other potential funders and raised the idea of applying for the next AARP grant. S. lennstedt indicated that the master plans for the Bay property, Long Pond i i 5 -Page Town of Brewster Council on Aging Board Meeting—Thursday,January 18, 2024 Brewster Town Hall, 2198 Main Street, Brewster, MA O2631 property, and Drummer Boy Park must be finished and approved at Town Meeting before applying for grants that would involve these properties. S. Tennstedt further clarified if COA goes outside of the town organizations like the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) to request funding, the Town Manager must be involved. b. L. Usher indicated that the grant application related to benches on Brewster Road previously submitted to the National Association of Realtors has been resubmitted and it is likely there will be feedback within a week or two. 13.Committee and Liaison Reports a. Drummer Boy Park Committee: J. Green indicated a survey will be coming out with questions on parking, accessibility, stormwater management and amenities. The survey will be available for 2 weeks for response. b. Cultural Committee: J. Crocker indicated this group has a survey out for the town input. c. Health Department: R Holeman indicated nothing to report. d. Recreation: H. Pivirotto attended last meeting on December 28; the primary focus was pickleball/tennis with several data presentations on the growing use of the courts for pickleball and the need for further courts. A. Nevins asked about the picnic table and benches. H. Pivirotto indicated that DPW was very short of staff and was helping the Recreation Department with a contractor that would do the installation. e. Housinp.: L. Usher reported she had not connected with Jill Scalise but could report that there is a wonderful affordable single-family home for sale in Brewster for$237,900. She also reported inventory of homes for sale was low at 1.3 months and only 435 homes for sale across cape cod. In Brewster there are 27 homes and condos for sale. The average sales prices is running$562k versus I $784k previously and properties are selling at 95%of listing versus 101%of i listing. f. Friends of Brewster Seniors: M. Dearborn reported that the thrift store is operating on winter hours. FOBS is working on a program for Valentines Day; St. j Patrick's Day luncheon will be held on a Saturday at Jake Rooney with w entertainment. FOBS has recently made two sizeable donations to Elder Services j of Cape Cod and the Islands and to the Alzheimer's Family Support Center. g. Bay Property Planning; Committee: S.Tennstedt reminded everyone the final forum is February 15at 6 p.m. and It is Important to review the plans which are ............................ . ._._..... 61 Page f i i Town of Brewster Council on Aging Board Meeting—Thursday, January 18, 2024 i Brewster Town Hall, 2198 Main Street, Brewster, MA 02631 on the town website. There will be another open house in April at which areas will be mapped out for the different uses proposed. ' h. Lone= Pond Property PlanninF, Committee: J. Crocker indicated Donna Kalinick, Assistant Town Manager, is arranging tours for April 6 and April 10. Buses will leave from the golf course for anyone wanting to tour. The areas will be mapped out for the different uses proposed so it will be clear what area is contemplated for affordable housing and/or municipal uses. 14. Questions from the Media a. No media were present. 15. Matters not reasonably Anticipated by the Chair a. No matters were raised. 16. Next Meeting: February 15 2024 17.Adjournment a. L. Usher made a motion to adjourn the meeting;J. Beardsley seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 2:44 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Honey Pivirotto - --__ .. ........... _....- 71Page