 meeting. I call together the call to order the January 13, 2022 meeting of the town of Amherst Council on Aging. Call it to order. And I want to just say welcome to everyone who's joining us. This is our first meeting of 2022 as a council. And I so appreciate everyone who's joining us in present. Hello to Margaret. I see her joining. And some of you have your phones or your system muted. This is also a time. Let me just say that pursuant to Governor Baker's March 12, 2020 order suspending certain provisions of the Open Meeting Law, GLC 30A subsection 18. This meeting is being conducted by a remote participation. So we're going to do a roll call right now for members of the council just to make sure that everyone's video and audio is working properly. And this will get you used to muting and unmuting your as we speak. I see saying hello to Paul too. I see he's joined, just joined us and Margaret. Okay, so this is terrific. So let's see. So our council, I'm going to start the roll call right now. I just signify by just saying or raising your hand as present. Baskham. All right. Fuller. Okay. I see he's raised hand. Helfer. All right. Coughler. Present. Montemayor. I don't see her yet joining us. I'm here. Christina Charbi. I see Christina. I'm here. Okay. All right. And Jack Willensmith Crooks is not present today. And let me just say the reason I'm your agenda today says that has her listed as was our plan for her to gather us today about this time yesterday. She maybe earlier she called and she called from Cooley Dickinson Hospital. She is in the hospital right now. And she's very conscientious and she wanted to let me know in advance. So I would have time to pull together this and coordinate this meeting this evening. So we certainly wish her well. This is also a time at which we we ask you if if you're not speaking to mute that cuts down on background noise. And you can our practice usually if you want to speak as you can simply just raise your hand. You can also raise your hand electronically. I see Norma here. Welcome Norma. Thank you. This is also at a time during public that we have public comment and that we ask any members of the public who wish to speak at this time to to introduce themselves. And you have if you wish to share anything specific with members of the council, we ask you to do that at this time. Is there anyone who wishes to speak? Okay. Seeing none will proceed to our agenda for the evening. You know, as you may know, lives are filled with both losses and discoveries. And this our council our time on the council is no exception. Let me say that another loss that I have shared with you shared with you is that that we hold in our thoughts. The Rosemary's son John, whose family was impacted by the devastating fires in Colorado and basically lost his home and was lucky to escape with his life. And that is certainly please hold Rosemary and her husband, Dick, who have so together have so long supported the town's council on aging that this is a time of real stress for her. And there's I think she's they're getting through this with a great deal of stamina and courage. And so that's certainly about we send healing thoughts to you Rosemary and your entire family. And I know I speak for everyone and saying that I want to just move into the introduction and welcome to our newest member of the council. And that's Christina Charbaille. And, you know, Christina and I don't know each other yet well, but I will say that what I have known just so far about her has blown me away. She is such she has been on the front lines of senior health care in nursing homes in our area. She has stepped up in her house of worship as noticing and witnessing to the struggles and challenges and joys that are experienced by its oldest members. And I think I need to move around. I've suddenly been cast into darkness. So Christina, welcome to you. Do you want to just say a few words? We can say I look forward to working with everyone and achieving a common goal on behalf of the council. Well, thank you. Thank you for that. It's been exhilarating already. And it's so great to work with people who help you lift your game and help us lift our game collectively. I also want to acknowledge a guest, two guests, Charles Stevenson and Margaret Crone. You may have heard me talk about each one of them, but they have expressed certainly interest in the support work regarding an advocacy regarding seniors and Amherst. Margaret is affiliated with the University of Massachusetts and part of her studies focus on seniors. And Chad has been in town for a long time. It seems that he know his knowledge of our town is encyclopedic. And he knows a good deal of, just has a wealth of organizational and institutional history. So that's a knowledge. So that's, he's just, once he, both are present to kind of get a feel for the workings of our council. And part of our challenge is to find ways for people to bring in their talent and other ways on the council and other ways around specific projects that we, that we are would like to deliver or envision or imagine in the senior, in this senior center and in other venues in our town as well. I'd like to now turn things, oh, first of all, so any, so we'll just say welcome as guest. And I want to now introduce Paul Buckleman, who is our town manager. And it's really been exciting to work with him and collaborate with him. And so he is here to introduce another person that you'll get to know very well. Paul. Thank you, Pat. And thank you all for inviting me and letting me be here. I appreciate that. And thank you for the work and the time you put in under these extenuating circumstances. So many people have things going on in their lives. We have to meet virtually, but you're all coming through. So we really appreciate that. So I have the distinct privilege to introduce our new director of senior services, Hailey Bolton. Hailey started on January 3rd. She comes to us from the being the director of the Bernersen Council on Aging. And before that, she has, I won't say long because it's been an extensive tenure with working at Craig's Doors, working at the Amherst Survival Center and going to school at the University of Massachusetts. Hailey is, I felt bad because we waited a long time for her to get started. And then on her first week, we had all this staff turnover. We had a water leak that came into her office. And it was like, and she came back, which we were so happy about and has hit the ground running. And so just want to introduce her formally to you. Many of you have already met with Hailey because she's already been talking with folks, but just want to officially welcome her to and introduce her to the council and turn it over to Hailey if there's anything. I think she's going to be terrific. I mean, she impressed the interview team. Many of you, some of you were on the interview team with her and brought her as the unanimous choice. So we're really pleased to have Hailey with us. So, Hailey. Well, thank you very much. I'm very excited to be here. We back in Amherst. And those are some very kind words, Paul. So thank you for that. I think that we have a lot of work here to do in Amherst to get things back up and running, but I'm certainly up for the challenge. And just for my brief interactions with some of you, I feel like you're very much on the same page. So I don't want to hold up the meeting too much longer. I really want to get into what you all want to talk about and the ways that we can make the senior center a better place. All right. Well, thank you. You know, one of the things I think that's on our minds, Hailey, is just really how any thought if any first impressions are how you think how you think the council could best nurture our partnership together as I read the history and understood of the history of the that our relations of the relationship between the council on aging and its director, you know, we we in some ways bring values and energy and hopefully candor to where we see a look at our strengths and those areas that we can improve in. And so any any words to share with us about how you the things that would help us strengthen that partnership and keep it constructive. Sure. So I've always kind of envisioned the council as you have your fingers on the pulse. You are the people who are out in the community representing the public. So I really draw on your experiences to help me shape our programs, how we develop the way that we want to move forward. You know, I think that that relationship is really important. You know, you're my advisors, in a sense, and I'm here to do what's in the best interest of the seniors and your kind of their mouthpiece. Some first impressions. I feel we definitely need to weather this COVID winter. You know, we're we're still very much impacted by that and still very limited by that. But I feel optimistic that by springtime, we'll be able to do more we'll be able to use more space here for more programs. I've spent the last week and a half reaching out to folks at UMass about potential partnerships, you know, trying to draw on some of the community ties I built here when I was at the survival center. So I really feel like once we get through the next couple months, we'll have a lot more ability to reach our target audience. And certainly, you know, one of the things we're going to talk about later is this age friendly project. And I think that can be a great vehicle towards, you know, increasing our visibility in the community, getting more outreach. You know, we really want to use this downtime to kind of remind people that we're here, we have a lot to offer, we will have even more to offer very soon. So I'm trying to stay positive while still confronting the reality that we can't do everything we want to do right now. Thank you for that. Anyone else have any questions for Hailey? Okay, all right. Well, thanks to both of you for helping us lay the foundation. And I think that we're certainly on common ground, understanding that part of what we have done in the past year has been really reflection and also examine critically looking. I say lovingly critically looking at our strengths and weaknesses and also widening the welcome, opening our arms to other, to fresh new thinking about programming and services. And so there's been a lot of energy around that. So and just this is really a good segue to, to, to the item D is to look at empowering emmer seniors. And Rosemary, I'm wondering, I think I, you know, you might want to lead off if you feel able to discuss steps towards the conversations that you and Jacqueline and I have had about ways of looking at how to empower emmer seniors. I see, I see, is that a hand up, Charles? No. Oh, okay. Oh, okay. All right. Okay. So Rosemary, we can't hear you. You're muted. And there you go. Actually, I had a talk with one of the town councilors, Dorothy Pam, last week. And she was very helpful in giving us some suggestions as to how we can empower emmer seniors. She felt like we need to make sure that council members are in touch with their town council member. You know, we have five districts in, in emmerst and you need to know who your town councilor is representing you and your district. And be in touch with them. Let them know who you are and what you do and what you feel is important for the future of the senior center. And I thought that was a very good thing. She also felt that we need to, you know, people have pointed out that perhaps we don't have as many services as much desirable space as much, you know, budget as some of the other towns around. And why is that? And we need to look into that and do a little research and see what it is that other places have that we don't have and have the facts, not just guesswork, what, what population other towns have and what kind of services they have. And I thought that was, was quite good and helpful. I think we need to think in terms of what we can do to improve services and space at the senior center. So that was just one of, one of the thoughts we have to think about what's important in terms of people with hearing issues. Our sound system in our rooms at the senior center is very poor, and many times people come to meetings or in a class and can't hear. And we don't have good sound for that purpose. So those are some of the, some of the things that we need to be aware of and we need to let our town counselors know these issues as well. So I want to say, I want to say hats off to Paul and to Dorothy, our town counselor, and to Mindy Dom, who also, all three have encouraged us to build relationships and offer feedback and to our elected officials. I keep, this is driving me crazy. I'm not used to this room. So the, and I will say that our discussion was really very focused. It was a Zoom meeting and I would be happy to share before that meeting, I did some preparation, we did some preparation together to make best use of our time. And basically our goal was basically just to, from our perspectives on the council is how things are, how things stand for Amher Seniors right now. How do our senior services compare with that of other towns? How can our members of the, our council best communicate and most effectively communicate about the future of the Amherst Senior Center and, and various services to members of the town council, they need to know they hold the purse strings, they're in touch with voters, they need to understand what our problems and our challenges are and our victories. And, and also I think quite frankly, those things don't happen unless if we stay in the realm of just sort of abstract discussion, we need to be able to mobilize, organize and mobilize seniors to express themselves. We're not at the point, no one in our town is at the point really of, of doing, of, you know, holding hearings, for example, some of the instruments of organization and mobilization are not possible in this, in this moment. But we certainly can do our homework, do, do some research. One thing she suggested that I thought was really useful, especially to our newest members, and might also be welcome, welcome by Hailey, is to do, maybe to do conduct a tour of the Amherst Senior Center with our counselors and just, you know, amassed and six foot apart. But there are some things, very visual things that provide a real, much deeper understanding of how things were in the past and how they are now. And that helps cultivate thinking for the future. So, you know, I, I just, I wanted to share that with us and I can share what I've just said with the wider council, because I think that might help keep us, it may, may, if you're interested, it can let us know and it'll help keep us grounded as to how we can connect. I just sent earlier this afternoon something that an easy way for you to connect and identify your counselor, the face of the, and the composition of the council, the town council has changed since the election. And so there are some new faces, new energy and ideas. And it's important for us to know what those are. So my action challenge, our action challenge to you between this meeting and when we gather again is to find out who your counselor is and based on you know what your election district is and and begin to cultivate that relationship and reach out to them as you feel able. So that's any questions or comments about that. And also know that each district has two counselors and there are three counselors at large. So do a little exploring and learn who these people are. Well, I'm certainly thankful for that suggestion because yes, I voted, but I don't know who's who. I know my, I know my precinct, you know, like sometimes we can just get a little too busy that we don't pay attention to certain things. And that that's one of them that always takes the backseat. Like I know Mindy Doome, but I don't know who the counselors are. Ever since this new council was put in place and what their platform is and what kinds of things are important to them. And I certainly will reach out by email and let them know that I'm on the council now and I want to understand a little bit about what they're doing. Thanks for that, Christina. I appreciate that. And I think that, you know, we're looking towards doing that as the year goes on in a more organized and focused way. But I know each of you have bring some experience in healthcare, in housing, in transportation, some of the challenges that people face when they can't get to medical appointments. And also imaginations or any issues around food and wellness are certainly other important issues, as well as the social and mental health during this time, how do we help people feel less isolated from each other. So I want to say there was some reference to this earlier that as you may know, just to refresh your memory, there is a working group on the age-friendly, dementia-friendly initiative. And we certainly think that that's that is certainly one opportunity for us to be in a more focused conversation with colleagues and various stakeholders in bringing some sensitivity and vitality to our town. And so I'm excited about that. And specifically, Margaret has expressed, Margaret Cron has expressed some interest in that and a willingness to participate. And I think that's one or two other members have also expressed a willingness to stay in touch. And our hope is that Margaret would communicate back to us some of what she's learning about her experience in that conversation. And that will also help us shape some conversations that we have in the future about various needs. Did you want to add anything more about that, Rosemary? Okay, I think she's Rosemary is muted. I almost never mute my because it's quiet around here. But regarding the age dementia-friendly, I think several members, has anyone else been interested in joining the working group? Chad, had you been? Yeah, they find me up. Okay, great. Okay. And I will be going to the first meeting as well, although I don't know if I'll be able to continue. And there will be a meeting, as it's under announcement, so I'll just make it now. On January 20th is the very first meeting of the working group from one to two thirty. And if you are not going to be part of that working group, of course, all of these meetings are open to the public. Anyway, anyone can attend. So I think it will be posted in the next day or two. And you can go to the mrstma.gov slash calendar, and you will get the link to the meeting. So it will be from one to two thirty. And I think that could be you could sit in and see what they're they're about to discuss and what the schedule of the project is. And if there is time, there will be some discussion of the survey questions, which could be valuable. And I think they are willing to take input from other people as for the survey questions. All right. Thanks for that. Any other comments on on on on that? Charles? Well, I'm a member of the volunteer with Craig's Doors, and we serve a community breakfast every Wednesday. And I know that some of the people that come to get the meals, the unhoused people, some of them are quite old and some of them maybe have mental health issues, but I guess they're beyond our beyond our reach. But they have to eat that meal outside. And it's, you know, it's wonderful to be able to feed them hot food. And I feel they get kind of kind of left out. And I guess there's nothing we can do about it because they're not citizens. I don't know. They're elderly residents of our town and that falls under our purview as the council on aging. Okay. All right. Good. Well, I would second that. I think that that's part of the goal of the council is to identify those who have who have been invisible, who have felt unwelcome, who have, you know, who have fallen through the gaps and in many ways. And so they are fellow fellow human beings and in the town and in this town. And so they're very, very courteous. They're very courteous. They're very grateful for the food. You know, I think maybe we should try to include them. Yes, of course. And I think we all have to realize that many of the people who use the senior center, most of the people are healthy and able to come and enjoy and participate. But there is a hidden group that are not able to do that. And they should no longer be hidden. They have to be part of the community and part of our services as well. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you everyone for those comments. And speaking of food and food deserts and food challenges, I would for those who have not yet met Norma Hallock, she serves as has been involved with the senior center for many years, doing blood pressure checks for folks and just a variety of things. She and I have co taught classes in fall prevention, which was really a riot and quite the experience. And so her knowledge of Amherst and her service to Amherst has really been great. Specifically, she is connected to the nutrition committee of Highland Valley Elder Services. And Highland Valley is the, I think of them as part of the supplying a conduit for federal money to that goes into various services, but certainly into the nutrition program and into Meals on Wheels and to the network of people there. So she, her, so Norma, tell us what's up with what you're hearing and seeing in relationship to nutrition and Meals on Wheels and other programs. Thank you, Pat. Highland Valley is a non-profit organization and they've, their service 28 communities in Western Mass. And one of them is the Meals on Wheels, but and they also do the grab and go Meals, which are normally people that would come to the sites and have their lunchtime meal. But they, you know, with COVID, we can't do that and most of the sites aren't open. The only one that's been open is Hatfield. And in coming to, which is one of the hill towns is going to try one day a month, one Tuesday a month to see if they can get people together because their people are really isolated and particularly, you know, up there. And so what we do is have a meeting every other month and the people that go to these take grab and go meals or the, when they have them in place at the sites from Westfield is probably the largest Washington house. But there's Amherst, there's Northampton, and the meals are prepared at the Walter Salvo House in Northampton. So anyone from these towns are welcome to, you know, to be, if they're on the board to be presented to, you know, to this, but they don't usually come. That's usually the same six of us in three years from the administration. The director, Alan Womet, and the head chef, Riley Brown, and we have a new wonderful nutritionist who is really upbeat and puts herself right into the work during COVID. This is not easy, but she has done, she's only been with us two months, but she does, has visited all of the sites, and I think there are 14 of them that have been active. And then in the spring, she will do site visits where they aren't notified, I guess, and just show up and make sure that things are on the up and up. And so what they do then is have community reports, and they're sent in, and Kelly is, this is Kelly Slattery, who is the new nutritionist, and she meets with the people every month that are running the site. And so their comments and some, you know, can't please everybody. Does someone not mute it because they think there's some background notes and there's no noise here? I don't know. Thank you, Charles. Yeah, but probably not you either Chad, and I don't know. Anyway, they read off, you know, what people liked and didn't like and how they could improve it. And some of the comments are, you know, they're very useful, but you can't please everybody, and sometimes as many people complain about something, other, the rest seem to really like it. So this month, they did a survey on the turkey or chicken pot pies, and that got really good ratings. People seem to like that. But then they get some comments and ask, they want constructive criticism, but I think sometimes seniors don't understand that there are a lot of diets that they have to address to diabetics or gluten free or allergies to certain things. So that has to be taken into account. But they wanted to know two things, did the hot meals arrive hot, and did the cold meals arrive cold. And that may seem like a simple thing, but they just got a new van that they had a very special equipment to do this. And so they're trying to, and everybody did say that things were okay except one town. I'm not naming names for that. And someone wanted more vegetables and protein. And somebody else wanted less carbs. Some wanted the overcooked vegetables to not happen that way. But when you're cooking for almost 600 to 700 people a day, it's not easy to, again, keep everything that way, but they're really careful. Well, the crew that's on, Kelly, the new nutritionist goes to work with the workers that put the meals together. Riley is the main chef, and he does. He's very creative and innovative and dreams up these recipes. And I'll tell you about one that he thought he would surprise people with, and it was a really big hit. And it was stuffed peppers and macaroni and cheese with squash in it. And I think all that went in the pepper, but I'm not sure. People liked it. And over the past few months, we had two holidays with Thanksgiving and Christmas, and they served 840 meals on Thanksgiving and or delivered. And then Christmas had a similar time. He also likes to experiment. So instead of doing what he usually does for the dessert, and these are from scratch, he made apple pies, not just the group. And those were a big hit. So that's good. People really like the choice meals. And they're really in full swing. They will be doing this with the home-delivered meals eventually. But right now, they're just trying to hear up. I think they got iPads for the drivers so they could be in touch and people could order. But they're trying to figure out the logistics of that. Sorry to interrupt, Norma, but I wanted to make some room here for some questions that other council members might have of this program, particularly because as we connect to our friends and neighbors in the region, this keeps coming up again and again. What are the qualifications to receive to participate in the grab and go? Who gets, how do people find out about their eligibility regarding the home-delivered meals? Can you share? Is there anything you can share with us about that? Well, what we have is a pamphlet that I'm trying to collect enough of them to bring to all of you. But I haven't been to Highland Valley for two years. Well, since we've been head COVID, I will get them. But they have a lot of services and they have an intake person. So the person, you know, could call, anybody can call and their number's in the phone book, but I don't happen to have it right here. But they are, yeah, they, I think you have to be live in a certain town and, you know, but they will give, they don't question it, they just deliver them. So, and they hope the people will give a donation. They used to be three dollars, and I think it went up a little, but the meals are really very good. I used to go and sit with the people at least once a month and, you know, get their comments and stuff and share the meal with them. Any other, any, any other more, any other questions that you have for NARMA, specifically around policies on food insecurity and Amherst observations you want to make? One of the questions I have is, do you have to be, have, although income to be eligible for the meals, or can anyone get? I think anyone can. They don't, they don't question it, but, you know, they expect that they would maybe give a donation, whereas some people may not be able to. Sure, okay. Even for the grab and go, there's no eligibility requirement. That's right. They have, they should be 65 and over 60, I don't know if it's 60 or 65. What Donna tells me is 60. 60 is, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's, that really opens up some possibility. I think that there are many seniors who could qualify for these lunches who don't realize in Amherst who, who could, you know, who need to know about this, because it certainly helps if you're on a fixed income. And you have a meal that you, if you're able to pick it up, that's, that's one hand. I do think that there, there seems to be a screening progress for the delivered meals. And I, I have two days a week in the, in the past, I don't know, five or six months, I have delivered hot meals to people and it, I will say that it has been one of the single most awakening experiences of, of, of my being in Amherst. So, because you, you learn an awful lot on the front lines on, you know, housing, medical issues, challenges, and, you know, and, you know, just general welfare, psychological, I mean, we're, we just, we just present the meals, but even those rare encounters for some Amherst seniors is the only person, we are often the only person that for, you know, only human encounter that person has that day. And so it is, it certainly has caused me to want us to look at some, how we can better improve these programs, at least fundamental outreach, we can do, I think a much better job, maybe using the senior spirit and just make sure that those who need, need this, this, this kind of nutritional support know that, that they, that it's available for them. So thanks so much. Excuse me, I see Chad has his hand up. Oh, okay. Thanks, Chad. Well, the town manager is here. Maybe we could ask him if we could have a budget to really publicize that, those meals. You know, the full service is the eyes on it's really not about the nutrition, although that is a piece of it. These folks are isolated. It's Chas Stevenson said some of them are in firm, some of them are poor. We don't have any money at the COA. I wonder if part of the survey that's coming out can, can find out something about that. But would, would the town have any money for something like that? Mr. Barkman. Go ahead Paul. Thank you. Yeah, it depends what, I mean, what you're, what the plan is, what, what you're, what you need funds for. You know, are you looking at flyers? I mean, there's a lot of resources we have within the town already that we can utilize. So, I mean, we can work with Haley on that in terms of helping to spread the word. We have lots of different tools to help with that. So I think you're right. This is a really important program. I think Chad, you hit it on the head. It's not just the meal. It's the eyes on connecting with folks for the day. It might be the only interaction that folks have. So it is, that's why the, the program is so important. And we, if people don't know about it, we need to let them know about it. So however, we, whatever we, it depends what, what we're talking about. But we can certainly help you with that for sure. All right. I see Karen's hand. Thanks. I also drove for last year for the meals program and I found that I wanted more training. You know, I didn't really, I think that hand, that eyes on is very important, but I think it was really under emphasized in the instructions that I got. And I did get some inconsistent messages. And I think I would have done a better job if I knew more clearly what my role was and what I was supposed to do and what I wasn't supposed to do. And I think there is an untapped potential there for connection that isn't being made right now. Absolutely. I would second that. I would say that we, you know, we, we, you know, my visits were to people every week. And so that's, that's helpful. And I think, I think what the other thing I noticed about the volunteers themselves, and this speaks, speaks to about seniors creating meaning in their own lives. I should say my husband also volunteered. And frankly, that I think that documents how much seniors senior people are giving to others in this town. They given their taxes. They, if they're retired and they're, they, they volunteer their services. And most of the drivers that I've noticed are, are, could, could be considered seniors themselves. And they're out there, you know, doing the, doing this work and really enriching. I mean, I don't want to oversell it, but it, this helps to enrich a sense of community and our, in our town, a sense of connection and valuing each person. So I think, you know, I think that we need to figure out a way as a council to make some recommendations around that as to how we can raise our game on that issue. And I think, Karen, what you're saying is regarding training, I think would be, would be very helpful. I, some of my friends and neighbors are also volunteer. I live in green leaves and probably probably I could name five, five people from green leaves who are, who have driven for meals on wheels or who walk a route as I do. And so I think that there's a lot of talent. And not just pushing a cart or handing the meal, but I think on the policy side of things, who gets, you know, who, who is receiving the meals? Where are their gaps in services? How can we make it better? So we, there's some real potential as we look for that program. And I think, I think it would be good for Highland Valley to get some serious feedback as well. On this program because this question about qualifications comes up and we need to understand it. And if our seniors in our town who are in great need are not getting services, these are the grandmas and the grandpas and the people that have worked on, you know, their lives and how do we enrich the quality of their lives, you know, and provide avenues for basic needs to be met? How can we do that? How do we build community in doing that? So anyway, that's, thanks so much for your service. Norma, you wanted to say one more thing. I just, just, did they not explain the wellness check? I mean, you don't have to do an exam, but just to see that they're answering the door or that they're, they're still with us. I would say, I would say it was vague instructions, but there wasn't really instruction. What happened if the person didn't, you know, didn't answer you. I don't know. I just, I often struggled with what exactly I was supposed to do. Okay. Under certain circumstances. Yeah. And that's critical because I don't know. I certainly in my family of origin, we've had seniors who lay in my, an aunt in Massachusetts lay on the floor for three days in Pittsfield. And because she fell and couldn't get up and, you know, was semi-conscious. And then, I mean, she nearly lost her life. These are, you know, these are things that, you know, this, this is a systemic problem and that there are some systemic solutions to this. And that's, I think part of the work of our council is to examine not just the individual cases, but also what, what, what needs to be changed in the systems themselves and how do we mobilize around that? So Paul, go ahead. Thank you. Just two things. So I think the training that suggested is a really good one. I know that at the beginning of COVID, we had a lot of, there's so much that we didn't know at that moment. We did, we were anxious about people having direct contact and social distancing, but without losing people. I know there's a lot of work put into that. Sure. I liked the new addition in Margaret's arms. And I just want to mention that I have to get off at six, so it's for another thing, but just so you're aware of that. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Charles, good. We can't hear you. Charles is muted. Yes. I'd like, I'd like to mention again, the community breakfast to qualify for all you have to be is hungry and preferably you should come and pick it up in person. That's it. There's no age restriction. There's no income restriction. And I, you know, I'd like to invite any of you to come and eat with us some Saturday, some Wednesday morning from eight to 11 at the unitary meeting house. Wow. Come pick up a, come pick up a meal and eat it. That's great. I would better feel slower to do it twice. And to Chad's point, that's great. And to Chad's point, building on Chad's point, that's the kind of information that could be shared in the senior spirit if there's room. And, and, and if there's not, what do we do about that? So as Haley said, we've got, we've got our work cut out for her, for us for sure. Okay. From, from those issues, thanks for everyone participating in that, in these conversations at the beginning of the year, they generate hope and help to make our, our ambitions more concrete. I wanted to just move now quickly to the approval of me of the minutes, the of the December 16th meeting. And I wonder if we could do that. If, if what we would need is emotions to approve the minutes or any, any comments regarding any feedback, anything that needs to be corrected. If there are no corrections, I make a motion that the minutes be approved. Do I hear a second? Second motion. Thank you, Gregory. Okay. All those in favor of approval of the minutes of December 16th, 2021, signify by raising your hand or okay. Thank you. Thank you for that. That motion passes. All right. Possible future agenda items. I think we started to generate some, we have some examples in your minutes regarding, you know, projects and issues that deserve attention. And this, this council on aging is, has, has made a cultural shift from being kind of, and, and I don't want, I think that council has done many, many great things and I, I'm in the past councils for sure. And at the same time, I think that part of the energy and the reflection now in having a wider welcome, a willingness to ask, have frank conversations and look carefully at real issues that impact people is something that we're empowering each and every one of you to, to consider and to speak up about and help us think through how we together can be better advocates for change on behalf of seniors and, and how, you know, how we can empower seniors, other seniors to address these problems. So I would just say, I want to say at the beginning of the year that this year I want, I want to reiterate that if you have some suggestions for agenda items or for projects or for training or for whatever for, for along those lines for agenda items, then you can speak to any one of the leadership team and, and bring that to our attention so that we, so that we're collectively shaping our, you know, the issues that we're working on. It's bumpy, folks. I mean, the process by doing this is bumpy, it's messy, but we're not afraid to disagree with each other and still find some common ground. And that's what we're looking for in, and, and looking for support for other activists around these issues. So that's a tall order. I wanted to, we could just at this moment around this agenda item, we could shout out are there some issues that have just, that you're, you're interested and are concerned about that you want to speak up to it beyond what you've already shared. Things that are on your mind, Karen. I can't remember if I shared this or just asked a question last time and it was about the relationship or joint projects with leisure services or what used to be leisure services. You know, it seems like there are fewer and fewer offerings that are targeted towards adults at leisure services. And I think there's a pretty good pretty good segment of the older population that would like to be doing things through leisure services, but there's just scant offerings. And this predates COVID, you know, I understand that part of this is probably COVID right now, but this goes back before COVID. And I think about things that that could really tap into more seniors and in terms of activities, outdoor activities and recreational activities. Absolutely, absolutely. I think I'm hearing that too from from seniors. It's actually walkability is one of the issues that I've been hearing safe places, particularly in the winter months. Safe, well lit, not icy. You know, we've got resources in the town and I've also heard and I've noticed myself that it's pretty slim pickings for other recreational activities for that are appropriate for seniors. So I think that, you know, I've been thinking long and hard and and invite you to join that thinking about how we how we can help deliver those concerns in a constructive way to Haley. For example, when you have noticed that I've noticed that I know Rosemary and I have discussed this already. So, you know, maybe what we do is we just simply, you know, make a resolution introduce a resolution because that's how we do some things together. Introduce that say, you know, identifying that need and that encourages and strengthens Haley in her connections with her colleagues and her boss, frankly, and saying, look, this is what I'm hearing from seniors. How can what can we do here? What what resources can be used? We think that there's a big gap here. And I mean, there are a lot of different ways to do to do that. But at least that gives her that I think that's a I mean that Haley can speak to that. But that's one tool that she has when she she goes to her meetings is that she can say, let's I'm hearing this from seniors. They're you know, it's not it's not rocket science here. There are if you look every time I look at the leisure services, which gets mail that probably significant cost to lots of people in our town, I look and I say, what is there for us? What's there for us? And there could be art classes, there could be painting, there could be outdoor activity classes. Yeah. And I think that we we also have have to consider the fee for some seniors might be prohibitive. But we have at the senior center always had a fund that can help people with programs that they can't afford. That's right. So that's one one thing that could happen. Charles years ago years ago, when I lived in East Hampton, we had a walking group. You know, and it could be walking at Hampshire mall. It could be walking outdoors depending on the weather. Sure. And some group some groups require you to converse constantly and some groups don't want you to talk. Yep. That's kind of up to the group. The walking. Yeah. Certainly not walking. While walking can be a lot of fun. Yes, a few people at Hampshire mall. Yes, I see a couple raised hands here. Okay, so thank you. I see. Thanks for noticing that. Let's see. We haven't heard as too much from Christina yet. Christina, go ahead. Yes. One of the things that I feel is important is that we don't spread, you know, it's nice to have a whole list of ideas and concerns. But that we don't spread ourselves too thin and that if we really want to make a difference in the lives of our seniors, then we do have to find out what the needs are. Yep. How to go about that and work with Haley to get a whether it's by phone call or whether it's by survey to get people to say what are the top few things that are a priority in their life? Is it isolation? Or is it lack of nutrition? Or is it less programming? The other things are great. I mean, everybody needs leisure. And I and Karen mentioned that before when we were in that small group meeting. And it is important that that those who can afford it make it affordable for seniors. But I think that we first have to identify what our seniors need. We don't really know because of the pandemic was scattered. People are in their homes before they could walk or take the bus or something and come into the center. Yes, be with each other and make their concerns be known. Yep. But now that people are at home, we do not know. And so I think our first action is to find out what is it that people need most? And then we go and we systematically and collectively work on providing that. If it's if it's if it's more programming, so be it. Then we work on that. If it's nutrition, then we work on that. But when we when we throw out a lot of ideas, ideas are good. But it's not going to help the people that really need the help. We have to work on it. We have to create a working, like you said, Patricia, resolution and say, this is what people need right now. And we're going to this probably people that are lonely and isolated, you know, I would, I would guess that that's one of the major things. We need to address that. And if someone does can eat or can't go to a program, we need to address that. We need to know where the people are. What are they doing? What do they do for? These are the type of questions I'm envisioning. I'm not a public health official. I've only worked in a nursing home. But I'm envisioning that people you need to really talk to people, whether it's by phone or get the people to tell you what is it that they need? What can we do to help them get through this period of isolation? Well, that's certainly something that people could do and door to door meal deliveries to. Wow. Yeah. Chad, I wanted to recognize you. Go ahead. Yes, Christine is speaking directly to what I've been mentioning that we need a strategic plan with its finger on what we need to advocate for and find assistance with. And this is why I'm hoping that the age-friendly and dementia-friendly survey will do. So to answer your question, Pat, it would be that more people speak during a meeting that we have open debate during a meeting and that it'd be easier to get on the agenda. Thank you. Okay. All right. Okay. So let me move around to waken up the light here. Okay. So announcements. Rosemary announced the actually the age-friendly community event. I think that all many of the departments in town, including Paul Backelman's office, struggle with this notion of having strategic planning during a time of COVID. So we're still wrestling with that. And I'm sure that that's something that Hailey will be perhaps able to help us figure out how we can do some of that strategic planning. Because the mechanisms are just more difficult now in terms of meeting. And having a retreat has been very useful in my own career as an activist at the beginning of years to sort of do that strategic identification. What are our priorities? Let's hone in on the top three or something like that. That's certainly one way to work, but there's a variety of ways to make that happen. And our resources are limited. As a council, we do not deliver services. We don't, you know, but we can advocate for and identify some problems. And so I look forward to getting, learning more about that age-friendly, dementia-friendly project. But it is a time limited one. And, you know, it's something that was generated by another, you know, a grant from another organization. And so, but we will continue as a council. So you know, let's see. And Kristina, go ahead. I just want to make a distinction between what Chad said and what I said. I did not, I did not suggest a strategic plan. What I suggested was a needs assessment. We work with whoever can help us get that information. And then we know for sure what the seniors need. Okay. The way I see it is right now, we don't know what the seniors needs are. Because we're scattered. We're not able to come. People are not able to just walk in and say, Hey, right, talk with others, socialize, let them know what they need. And then people tell them, well, go here, go speak to that one. So what I'm envisioning is that we find out whether it's by phone call, I'm happy to make phone calls, you know, even on a Saturday, seniors up and say, Hey, I'm on the council. I want to know what's been going on. What, you know, how are you making out during this time? I like that. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. In the interest of time, I just, I wanted to make sure that I just add one important announcement. And that is that it's with some regret that I have to share the news that on February 8, I will be leaving you to join my husband and in our move to Seattle, Washington. And so I will be leaving the council very, very soon, actually. So I just wanted to say that it's been an absolute honor and privilege to do this work together with everyone. And we certainly have achieved some things that I am proud of. And at the same time, there's so much more that we can do. During the time of COVID and during the time of racial reckoning, we have, we have often as a council led the way within this town to have conversations and think and difficult conversations. And yet we have, as Dorothy Pam, who was our liaison pointed out, we have remained respectful of each other and welcoming of each other. And I think that that, that bodes well for this future. I am so excited to see the new blood, the new ideas and energy coming into this council. And I can say that we have more possibilities for newcomers. And we think, as of today, that we have a person who, who is expressed interest and willing to be our secretary. And that has to go through, she has to be interviewed and so forth. But, and the, and the council, both Paul and the council need to make the decision on that. But that is, that, that will help, definitely help strengthen our team. So, and I guess the second part of my message is that in leaving, I also want to say that, that Rosemary and Jacqueline really need your ideas and your help and your energy. And this is a time for us to, to practice and refine our collective skills and strengths during this time. And so I, we do, we don't just sit around and, and sing, you know, sing kumbaya. We try, we want to, we want to, we wrestle with real problems and real issues. And so, I think part of my job, as I have seen it, is to engage in perpetual talent scouting of people who want to join with us in this work in identifying the needs and bringing their energies and their spirit and their values to this work. And so I, that's, that's my parting message is really to say thank you for the time and, and love that you have put into our, our, our time together and, and that lies ahead in the future. So I'm going to continue. I, I, I told, I promised Rosemary and, and Jacqueline that, you know, I would keep working. I'm not giving up my vote for one thing on this council until the back door gets my rear end. But basically, you know, I'll keep one as sort of as long as I can continue. But I do want to, I did want to let everyone know that that was, that was happening. And, and that, and that's probably enough on that. And I just want to thank everyone for your commitment. Thank you. Good luck on your next adventure. Thank you. Yes. Thank you for all that you've done, Pat, if you've been a terrific leader and it's made a big difference. Thank you. Thank you. So the next the OAA meeting, because of these losses and I mean, let's just cut to the chase here. We're really, we are struggling. We're, we have been weakened by some of these big things that are going on. So we've, Hailey and Rosemary and Jacqueline and I have discussed this that typically in previous times that you usually there are some months when we don't meet and we're thinking that given everything that's going on, maybe we and our need to kind of gather our forces and do some of that talent scouting and replenish ourselves, that we not have a meeting. Our proposal is that we not meet in February and give us, frankly, it's, it's give the leadership some time to, you know, gather ourselves together and you know, that doesn't mean you can't call us or, you know, or in fact, it's not downtime. It's really, you know, time to sort of rebuild our infrastructure, I guess you could say. And so, and then, so what that would mean is that we would convene again in March and so if we wanted to put this to you, it could be just because of the way that calendar falls, it could be March 10th for our next COA meeting or the 17th if we decide to do this and I just wanted to get some feedback from you on what, what your, you know, what your thoughts are. And Rosemary, you wanted to, I think you had some comments about breaks in the council. Yes, we did. Typically, I've been with the council for so many years, two terms back in 2007 and, and then two terms just recently, we would typically not meet in January or in August. January was kind of a slow month, I guess, I don't know why it was chosen, but August a lot of people were away, so that was easy to do. So missing the February meeting is not out of line by any means and there was no hard and fast rule that we have to meet every month, but I think there's a lot of work to do. And in the break, I think it's a good time that we all get to know our town councilors and let them know what our concerns are and yeah, communicate by email, although we can't have discussions or deliberations by email because of open meeting. That's right. Chad, did you have a question? No, not a question. I'd say that the amount of energy needed to produce a meeting is not that much that we should miss a month. I'd like to say that we are up against some, some new things and that meeting more often is better. The survey is starting to happen. The survey that will develop what Christine is talking about that, you know, it's kind of up one body, that's the left hand, the survey, the right hand is our strategic plan, how we develop meeting that need. So, you know, my suggestion is that if it's so overburdening for you three, how about half a meeting? How about a meeting with one specific agenda item? What's transpired at that age friendly and dementia friendly survey? That's certainly something that could happen. Any other comments? My question is how many council members do we actually have? Well, we currently have eight council members. If Charles Stevenson is interviewed and comes on, he will make a nine. And then Pat will be living so that would vacate a position, but the person who would be secretary would fill that position. So we, there are, the council is full with nine members. I would also add just with respect to Chad's comment, I want to say, and I don't have any skin in the game on this, on this, this since I'll be leaving, but I think that it, it is not so easy to put together a meeting to develop an agenda to do that collaboratively and not just one person doing it to get it right. The, the work required, you know, given, I mean, just to be honest, I mean, just what I see, you know, Rose, Jacqueline's in the hospital right now, we don't know what her capabilities will be. We currently, you know, I'm leaving, Rose Mary is facing one of probably one of the most powerful challenges in her life. That's the reality of life as a senior in some ways. And I don't, you know, I don't want to be over dramatic, but I think, you know, we're, it's, it's not so easy to do. It really requires thinking and planning and conversation and it has to be done in a timely fashion and in a structure that, you know, that, you know, so I think that if you're, you know, I agree with Patricia, I'm sorry to barge in, but I agree that there is a structure and it has to be done by the law, the open meeting law, and we need to give people time to be able to attend. And so I don't have any problem with not meeting on in February. As I see that we, you know, if you're not, if you're having challenges, then that is going to put a burden on you and you won't be as effective as you should be. And neither will Rose Mary or anyone else. Exactly. Yeah, and I will also add to what Pat said, it does take a fair amount of time to pull together an agenda. When we work together to do that, it's not just sitting down for a half hour. We really, we really do struggle with, you know, getting it together and getting it right. If there is such a thing as right. I'd like to suggest that some of us, Chad, go to that meeting. What is it called? The Alzheimer's? It's called the age dementia friendly meeting. Go to that meeting. They invited us. They said anyone can go to that meeting. Go to that meeting in place of coming to this council because I think that you're interested and the information you may want will come out of that meeting. And you don't want to hear about that. We will hear about it. We'll get a report on it in March. And I think it's very important, but you know what, Chad? They may not even get to the survey questions at this meeting. And I think that the survey is not our survey. It's going to be the entire working group. We can put in suggestions, but it's not our survey. Let me say one more comment about skipping the meeting. And, you know, I go with the will of the group. Number one, it's not going to be a big agenda item. Hard thing to pull together. There would only be one item on it. And that would be what transpired at the meeting. How do we want to deal with it? Do we want to put a consolidated effort in, et cetera? It does a discussion and dialogue. And the other is you wouldn't have to coordinate it with so many people because one person could do that. And there's three weeks in time for one person to write down one thing and get in touch with Angela. So I'm not going to hog the discussion. That's how I look at it. Thank you for your input. Well, could we get an idea of how everyone feels about it? How many people would prefer to meet in February? I just asked a question. Is there something that can't wait until March? So is there something having to do with the survey where we would need to give input before or March meeting? That's not an easy thing to answer. I think the survey is going to be my sense of it and having conversation with there. That is a process. And this meeting is just the beginning of that process. So the answer is we don't know. But it's not just going to be you know, we go, we give input. We're going to be hearing about this age-friendly survey for a while. And I think that there's certainly some value just echoing what Christina has said on the notion of other kinds of forums for getting feedback from people like, you know, phone calling, dividing. That could be fun, actually, you know, you know, doing a sample of sampling a few folks, like, you know, doing some targeted sampling or just, you know, I mean, there's a lot of different ways to do it, but you can't, we're, yeah. So the answer is that it's going to be an ongoing process and yes. And actually I spoke with Maureen, she said that if there is time, they will get to the survey, but it isn't clear that that will actually happen at this particular meeting. I think it's going to be, as Pap said, something that goes on for a while and certainly can be reported on in a March meeting, whatever happened at this age-friendly meeting and work group meeting. I think we got enough work. We could meet weekly. So I go in the total opposite direction. All right. Well, I feel that it might be best to wait until March for a meeting and let's do it March 10th rather than the 17th because that's a little bit sooner. It's a little less of a break. That sounds like a good compromise. So if you want to mark your calendars for March 10th at five o'clock. Now here's another thing. We're starting to meet at different times. We should probably evaluate. I don't know how this one got scheduled at five. I'll tell you, Chad. Another one was scheduled at five. We should, you know, talk about whether it's meeting the need that it was assigned to. Excuse me, Chad, but the reason for five o'clock is that we have two people who have working schedules. Oh, good. Our two new members have working schedules and can't make morning makings. Good. That's right. Yes. That's myself and Karen, right? Am I right? Correct. So we said we applied. We said we will join the council, but everything works out just fine except for those meeting times for us. And I put that in my application. I would like to be considered but cannot meet during the day. It is the exact time that my job asks me to meet. And I have two part-time jobs. So I'm a senior that continues working. There's no way that I can, you know, not work. I have to work. Right. So thanks to everyone. It's approaching the end of our time. We've gone a minute over, but that's all right. We did some great work today. So do I hear a motion to adjourn? Motion to adjourn. Second. All right. Our meeting is ended. Thanks, everyone. Thanks, everyone. Yeah. Nice to see you all. Okay. Bye-bye. Do you stop the recording, Patricia, when the meeting ends? Yes. Okay. All right. And I think, and Hailey has the power to do that, right? Hailey? I'm signing us off now. Okay.