HomeMy WebLinkAboutWUSSB 2-14-2013West University Senior Services Board Meeting February 14, 2013 Present: Stan McCandless (Chair), John Neighbors, George Baker, Michelle Moore, Chuck Guffey, Sarah Ballanfant, Becky Arnold, Joe Mitchell, Janet Vrancken, Pieter Vrancken. Absent: Selby Clark , Mary Ryerson, Virginia Lootens. Staff: Toby Brooks. Guests: Councilman Dick Yehle & Mrs. Yehle. The meeting was called to order at 2:01PM. The Minutes of the prior meeting were approved as written. Activities (Toby Brooks) The excursion to Huntsville was most enjoyable for the 15 persons attending. It comprised a visit to the prison museum and state park including a baby alligator. Planned for the future are a visit to Nacogdoches, a Dolphin encounter, an early birding trip, an excursion to the antique ca r museum and LBJ museum in San Marcos, a Senior dance on May 30 th with Ziggy Band (sponsored by The Terrace), a presentation from Metro (with free Q cards to the first 20 to sign up) and later an excursion in the fall. Referring to the previous minutes: lo ts of excursions are planned by other groups with the sponsoring group providing desserts: American Pie Day saw 10 different pies, Flag Day, a trip to a Casino sponsored by The Terrace and Belmont Village, Opera at the Jewish Community Center. Refe r ring ba ck to the Boat & Helicopter ride at Conroe: the bus provided holds a maximum of 39 people while a minimum of 50 is required for these activities. Sarah Ballanfant asked whether the other groups plan sponsored events one month at a time. Toby Brooks replied that most of the other groups do not plan ahead and inform us of events too late for adequate canvassing of our seniors to take place. Despite this, the Board felt that attempts at collaboration with these other groups should continue both to enhance numb ers for our own events (when additional participation is needed) and to permit our seniors to participate in their sponsored events when adequate notice is provided to our staff. APAC (Virginia Lootens – summary provided in her absence) AAA goals for the y ear were provided as follows: focus on expanding care concerns to health care entities beyond current ones, i.e. hospitals & nursing homes; avoidance of re -admissions to hospital within the first 30 days following discharge; focus on pilot program “Care Tr ansitions” established in the Katy area, that has reduced hospital re -admissions from 1 in 5 Medicare patients to 1 in 10 Medicare patients; the Area Plan(a 3 year plan) dealing with identifying unmet needs of the elderly in the community expects a 1 -year extension in order to develop necessary collaborations for information gathering. (Initial due date was May, 2013); on Feb 14, 2013, a Contractor and Vendor operations meeting will be held relating to the Aging in Texas conference to be held June 16 -19, 20 13 at the Westin Galleria; AAA is closing the Meal congregat e sites at the YWCA/YMCA to promote other locations. Harris County Health Department will now take over the management of 3 congregat e sites for seniors; AAA is considering adding residential repa ir, chore maintenance and medication management to support tasks. Feb 12, 2013 is senior day at the Capital – Buses are being arranged. Council (Dick Yehle) May 11 is Election Day . The Mayor and all four councilors are all running for re -election. The char ter is being reviewed to permit 3 two year terms as against the present two terms. Council previously approved the spending of $2 million for the provision of an additional park or playground within the city limits – south of University Blvd. and west of B uffalo Speedway – with an area of 30,000 sq. feet. Current site values in the city are approximately $75/sq.foot. Council is studying the acquisition of a site on Mercer near Pittsburg and whether this should be a park or a playground. Good Neighbor Team (Michelle Moore) The Budget for the year is $4,000. This will cover 3 mailings and three deliveries to 148 qualifying seniors. Card design is being sponsored. There will be meetings of February 21 for the spring delivery and on March 21 for assembling the goody bag contents. PARD (Toby Brooks) The Weekly Work Summaries have already been circulated to Board Members. Chris Walton who was employed part -time for general maintenance has obtained a full time position with AT&T . West U is looking for a replacement with certification for a playground inspection role. There have been 50 -75 applicants and West U is hosting a trainee run prior to a formal exam. Attention was drawn to an article i n the Chronicle regarding a pap er mache figures being made as a residents project in Bayou Manor. The Rec Center is seeking American Red Cross certified Life Guards for the summer season. The meeting was adjourned at 3:00PM