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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSSMinutes 01142010West University Senior Services Board Meeting, January 14, 2010 Present: John Neighbors (Chairman), Stan McCandless, Mary Ryerson, Lyndon McKnight, Cathy Wright, Joan Johnson, Jo Lukens, Mary Lee Gray, Selby Clark, Celia Chipman, Janet & Pieter Vrancken. Absent: Maureen Beck, Maureen Graf, Joe Mitchell. In Attendance: Staff: Toby Brooks, Tim O'Connor. Guests: Councilmen Chuck Guffey and Steven Segal, Cathy & Ida Sweeney, Robert Wells, Angela Grant. The meeting was called to order at 2:05pm. The Minutes of the previous meeting were approved as presented. Prior to addressing the remaining business of the meeting and after noting that the Fee Schedule discussed at the previous meeting had been passed at a first reading by the council, the Chairman gave the floor to Robert Wells, speaking for his wife - Diane Wells- and presenting arguments for the Senior Services Board to take to Council regarding the fee structure and use of the two pools by seniors. Mr. Wells' main points were that the time-honored exemption of seniors from fees should be continued; that there should be no means-testing to qualify for this exemption and that both pools should be available to seniors. The Chairman thanked Mr. Wells and noted that before the Fee Schedule could be implemented, it was required to pass a second reading before Council. Further discussion of this item was deferred to the end of the meeting. Activities (Toby Brooks) These comprised a Spring Trip for shopping, a Master Class at Main Street Theater and work on preparation of the summer program. APAC (Cathy Wright) Cathy has been appointed assistant secretary of APAC. Although May is designated as Older Americans Month, activities will be restricted due to a DADS audit at that time. MOMS (Meals on Wheels) have been turned down again by DADS since frozen foods are not permitted, only fresh. Council Report (Councilman Chuck Guffey) The Committee for the city center redevelopment, headed by Bruce Frankel, will interview 40 potential volunteers. The leasing of the Westpark site for a restaurant is stalled as Goodes, current tenant of the site, have 31/2 years of their lease to run and are unwilling to give this up. Door to Door solicitors will be more strictly controlled in future with new regulations. West U resident and our nominee Ed Heathcott was reelected to continue on the HCAD board as the small cities representative. The Texas Open Meetings Act has been supported by a city resolution passed by council 3 to 2. $12 million in bonds will be issued for completion of the remainder of the Rec facilities and for the new police station. The Chairman noted that many residents might wish to subscribe to this bond issue. Residents cannot be given preferential rights but the issue date - Feb 18 - can be drawn to their attention. The inclusion in the capital expenditure budget of a $1.6 million item for electronic water meters has been deferred. Good Neighbor Team (Mary Lee Gray) The team will meet next week to send out Valentine Day Cards. These were designed by Megan Davis. The Thanksgiving Day invitation to the Christmas dinner resulted in 16 new residents attending and wishing to pay! Activity Report (Jo Lukens & Toby Brooks) The Pink Elephant exchange and the Houston Concert Band, both enjoyed by many as was the New Year's Eve potluck. PARD (Tim O'Connor) Kyle Copeland has been hired as Assistant Recreation Manager. Jeremy Veld who received the "Distinguished Employee of the Year" award has transferred from Senior Services to the Recreation Department. He and Leigh Ylanan will work together on opening the new facilities. The Rec center should be ready by mid March. There will be public open houses prior to the official opening on April 12. Colonial Pool's concrete bottom has been poured and despite a 36 day rain delay the official opening on Memorial Day is being maintained. The completion of the Community Center is still scheduled after April 12 with some inconvenience but no interruption of activities. All three projects are on budget. Fee Schedule: The Chairman noted that although the fee schedule has passed on a first reading by the full Council by a vote of 4 to 1, a strong recommendation from the Senior Services Board would have some impact on the outcome of a second reading. Stan McCandless pointed out that traditionally facility fees had been waived for seniors and was hoping grandchildren accompanying them might also be included. Currently there were 793 exemptions out of a senior population of 1,900 (13% of the population of the city). Russ Schultz (who had joined the meeting after it had opened) explained that the fees had been structured to cover the operating costs of the new facilities - not the capital costs which were covered by property taxes. The Chairman asked that the terms "senior" and "eligibility" be properly defined and that the activities for seniors be fully described. After much further discussion, Mary Lee Gray tabled a motion "that the City continues its traditional policy of permitting all resident seniors over 65 to use all recreational facilities without charge". The motion was seconded by Stan McCandless and was approved by 11 votes to 2. Cathy Wright then suggested two modifications to the motion: (a) that facilities be free to seniors during non-peak hours and/or that seniors be eligible for a punch pass at a cost of $1 per day for the days on which they actually used the facilities. The Board discussed whether to attach these two modifications to the previous motion and voted by 7 votes to 4 not to do so. The meeting was adjourned at 3:25pm.