 Okay, this is Pat Rector, chair of the Amherst Council on Aging and pursuant to Governor Baker's March 12, 2020 order, suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law, section 30, 30A, GLC 30A, section 18. This meeting of the Council on Aging is being conducted via remote participation. I want to do a roll call of our members and this will give you a chance to check your and practice your mute and unmute buttons. Rosemary Koffler. Present. Susan Dirks. Can't hear you Susan. Yes, okay. Now we can hear. Yes, good. Jack. I'm here. Mullen Sack. Oh, wonderful, Jack. Evette Palacin here. And Jack Willen Smith Crooks. Here. Greg Baskin. Here. Wonderful. Thank you. And Timothy Neal. I'm here as well. And I have a request. I seem to have an old list of board members. Could Marybeth or somebody send us out a new list with all the emails and stuff on it? That would be great. I thank you. Okay, that's really great. I would also warmly welcome any guests and visitors. And I'd like to remind everyone visiting that if you're dialing in by phone, you can press star nine to raise your hand to speak. If people are using a computer or tablet, they should click on the raise hand button at the bottom of their screen or to let the chair know when they want to speak. I always encourage people to mute themselves. And this is true council members certainly to, and all of us, when you're not speaking. And you can unmute when you have been identified after raising your hand or just signaling that you'd like to speak. So, let's see. You should have all have received the agenda and minutes. And I'd now like to transition to any visitors who are here. Any visitors who wish to speak now, they could, they could do so. You can speak up to three minutes. And we will, we, well, the board, the council will not engage in any dialogue with you, but we're certainly eager for your comments and perspectives. So is there anyone would like to speak? There is Pat Liz Welsh from Amherst Neighbors is here and I'm going to click allow to talk. I just want to go to the floor. Lovely. There we go. Liz, you should be all set. Although I see it looks like you're muted. There we go. There you go. I think we've got you Liz. Okay. Thank you. I just wanted to say hello. I'm really happy to be a part of kind of listening in on your meeting today and hearing kind of up-to-date news from the senior center. That's wonderful. We're thrilled to have you Liz and I'm so glad I look forward to a time when we can chat at social distance with masks, but happily connect with one another. So we'll make that happen. We will make that happen. Absolutely. I'm so impressed. I see exam visions of your work everywhere in town and I think that's wonderful. Well, thank you. Okay. So we're going to move towards our along for our through our agenda and I let's let's just start start enthusiastically with updates on operations and programming with Mary Beth. Thank you, Pat. A couple of things that I just wanted to share with you. As you read in the recent newsletter that was sent out, I know that initially it was indicated to the community more broadly that there would be an opportunity to revisit whether we would open at Labor Day and that appears to not be happening. So the bank center will continue to be closed as well as the senior center until at this time we're looking at at least to the first of the year, possibly longer depending on again what happens with the by risk and the risk of transmission. So I just wanted that to be a really clear message. Folks, you know, continue to contact us. People are very eager to return and I think more importantly, not to this place, but to community and seeing each other. So that's certainly something that we're all hoping to be able to facilitate and we're doing a little bit in small measures. I just had my first in person and we did outdoor yoga and meditation and it was just fabulous to see each other. We did it socially distance and masked in a small group. And so to the extent that we're able to do that, we're also still if folks need to access us, we are meeting with people one to one outside. So the social workers continue to be contacted by individuals for services, etc. And when it's necessary, we meet them outside of the bank center and have a brief interaction or, you know, allow them to give us the paperwork necessary, etc. So we continue to be here. We are fully staffed, but we're just not open to the public and that's looks like it's going to be the long term. The next item I'd like to share is around flu shots. There were a number of questions about that and the town is not going to be doing a clinic. So we used to do a clinic for the community and also for staff and the town is not doing that. So you will be receiving, we've sent out a flyer to the town. It will be arriving in your Amherst bulletin and we have listed all of the public places, the various CVSs, the hours, the phone numbers, so that people can contact those places and go there for a flu shot. So we really want to urge seniors to get a flu shot. That's an important public health message that really it's directed broadly to the community, but particularly our community that we serve is please get a flu shot. Most of those places, the CVS, Target, Walmart, they will accept insurance. So it's no cost. I've gotten my flu shot. I had all my kids get their flu shots. So please get your flu shot. The next item in terms of staffing, I just want to give you a quick update. We're hoping that Jennifer returns mid-September. Right now she continues to work at Puffer's Pond helping out and it has been a wonderful town collaboration just as we received help from a number of departments through the pandemic. It was our opportunity to support other adventurers within the town, but it looks like I think around September 21 that will come to a close in terms of the staffing daily and we are looking forward to having her back here because though I have become more skillful administratively, I am not skillful administratively. Let me just say, I've got a lot of new skills, but I would like to give them away again. So I think that that will really help us boost our services. So when we continue, we have a grant that is supporting four part-time individuals to help us with our food operations, which has made a significant difference. We have a food packer and three drivers. Those are individuals who are unemployed that were in the restaurant industry and it was a grant tailored for that specific population. They are tremendous. They are wonderful and we are hoping to keep them as long as those resources are available within the state. They do it through eight-week allotments, so right now we go through eight weeks and then we re-up and so we're waiting to see what happens with that. Mary Beth, let me just introduce, I see Susan's hand up. I'm sorry to interrupt Mary Beth. I just got an email from Mary Elmer and she said could somebody, sorry I've lost it, could some? Oh dear. I got it as well and she requested a link so she could link in. Somehow we never got the link and she's requesting a link to be able to link into the meeting. Yeah, if you give me one moment here, I could forward it or I could forward it after my report. Let me see. If you have her email, I have her email as well if you need it. If you want to give her the number it's 986-4698-4265. Yeah, let me, I'd rather just forward her. It's hard to do this while I am online. You know how this happens, it's like in the heat of the moment. Oh here we go, wait a minute let me just forward this email forward because I'm hoping she will come up in my email list. There we go. It's sent to her. She has the announcement in the link. Okay, so hopefully she will be, I'll let you know if I see her pop up as an attendee. Thank you, Sue. Yes. Okay. Mobile dates. So we are looking at taking our senior center mobilee in the month of October and so we are setting up some locations within town where we will be holding office hours in the community, socially distanced. So we'll drive our van there, I'll set up a table and we'll be able to meet people where they are located. So we'll be announcing those locations. I have to work with some property managers and also individuals in some houses of worship to see if there's an opportunity to use their spaces. So I'm in those conversations right now and I think that October will sort of be our last opportunity to get out there and make ourselves known before it gets too cold and people won't come out. The reason we're choosing to do this right now is that of course fall brings with it a number of more urgent social work support services. So we've been discussing things with fuel assistance and again in the new flyer that you'll be receiving, there's information about that. So folks will be looking for that information as well as we will, the fall brings with it the open enrollment for Medicare. So we always get a large number of individuals who are looking to either that's the opportunity to change your plan or your prescription plan. So we want to make sure that we are making ourselves available because I still think that some people think that we're closed and so we're going to continue to be here and we will continue to serve out in the community. Okay any questions about that? Yes. If any members have some locations that they have in mind that might be useful for us to set up we figure we would do it for a couple of hours, two hours in the afternoon. Please do let us know that would be really really wonderful and we'd be happy to participate wherever folks feel like there might be a gathering. I have some great data from our UMass Burke truck so we we sent them out to seven locations within the community and we have the data points of where we had the largest gatherings of seniors and it was actually quite surprising. So we'll be using that to determine those locations as well but if someone has a request I'm happy to to show up and drive and and see you wherever you might be. All right any questions on that? Yes yes so how how will the public know that this is available? It seems like right for a news story or a letter to the editor or whatever it is how will how does that work? Well that that's my next agenda item is communication so we are partnering with the Gazette and we are doing a flyer now it will be coming in the Amherst Bulletin and we will you'll be receiving one I believe around September 25th and so there will be another one that will be published it's also going to be on our Facebook page it'll be on the town website and certainly we can do a press release and make that. I did follow up some of our conversations and spoke with Scott Merzbach and the the way in which we often communicated through the newspaper you know when they used to do the senior community notes on Saturdays they have discontinued that so only when there's particularly urgent information will they just try to make an accommodation of an announcement or whatnot so we will certainly follow that up and make sure that that is well communicated and I think it's also just part of the you know the town's outreach overall arching plan so the town will also assist us in that make sure that it's broadcast so we'll be using the the town communication methods as well. Okay. Yep Barry Beth I have a question about that. Apropos you'll hear some comments when we get down to the fund development piece but do we have a way of of recording who attends those meetings they do send around a sign-up sheet and maybe they can put their emails or their phone numbers or something like that when people show up because I'm we're looking for opportunities to find out who accesses our services I guess the question I have. Yeah yeah so maybe an attackful way without. Yeah I know so so we do have a data management system here so when people come here they had to sign into my senior center which was our that's our repository and an individual has to be a member where their data points for contacting them would be recorded when we go into the community we still do the same thing but we we don't have our computer with us we take down the information and then it's entered into the data management system so thank you. Yeah yep any other questions about that if I move on to just two more topics quickly. I do I do have one more question and that is um um is are there is there a strategy in place for reaching out specifically to underserved populations and groups social groups okay. Absolutely Pat yes and so apropos of that that comment I just want to make sure that everybody on the COA is aware of the town joining an organization the initials are G-A-R-E it's a social justice and equity movement it's an alliance of governments they they have some fabulous information I will forward you the the website but we are going the town of Amherst has joined and it's it's a really comprehensive framework for decision making to assure social equity and so I've begun to dive into those materials and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to play some role within the town on that issue I've spoken with the town manager and I will play a role in that in making sure that our services go through that lens of inquiry so if you go on that website G-A-R-E and you scroll down to the bottom there's some really wonderful frameworks that are located that you can download and review and it's a it's a great we had a staff meeting and it's a great opportunity to look at there's a series of questions to ask when you're making any decision to look at what is the impact etc so you I would suggest it's it's worth a look and it's the direction in which we will be going in the town we'll be going when you suggest around communication we continue to look at new ways to communicate we are in the process of looking at some other e-news letters etc I think that that's a greater challenge I sense that within our community there is still online access does not afford communication to to everybody in particularly the the way in which we serve a community we have a much more diverse population so we're continuing to examine that and looking at no matter what we will never move away completely from a paper newsletter and also flyers and things of that nature because that is how the majority of our our community still wants to receive information from us that's the feedback I've gotten and then the last thing that I want to just suggest to you is that the MCOA conference occurs October 19th to the 23rd and I would also address this to Liz Welsh so if you're if you're still listening Liz October 19th to 23rd is the Massachusetts Council on Aging Conference it's held annually it's the largest gathering so 350 communities from the Commonwealth gather it is online this year and so it's occurring Monday through Thursday just in the afternoon so I think it begins at 1 30 in the afternoon and there are some fabulous workshops I sent the link to all of you last night so you could just take a look at some of the topics there's such a broad range it is absolutely fantastic and the nice thing about it being online is that it's much less expensive so it's $125 for the first person and $100 for any other following staff and also council on aging members so if anybody is interested in attending please let Helen know so Helen McMillan is going to be doing the registration and we want to do one registration at a time so if you could let her know within the next week and send her an email or you could call her that would be really helpful and you mean we can cover a number of workshops and it's everything from social work to dementia care to operating a senior center in COVID etc there are some village to village topics Liz so I think that if there's anybody in your community who might be interested to attend I can make sure that I connect you with that link but it would be helpful to have everybody to the extent participate when I sent the email to you yesterday many of our veteran members on the council on aging have attended before and I don't know if they want to share what the experience or content was it was very helpful I understand when they were looking at issues around looking at a new senior center but I would encourage particularly the new members to tap into a couple of workshops even if you dip in a bit in terms of the budget for that we would have to make a request to the friends so we don't have the funds for that within our town budget but in the past the friends has kindly supported us in that endeavor and I'm sure that we could facilitate a conversation around that I just want to pause and if there's any conversation or anyone has any questions about the conference and how we could coordinate some efforts two questions from rosemary and sue I would just say that the variety of topics at the conference is very broad there are things from fundraising efforts to how to do arts and crafts workshops to how to build a new senior center to architects for new senior centers and it's just amazing what you can attend I would really encourage people to look at the topics because I'm sure you will find something interesting and it would be well worth the money so yeah I just echo that I've attended a number of them and it's enriched not only my experience being part of the council on aging but also being part of the senior center and also just as a citizen of massachusetts it's you you meet people from all not just massachusetts the new england states and I don't know how it'll be online but it's certainly it'll be very informative very helpful and and just give you a bigger picture than just looking at what we deal with in amherst so I think it's very very helpful so how many this is pat how many uh are there is the whole staff going or I mean participating or uh does the staff I looked at the registration for it as as well as the programs is there reduced rates if you just there's just one or two workshops you want that really are focused on you know a special focus or does the how does that work you have to register regardless of how many whether you attend one workshop or every workshop every single day you have you have to register so our staff our staff attends Helen Michelle the two social workers and myself last year Helen and I went for some select days but because it's online I just think it's a bargain for a hundred dollars I would encourage all of the members of the coa and and and I think that when you look at the workshops the slate of workshops is particularly relevant this year because covid has really changed what we do and who we are and how we serve and I think that um you know I I have the opportunity to participate in statewide and regional conversations and and every week I come away with another idea or another issue that geez I never thought of it that way and I think um yeah again just because of of covid and looking at an extended closure how we can remain relevant and how we continue to serve people with high quality services it would be helpful I just I would suggest even if you attended one workshop or two workshops um I think it's a wonderful endeavor so um I'm happy to go to the friends to request that support for you okay all right we'll be talking with uh Barbara sloven uh Barbara are you on or Mary Elmer one second I would have to um if you I think Mary Elmer is here oh okay hold on she isn't identified uh but there's a phone number there so I'm asking her to unmute yeah that's Mary Elmer's number hello hello hello this is Mary Elmer I couldn't get on zoom so I'm calling him can we hear you yes we're happy yes you can hear go ahead so we were just discussing the massachusetts council on aging workshop that's coming up in october and we've heard from um some of our veteran members about how useful it's been in deepening their education on issues of interest to seniors as well as developing connections with folks throughout yes I heard yeah so um I think uh maybe what what would be helpful if we know we realize that um uh Helen as our is the point person for for us to connect to to indicate our interest in attending virtually uh much more of a bargain this year uh than uh going to Cape Cod and and paying hotel expenses so that does increase the uh perhaps uh helps to democratize uh participation but there may still be some issues for those who uh for for any of us who um uh for for whom there's a stretch financially um so uh once we get that list we're hoping that we can that the friends one good way for the friends to support our collaboration and deep in our knowledge of would be for us to connect with our colleagues and um other other volunteers in throughout massachusetts so um do you have anything to add um about you know um what how that's worked in previous years or well the feedback that you've heard from council participants I don't I haven't been to it and I'm rather new to the friends by a year and a year and a half so I heard about it for the first time last year uh but I I don't know anything more about it Barbara probably would but doesn't sound like Barbara's on the line she's our treasure I'm just the assistant um bookkeeper kind of person okay so um yeah but yeah go ahead I have a bit working I guess uh Barbara would work with Helen as far as who needed financial aid and how we would get it to them and so forth I would think is that right yes I think so so probably what we should just do practically speaking is simply um I'm asking all our our uh council members if you do have an interest in attending uh take a look at the the schedule and uh identify and and look and see if there are are workshops that you're interested in attending I'm also interested in feedback um your sort of critical feedback in where you think that there are things that are missing uh that you would like to learn about or you feel that we could use some help with so that we you know we're thinking about uh we're looking ahead always looking ahead so um that's also that's also useful feedback if you're not finding anything you think is helpful to us I'd like to hear that and we'd like to hear that so that um but it looks like there's some real good stuff I've I have uh taken a cursory look at the workshops and there are some and I agree with Rosemary there's some wonderful uh opportunities there so where do you where do you see uh online what workshops are being offered where do you go has somebody already said that and I missed it yeah Mary I'll send you a link I'll send you a link okay make it clear okay thanks so that's on my to you okay that's great thanks thank you sure and then they just to finish this out um just letting you all know that um I will I have been um asked by the town manager to also work with the homeless population so that is a part of my duties here and it's been wonderful I've had a great opportunity to meet a number of seniors um that we continue to serve in that capacity and individuals who are experiencing homelessness and working to make sure that we have some provisions set up uh working alongside Kevin Noonan for uh entering into the fall November 1 is is a date that we always keep in mind to try to provide some shelter we're looking at some new uh in interesting options in the town um and looking at some short range and long range objectives and lastly if you have nothing to do or you're awake in the middle of the night tune in to Amherst media because many of the conversations that we have held over the last month or so are have been recorded they are on a youtube channel for the senior centers we have our own youtube channel now and they are also being broadcast on Amherst media those conversations we're calling them caring conversations covered a number of topics that were really raised through COVID everything from healthcare proxies in most forms how do you execute them what you need to know um I also had guests on who were palliative doctors talking about how do we engage our families in end-of-life decision-making and help to facilitate those hard and uncomfortable conversations geriatrician Dr. Rebecca Starr that I mentioned and a number of other topics we are adding to those every week or so so yesterday we did one about Medicare 101 which was really fantastic widely attended and so we're going to continue those caring conversations and they're going to be available on our youtube channel and also Amherst media is broadcasting them the youtube channel the link is what is listed on our flyer and it'll also be posted on our facebook page and website so that's it thank you rosemary and I just add one thing there are some excellent programs yes I have and the youtube's are very helpful I might mention also that Amherst neighbors please join Amherst neighbors because they also have quite a nice variety of programs that one can join online so just to mention that's great thank you rosemary um Mary Beth with respect to your additional duties in working with a homeless whoop can you share with us what portion of your time right now is involved in that um you know to be honest I it varies from from week to week and I think it's it is a function of the seasonal cycle so what I can assure you is that I remain present here every day and nothing escapes my attention so I don't think that there's any worry and I think that if anything it's broadening our outreach and working with individuals who fall within the ambit of our service but have not been served quite honestly by us and it's a great opportunity for us as the senior center to establish even more networking regionally and looking at individuals who are experiencing not only chronic homelessness but episodic homelessness and financial insecurity and I think covid has brought that to a new light so I think it's it's a positive aspect for us here at the senior center and and I'm here for you pat I'm here don't worry I'm just I raised that question and we have talked about that a little bit too but I want to just sort of again democratize that conversation I think part of the council council's mission which is a deep and broad service mission and advocacy mission we embrace that and at the time at the same time we want our executive director to to also feel that and and the support our support we we we don't want you to to feel that you know you get additional that there's a kind of kitchen sink you you can do this you do this you do this you do this and and so I think we we want to protect outreach for core seniors and because you're so skilled and you do so many you have so many intellectual and social skills and great heart it's easy to ask you to do it all and so I just that's that's the reason for the question I'm not worried in any way but I do I do want to convey a sense of of support really for for for the spectrum of things that you're handling and and we want to continue to support your efforts and we know that there'll be things that you'll learn in that additional assignment that will affect all all senior seniors in any case so there's some transferability of skills as well and jaqueline I don't know if I have the sound on I was without the video for a moment but in and that same vein I'm wondering if there might be some subcommittees to be supported and I'm thinking especially of the homeless I know that a person called the Motown man informed me we had him on our radio show and he was talking about the difficult winters that the group behind Walmart has and if if there's a subcommittee where that information could go it might be useful he himself buys food and prepares meals for for the homeless that are stationed behind Walmart I've never been there and maybe we could touch base with him as well Jacqueline I I can tell you that I have been there and and I have to say that Craig's door is doing amazing outreach and so they have gotten some funds to support cleaning up and maintaining those camps they deliver water in five gallon jugs with pumps on it they have fire extinguishers that they've lashed to trees they deliver meals at lunchtime so I think that they they have done an amazing job of outreach to individuals who are rough housing and I'm happy to to provide more information to those who might be interested in that topic a number of issues have risen for me in terms of meeting that community of individuals who don't have have health care and and or might have statuses legal status within the country that make make access to services challenging so yeah it's it's um there's there's a number of ways in which we can provide some more support and and also advocacy so thanks that's good to hear thank you okay thank you thank you so much Mary Beth for that update on item 3b of our the chair's report on pre of the preceding month I decided to just in the interest of time of respecting your time and and my own that I initiating this report just which is I think actually could also include any any the activities of any of the members because I know you're all engaged in outreach of some kind and with respect to your your involvement as a member of the council on aging so I so I'm not you I've sent this to you it'll be posted publicly the report but I just a couple of things that I just wanted to highlight and one is I did attend virtually a gathering a town gathering and earlier this month and there is a COVID hotline and the number there is listed when people have concerns it really any concerns about parties where you that you might observe people not wearing masks or issues with inappropriate social distancing bars selling alcohol without without food that there's a certain certainly that's been an issue so we continue to address that I think one highlight one very positive highlight was that I sent a letter a copy of our letter to the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and Campus Life who responded immediately Brandy Hafner LeBanc is her name and so she loved our letter and she is including a link to that to that letter to her next week's message to students and and her words to me were how can people say no to the grandma's and the grandpa's so I thought that was I thought it gives her a little bit of moral clout and leverage um in a positive way with students to really kind of awaken them I think I would if there is a second communication I think one thing that I would have added that I hoped we would add and I think I I got this from our our conversation last month and that is I think it's fair to say that we as town residents commit and promise to do our part as well just social distance and to wear a mask so we're not asking people to do anything that we're not willing to do and are not practicing ourselves because that's good community care and concern so anyway there are other little details but I found it I hope you find that helpful and so I'll enough said on that um I also sort of transitioning into models of leadership and also building and echoing some concerns that about our structure and our subcommittees that Jacqueline mentioned um what what I have been thinking about really is um I guess part is my about a component of my thinking and we're at we're talking about models of leadership here item 3c if you're following along is that um I took a look at our bylaws I wanted to see what existed and um I've been on on the council for more than a year and I was interested uh I'm always interested when I look at bylaws how how useful are the lot by our groups bylaws and do they reflect the current needs and development and do they facilitate us building relationships working on projects that meet the the need our stated needs and our stated mission and it didn't take me long to discover that um that by the bylaws are part of that dusty dusty documents that sometimes just go in a file drawer and that you know and there's no I'm not saying that there's anything about neglect but we we've developed these work working relationships and what I noticed is that there are some things that are obsolete that don't make sense to me for example we're a nine member council the exit the bylaws that I saw contemplate five different subcommittee committees five committees nine people um some of this individual communities committees require three people on each committee and so you can imagine I'm thinking the where are these people how can that work what's up with that can we consolidate so um I I rely and and embrace the deep wisdom of your previous chair rosemary coffler and so rosemary now I've been shooting the breeze about all this and so we we would like to we would like to invite everyone who's interested to help us uh we're we're going to do a review it's not going to go on for 20 years it's going to be quick it's going to be just quick and functional uh we're going to look at the by bylaws so that's one thing we're looking at the and and we're going to make some adjustments or let's make put it this way we're going to recommend to all of you uh to the all council what we think needs to be adjusted at least for now um and we can those will be the easy fixes the part but also we also so please let rosemary or myself know if you're if you're up for that you're interested in it the bylaws are it's not it it's not a long or complicated set of bylaws maybe three pages worth um so it's pretty would be pretty easy and I've already started and so as rosemary I think and looking at them and saying oh we we need to tackle this and um but the deeper question is this and it really has to do with all the thinking that I have been doing about um and inviting you also to share in that thinking with me is um what what structures are going to facilitate our work together in support of our mission that's the core question and and specifically around that is are the structures that we use um do they uh are uh are there alternative structures that would be more effective and so to be to be blunt uh you know I want to draw upon my experience in different organizations say with consensus decision making we often arrive in this group at consensus we also sometimes we all know of examples where the democratic process can be used to quell dissent or alternative voice voices or become oppressive to uh numeric numerical minorities and that's an issue as well um so the the spirit of this is to be affirming to each and every voice on this council and to so that uh recommendations that we make to our executive director um are nuanced and are represent a you know genuine thoughtful heartful engagement with the the uh the problems that we are seeking to address and the opportunities we want to explore so that's that's but that's all all I want to say about that except uh maybe just to invite rosemary if you have a bit uh to add to that I would welcome rosemary or any yeah to that I did want to add a little bit I um have a lot for a long time felt that the bylaws were not speaking to what how we perform as a council and the classic example of course is the number of subcommittees some of which aren't even uh ones that we would choose to have and how can how can we have so many subcommittees with nine members so that was one issue um the other one um Pat and I have talked about this for a while and um she mentioned the fact that um she would like to consider a consensus form uh rather than the parliamentary approach that we've always taken by using robert's rules of order for making majority decisions and taking a vote um when I thought about doing redoing the bylaws I thought perhaps I should talk to image marzell who's um the director of the executive office of elder affairs and see whether or not there were any requirements that we should look at or if he needs to know any they need to know anything about our bylaws and changes and he said no go ahead you you just write what you want and you follow accordingly and there was no problem with that I mentioned the fact that we were considering a consensus form of decision making rather than following the robert's rules of orders he said he saw no problem I said we felt like it brought greater discussion greater opportunity to work together and to voice opinions and better um decision making and cooperation and he agreed that that that could work well for us so there is no problem there in making the changes um one thing that I do want to point out though in reading about um consensus form is that um it certainly does protect protect minority needs and opinions but by definition in a consensus decision it cannot a decision cannot be made against the will of an individual or against the will of a minority so that's important to keep in mind but um otherwise we're good to go and I feel also that it increases participation and discussion and um yeah one one other important thing is that members need to have the information if there's a topic of discussion need to have the information well in advance so that they can do their reading do their homework and come to the meeting with um a good discussion so now and I'll say one more thing about um the the council on aging I look back and I realized that I was on the council from 2005 to 2013 and I was secretary during much of that time and I see that um back in 2006 the bylaws did change I had kind of forgotten that but I do remember one issue when um we talked about the fact that the bylaws said that you had to have three members or a minimum number of members that had to be 60 years of age or older and we felt that was discrimination to um to have that requirement for age so that was changed but another thing that that was also agreed upon at that time is that um people who were non-amorist residents could be on the council so that although it's not written in the bylaws um that no longer is true and a few really good things came out of the council I do remember back in 2005 that more a plan had proposed doing a survey of elders over the age of 90 and volunteers had a list of questions and we made home visits with members in the community who were 90 years older or older and had very nice interviews with these people very personal and it was a nice way to get information on what services they were using and what needs were on that and also back in 2006 they started talking about parking for seniors and and nothing much happened then until 2011 thanks to Jack Rowansack who has done so many good things for the senior ascender he's the one that got the parking sticker program rolling and we can all appreciate him for that so there's a number of good things that have happened over the years I can't list them all of course but um that was just a little incidental thing I wanted to mention thank you so much for that Rosemary um and I see Tim um Tim's hand just a quick comment and follow up to your 90 year old and group uh Rosemary uh I played yesterday our golf group played in honor of one of our members who's 93 who still walks the golf course and pushes his cart so there's a instead of all love it mm-hmm any other comments or questions um uh to to sort of close the circle in this conversation for now I just wanted to say that um each of these methods has pros and cons and I want to emphasize that I'm I am still wrestling with this uh and then I why should I have all the fun right uh so I mean so I'll be sending uh um Rosemary and I will be sending some materials for you to think about well uh do do let us know if you want to help help with let's you know I I think we'll we can just start with tackling some of the most glaring errors in the bylaws uh uh immediately and we can address that the deeper question may take long and I think we have this right now we have this luxury of time in a sense it's one of the strange gifts of COVID but we are not in a hurry to do deep work together and really look at our purposes and how they match our actions and and and and conform with our values or what we aspire to be together um as we support um our beloved elders and our and and in support of our own lives so that's where we're going to go with that and in that spirit um and with uh the humility uh I just keep hearing more and more about uh the great contributions that um have been made uh by people many many people sitting around this table actually in so many walks of life and so it occurs to me that one of the measures of the health of a good organization is really how newcomers are welcomed and how and and and that applies to the senior center that applies to the council that applies to almost every walk of life our our moral or spiritual communities how are newcomers treated so I learn from each of you every day I hear things about the projects that you're working on and the interest you have and so I thought um I wanted to make a bit of time today to just to hear from some of our more seasoned members on a few topics um if if and if you're ready for those and I wanted to uh so that we're kind of on the same uh begin to be on the same page we don't expect the uh you know to probe the entire depth of your experience but I've asked um I've asked a couple of you uh to step forward um if you're willing um to just um you know let me just start with conversations that we've been having about um uh a new senior center and I've been hearing from Sue and Rosemary and John and Jack um about your efforts and um and what's happened in the past and I'm wondering if you um any of you would be willing to let us know where you think things stand now and um and and what might be ahead I'm not looking I'm just like where where are we now in the process um and if we could keep it brief realizing that this is a this is a conversation that we will drill down in deeply in coming uh sessions uh um meetings uh but just in a nutshell if you could Sue or Jack well I could say a few words great okay first of all yeah all of the records about a new senior center and I'll go into some of the highlights the the records are at the senior center on the um senior center's computer drive and so of course I don't have access to those I had some records at home um that are the newest of which are about 20 and 12 and so anything I say is going to be a bit out of date until I either get to the records on the computer or to some of the paper records which are sitting on my desk or were um I'll go through it as quickly as I can um we have considered uh several ways of making more room for the senior center these include upgrading the current facility in the bank center adding to the the building with new construction and specifically between uh Johnny's tavern and the bank center there's a good sized parcel of land that could be built both any anything we do in the current location of course is going to be troubled by the fact that we have no free parking we have also considered building a standalone senior center and we've considered building a community center we have visited about 17 newer senior centers in the neighborhood um and we photographed the interiors and the exteriors and we've talked to the directors about their experience with building the new senior center we've taken those 17 senior centers and plotted their area for each town against the senior population of that town to get an idea of the um the relationship of senior population to what actually exists out there in terms of square footage of the senior center um we let's see um William Sterling one of the um see one of the the architects that we have had contact with and one of our two favorites he has an algorithm which relates the size of the senior center to and the number of parking places and the site size to the um the number of seniors in that particular town and so that has been very helpful to us in in designing the the size of the of the new structure what we other things we've considered for a standalone senior center uh are the um the rooms that are needed the arrangements of those rooms the the size of the building the um and the size of the building site we've also with the assistant director we have looked at sites around the town and um I those we were asked to keep secret but the town the town is has has done good work in in helping us find sites for a new senior center um we've considered the the um the OPM the operator of the owner's project manager we've considered the the building committee we've considered fundraising consultants financing contractors and architects and the two architects that we most prefer are john catlin and william sterling and we have had meetings with them and we've had john catlin make a presentation at town hall um I've talked to the town manager the assistant town manager the architects and quite a number of others and let me see um we understand that in the long-range capital plan there's $50,000 allocated a few years from now for a feasibility study and there is four million dollars um allocated for the start of construction in years beyond that so anyway that's in a in a nutshell those are the kind of things that we've been doing and keep in mind that this summary is not up to date it it's mostly up to 2012 and I would need access to the senior center or at least to some of the things on the computer to bring it more up to date any questions yes um I am wondering it seems that first of all I'm just blown away as a as a relative newcomer uh about the the scope and and depth of the work that's already proceeded that that um the hours of time and attention and expertise that have already been brought to bear and and I and I express gratitude to uh you and uh to rosemary and and sue who have been engaged I hope I'm not missing anybody I'm sure there you there are others who are not present in the room right now who who are all have also participated that's an extraordinary achievement we have to figure this out we need to figure out how to get you access um and so um um that seems to me like a completely surmountable uh problem um and I think uh so that that's one thing I would just uh observe and I'm confident that we can figure that one out Tim uh okay um yes I I certainly support the uh the needs and the past discussions etc I am going to serve as a very very cautionary voice on this committee about spending much time right now on a new senior center I just don't think that's realistic frankly and I think we should better spend our time in other ways uh the reason I say that is I'm a past member of the finance committee I was in the town's finance committee for about five years and uh it's clear that the four current projects we have now have had real real difficulty in getting approved in this town and to add another one this senior center in any short term way is I think completely unrealistic frankly um I think we should spend our time as a as a uh council on developing uh non bricks and mortar programs etc and not spend a whole lot of time on senior center now that's not to say we shouldn't but I think we ought to work more on keeping the needs in front of the town officials but to get down to to uh specific details like architectures location square footage I mean we've had as you all know called on meeting needs on the drawing board for years fire station etc etc also financially uh it's going to be a real trick for this town to even pull off the four projects that we have uh we're very very close to state mandated uh or state caution or state um maximum tax levy uh abilities and we have some real real real financial because now we all know partly the reason why in this town uh many of the other towns like using Hadley as an example uh looking over some of those the report that was just sent out about their swell of needs um true but they also didn't have the same kind of projects on the drawing board that we now have so I think frankly it's just unrealistic and not worth as much of our time right now to spend really going into a discussion about a new senior center I think what we need to do is talk about how we educate the town about seniors needs etc etc so it becomes really clear that there might be a need but right now financially I think we have some real real difficulties being able to pull off the four projects that were really on the drawing board right now so sorry about that but I think I just wanted to express that early on and uh as we proceed we appreciate those kinds of discussions okay just no need for apology each voice on this so we want to listen to each voice uh on on this council uh to be expressed and uh I see Rosemary's hand yeah I almost hate to say it but I do agree with Tim I think he raises a very good point and these four projects that he speaks about have actually been some of them have been proposed for 10 years so you see where we sit but I do think that um it should not be a top priority I think we have many more other important issues to talk about namely transportation for seniors who have major needs in getting around and getting to appointments especially during the COVID epidemic so that should be almost a top priority for work that we do right now um and there will be other things but I I do see that even despite all the work that we've done in the past that the the need for a new senior ascender has to be put aside for a time I think it would be important to consider however um opening up more space in the current banks facility for extra space for senior activities but um a new building is not on the horizon thank you um jack well in question has a newcomer whose um knowledge is uh very limited I am wondering if there's a formula um in terms of fund allocation for senior programs and as well as the senior center um and on the overall budget is there I don't know so help me out and don't consider anything off off the board do you want me to to respond in part I can go ahead I mean I was going to speak from the finance committee point of view but go ahead no well I just around the issue of the budget so the budget uh that we are supported with from the town is an operational budget and it really just covers staffing costs and a small amount of um of money for you know supplies and that's it so I I don't you know I can just speak that that's the senior center budget and then Tim you can chime in yeah I was I was just going to mention there is a long as jack mentioned there is a long-range uh capital plan and I think it is very appropriate for us and as advocates to make sure that there is in that plan sometime in the future funds available for for a possible senior center whether it's a separate building whether it's a retrofit of existing buildings whether it's a bank center or the high school the middle school uh things like that but just to make sure it's on the plate my only caution was for us to spend much time in the short term uh really getting into the the weeds of a brand new senior center I just think is counterproductive but I do think it's very productive to keep it in the forefront of town planners particularly so it continues to be on long-range plants etc etc but as far as I know there's no specific allocation in the budget town budget for particular things like senior needs and so forth uh yeah and I'm asking not so much in terms of a brick and mortar center a structure but in terms of um resources uh in terms of of acknowledgement and and and recognition of the fact that seniors are here when one goes on to say the computer looking for um senior friendly towns or cities and there are reasons why and um there are a lot of things that have to be considered in a town budget uh I know but where do seniors fit in that large schema of things the needs of seniors so what I'm sorry go ahead keep going no no I I think very often there's a there's an invisible group a group that has been invisibilized I guess is one of my one of my seminary professors would have said and and and in in the larger picture uh seniors constitute a critical part of the population and how is that acknowledged and affirmed thank you to all of you who have spoken um my sense of this the group conversation about this is that's a really important and rich conversation to have because it it really speaks to the question of our priorities in the year ahead and what what we want to struggle with deeply and I think uh the voices voices I'm hearing I I um I don't I want to just say that also when those the plans were made and contemplated there have also been there's been new understanding and things that have happened historically um and recently that um also I think can shape provide opportunities for shaping our planning process in a way that is more democratic that include that includes voices that were not part of uh earlier problem solving new imagination um and mary breath has brought some of that new imagination to us uh already thinking about it's not just about the building it's not also it's uh outreach and connection and community it's not just about um a location it's the quality of relationship programs can happen all over town that you know so there there are some also some new opportunities for us to think and so um I'm I'm gonna I I wanted us to sort of figure out a process for I can I'm going to propose perhaps a a schedule of um uh of topics that we can for each of our meetings and then and then in the months ahead that might give us the time to wrestle with some of these topics um and um um and you know and make and make some recommendations and um to uh mary beth uh and and define some of our own advocacy tasks because I think advocacy on behalf of seniors is part of our core mission so as we struggle over this uh together um and build trust among all of us then we will uh we'll be able to do our our advocacy I think with greater strength greater unity and more clarity so um I this is an amazing conversation in the interest of time I'm I'm watching that clock and I really want to be true to our agenda and I'm already mindful um of um I had asked uh jack will and to open us with some meditation I'm gonna uh ask her to help us close with words of meditation before that happens I'm just going to ask for just for Tim to just speak briefly about his thinking on fund development in the long range with the acknowledgement that we will my tentative plan as far as to look at fund development um as a serious agenda topic for our next meeting and so Tim you want to uh shall we transition next uh item 3e in our discussion um yeah I'm happy I'll keep this brief but uh part of it is related to what we just talked about too I think as a committee we need to clearly all of us be on the same page in terms of our priorities both short and long term and thus our needs and then we can then uh use that to help us with seeking financial funds from and other sources and so on so that's number one I think a clear understanding of our own long range plan our own priorities is is really key uh yeah we'll be moving forward and in the fundraising I'll certainly want to acknowledge the fine work the friends group has has done over the years we want to talk about as a committee how we can enhance that build together uh and I see as a fundraising component as we'll talk further uh multifaceted one of a friend raising which which is a phrase that you might hear in the in the industry if you will uh where everything from events knowledge if once we bond people in this town to the real needs and uh programs of the of our seniors I think that's very very helpful uh second we need a variety of different programs a continuation of annual support so people who can and should and wish to give very very small donations but have no ability to give large ones we should continue to do that that helps coordinate uh thirdly a more robust uh major uh fundraising effort if you will which is a much more individual approach uh through identification of needs and priorities and individuals who might be able to support us uh considering some component of an estate planning uh have citizens who wish to leave this uh organization in their estate plans I think could be very very helpful and then finally a strong stewardship program how we keep the supporters how we keep in touch with supporters how we uh engage them in the process and so on is is and should be really really helpful but let me come back to that that planning uh component uh we all need to be together working together so we have a coordinated effort and um proceed in that vein so more to come but those are some of my initial thoughts thank you so much that I'm breathless uh that um and yeah I um I will always be one sorry one sorry one other thing with with Liz on the line how we can work with Amherst neighbors too it's seriously uh and uh work together in that vein maybe we can maybe that's appropriate maybe not but uh I didn't want to forget that and I did so now I'm adding it to my list okay thanks that's that's really great so that's just a teaser folks for what lies ahead um I I also have having been around the block for many years um I always want to see you know unity versus there's always a tension between unity and then protecting uh the voices of alternative perspectives I always want to just keep that uh you know intelligent people can agree to disagree sometimes so I always want to like lift that up and say yeah we're we're going to have we're going to bring different perspectives but I want to underscore that uh honest conversations uh I want each person to feel that they can rate that he or she can can can express reservations or identify you know or say things like this doesn't work for me so I wanted us to kind of make make room for that so that we can what we're what we're dealing with is uh when we do arrive at some kind of consensus it comes from an honest and authentic engagement with each other and and the and the facts because we are uh and you know and what those facts mean to us we are a microcosm of our community and I hope that we'll become more of a microcosm of our of what our community looks like so each voice is therefore uh extremely important okay um I know that all of you have had a chance to look at them uh the minutes for uh item four and the agenda and I'm wondering if we have a motion any comments Sue go ahead uh there are two errors in the typed minutes all right for you to make corrections on page two the spelling of Norma Halleck under item D the representative of Highland Valley all right her her name is h-a-l-l-o-c-k not ack thank you and uh there's another one sorry under Rosemary's uh polling report in the first paragraph in under F polling place consolidation um the word that should be this in the fifth line all right this means approximately 10,000 two errors so it can be accepted all right do I hear a motion to I make a motion that we accept the minutes subject to correction and um can I hear a second second all right all all in support or all all opposed all in support show by your hand okay uh Jacqueline oh I see your hand now I saw okay all right all right uh so that the the minutes of um august minutes have been approved um and uh any announcements I would have one announcement that Rosemary is the only person who followed up with my homework to you which she sent me a fabulous video of Dick walking at a brisk pace which is posted on our facebook page so and an effort to one inspire our seniors to get out and get as much movement as possible before the cold weather comes the more that we can encourage them to establish a schedule to move the better off that they will be supported mentally and emotionally heading into another period of what's going to feel like sheltering long term um and also to bring some more life to our campaign for moving groove I wanted you to know that we have I think several thousand dollars that's been donated and I have about five thousand dollars I've received in grants so far so we're well on our way to establishing our our ability to democratize information and I think that that's really an interesting I love the way that you use that phrase so democratize your exercise and send me a photo or a video of you doing anything it could be even pushing the trader Joe shopping cart please send me videos to say like this is something that we value we value not only your participation in your voice we value your body and keeping yourself well so please help us move and groove oh yeah that sounds terrific uh okay and mea culpa um I have been moving like uh you know a blur but didn't photograph it so I and I opened my big mouth last month and I haven't photographed myself so I'm going to correct that today and I hope and I invite everyone else to do that that is great modeling walk with a group that would be great to get a photo of your group walking Tim you play golf you've mentioned I'm waiting for you anybody who's got some movement going please please send it to me and I will post it up on our Facebook page so I could take a picture of you while I've I've seen you move and you're you are moving around uh in my world so I've seen that okay all right um I want to make a correction on the day of our next meeting which uh which I um I was confused about what was it the first Thursday that we meet or the second Thursday and it's we you know but anyway it's October 1st uh am I right about that Rosemary that now I think it's going to be the following week and it doesn't have to be the first or the second it can be whatever you want it to be that's no that's you know up to you but if we stick in general to maybe the second Thursday which is what we've been doing yeah I've noticed that so it's over 8 would be good because it's already the 10th now or the 9th yeah you're right okay is everyone right reasonably okay without that we'll keep it at the 8th as listed in the minutes I see some head nodding okay uh do let it let me know if you uh we we need everyone's voice if if for whatever reason you can't attend do let me know uh by phone call or email um and I would like to before I call for uh adjournment I would just like us to take a moment of reflection um with um I've asked Jacqueline to help us uh ground ourselves in this day and in uh and until we meet again and some thoughts that she will share with us before I do that I'd like to say thank you uh this has been a meeting um for me there's been vibrance there's been dynamism there's been energy and the the practical has been balanced by the creative and I appreciate that if you would take a moment just to be still and and just listen you don't have to do anything else one of my favorite sources is um Howard Thurman who as I said once before was a spiritual advisor for Dr Martin Luther King Jr and his book um one of his books was a regular with Dr King and and his staff um there's a movie that's out a documentary um uh backs against the wall and you can see part of it um YouTube it's about him it's not by him but today's meditation is let us be transparent deliver us from the tempest of our inward churnies calm our spirits with thy great tranquility that we may be total instruments in your hands to serve your purposes and share in the work to which we've been called to do in this world let us be transparent that your light may not be dimmed in us and through us no darkness may come to those whose trust we have and whose hands are in our hands these are the words behind them are the urgency of the heart let the words and the urgency be a living sacrament placed upon your altar even as did one who came to share love thank you so much all right um do I hear a motion for adjournment tim and a second i was doing it by hand sorry i i right i got it okay uh any a hand of second greg all right thank you everyone be well thank you Mary Beth thank you so much for keeping us uh lifted up we go all right okay thank you bye bye thank you bye bye bye