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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSSMinutess06102010West University Senior Services Board Meeting June 30, 2010 Present: John Neighbors (Chairman), Stan McCandless, Selby Clark, Lyndon McKnight, Celia Chipman, Mary Ryerson, Mary Lee Gray, Janet Vrancken, Pieter Vrancken. Absent: Joe Mitchell, Joan Johnson, Jo Lukens. Resigned: Maureen Beck, Maureen Graf, Cathy Wright. Staff: Tim O'Connor, Toby Brooks. Guest: Councilman Steven Segal. The Meeting was called to order at 2:03PM. The Minutes of the previous meeting were approved as presented. Activities/ Previews (Toby Brooks): Flyers were distributed for two new classes - Water Walking and Yoga, both to be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays commencing on June 29. Would-be participants should be encouraged to sign up and to spread the word. The instructor for both classes is Miranda Jordon who is Yoga certified. A fashion show will be held on Friday 6/11 at 1:30PM. The theme meal will be held on the last Tuesday of the month. A field trip to West Columbia was held last Wednesday to a property formerly owned by the Sears family who founded 560 schools and homes in the neighborhood. The mayor led a tour of the town and of the park. The Newsletter for the fall is being worked on. A talk will be held on Health reform as it affects seniors by a medical insurance advocate. APAC (Joan Johnson presented by Toby Brooks): The Seniors Luncheon organized by Harris County Area Agency on Aging (AAA) was attended by 250. The Agency needs 700 more surveys to meet their goal. The results of the survey will determine funding for the next 3 years. A program is being developed for Patients with Congestive heart problems through the Methodist Hospital. The goal is to prevent frequent re-admissions to hospital. At present some 20% of patients are readmitted within 40 days. Hospital to Home Councillors are working with patients to reduce the need for readmissions. A new Update of the Senior Guidance Directory has just been completed. It is available as a book or on line at http://www.srquidance.org/directory.htm# The main website is www.gettingreadyforlife.org. Information was provided on two meetings: a Town Hall Meeting about issues Affecting Older Americans on June 10 (which Joan Johnson was unable to attend) and a Hearing on June 14 to solicit public input on older persons' service needs. (Joan is planning to attend this Hearing but is urging that a position paper be prepared and presented at this meeting if Seniors of West U have issues that should be considered. One of these could be "Services that assist Seniors in staying in their homes as long as possible"). The "Adopt Senior Housing" program seeks to promote a coordinated response for older adults residing in senior housing communities in Houston/Harris County, when a federal disaster or crisis response is declared. The contact is Morgan Steinberg, Care of Elders - 713-685-6584 or msteinberg@careforelders.org A list was passed to Selby Clark. Council Report (Councilman Steven Segal) Construction of the new police station has begun. The Conference room across from the Council Chambers is out of service. Council voted 4-1 on first reading to rezone the property on which Shipley's Donuts is located from Townhome District to Commercial District. The 2nd and final vote is scheduled for next Council Meeting on June 14. No two storey construction and no liquor stores will be permitted under the deed restrictions. Employees will be required to park at least 700 feet away from their place of employment. Council approved the Building & Standards Committee's recommendation to protect property owners by increasing the required builder's insurance on a new home from $250,000 to $500,000 per occurrence and from $500,000 to $1 million in the aggregate. The Combined Annual Financial Report for the City for 2009 will be presented to Council and voted on Monday June 14. Colonial Pool opened May 29 to large crowds. Staff reported that, as of June 4, 2,090 seasonal memberships for Colonial Pool and 1771 monthly memberships for the Recreation Center had been sold. The principal task remaining is to work for retention of these memberships. The 2nd of 4 parties on the patio at Colonial Pool will be this Friday (Big Daddy Gumbo) with the 3rd and 4"' taking place on the following Fridays (Amber Digby & Midnight Flyer followed by Fab 5). West U Little League has been honored with matches between June 17 and 25 and from Julyl to July 15. Good Neighbor (Mary Lee Gray): Parcels for Seniors will be prepared on June 30 for delivery on July 4. They will include an Eveready Torch - appropriate for this hurricane season and light enough to be handled by the elderly. There will be no other meeting of the Good Neighbor team this month. PARD (Tim O'Connor) We are 30-40 days away from taking over full management of the Rec Center. We have 984 memberships to the Rec Center which equates to 1,732 individuals (of these 230 are subsidized and 225 are seniors with 5 disabled residents). At Colonial Park as of this morning we have 563 memberships equating to 2,527 individuals (of these 59 are subsidized memberships). Although many have signed up for the subsidized memberships and collected their passes only about two dozen are actually using these. The overall membership figures are very encouraging particularly compared with the 5,800 individuals at the Weekley YMCA which draws from 17 zip codes in the city. It was pointed out that membership dues at the YMCA cover all classes for $39/month whereas all classes at the Rec Center are extras. While it has not been the aim to replicate the YMCA's operating practices, careful attention will be paid to the value for money aspects of the respective memberships. We were scheduled to have completed the outdoor playground at the Rec Center yesterday but the heavy rains have delayed this by about a week. Given the promise of a very dry week-end the playing surface should be ready for opening to the public by Friday 18"'. Turf laying will follow and this surface will be ready for the start of the soccer program by the end of August. 52% of the operating costs for Colonial Park have been recovered in the first ten days of operation. O & M budget for this facility is $171,000 but this is weather dependent: if July & August are wet, this number could be reduced since many staff are not paid during wet weather. For the Rec Center the annual O&M budget is $750,000 and 44% of this has already been recovered principally from the Activities, Programs and Membership revenue streams. The fee structure recommended by staff to Council appears fully justified and as of now it is probable that staffs recommendation for next year will be to maintain the status quo. Previous Business: Nil New Business: The possibility of Special Senior Memberships for, say, $25-30 to cover multiple classes was raised. Staff will provide input as to how many seniors would support such an initiative. Insurance cover for instructors/facilitators was mentioned and this will be examined. The meeting was adjourned at 2:57PM.