HomeMy WebLinkAboutWUSSB 05-14-2015West University Senior Services Board Meeting May 14, 2015 2PM Present: Pieter V rancken (Chairman), Stan McCandless, George Baker, Michelle Moore, Sarah Ballanfant, Selby Clark, Janet Vrancken, John Palmer, Candyce Beneke, Joe Mitchell, Virginia Lootens. Absent: Becky Arnold, Judy Faulkner, Mary Ryerson. Staff: Tim O’Connor, Toby Broo ks. Guest: Councilwoman Joan Johnson. Residents in Attendance: Alida Drewes, Carlos de la Torre. The Meeting was called to order at 2:03PM .Two corrections were made to the Minutes: under the PARD report no size of deck was specified for the area to the wes t of Colonial Park Pool (Mr. O’Connor) and under the Council report the Certificates of Obligation were $3,050,000 instead of $3,550,000 (Mrs. Johnson). Membership (Pieter Vrancken); The Chairman asked that matters affecting the future membership of the Bo ard after the current term be discussed at this point. Mr. Vrancken said that he & his wife would be leaving West University and would therefore no longer be eligible for Board Membership after expiration of the current term. He asked that all Board member s present indicate their willingness to serve during the next term commencing September 1 st . All members present were willing to continue service. Toby Brooks said that forms would be distributed for submission to the City Secretary. Mr. Vrancken indicated that he would not be present at the next Board Meeting on June 11 th but that Michelle Moore would chair the meeting. Mr. Vrancken proposed that Michelle Moore be elected Chairman for the next Board Term and that a vote be taken to this effect while allowi ng members to put forward other candidates if they so desired. Mrs. Lootens felt that in order for all members to be given the opportunity of expressing their preference in the matter that an e -mail be sent out to all members. Toby Brooks undertook to circ ulate a document making this request. Mr. Vrancken stated that a majority of all members had indicated by e -mail their support for Carlos de la Torre joining the Board and that this had been notified to Council for ratification at their meeting of May 18 th . Assuming that ratification takes place, Carlos will attend the next Board meeting as a full member. Activities (Toby Brooks): A very successful outing to Orange was organized. It included a visit to a library containing all the books of bird drawings by Audubon and a boat trip which departed from Shangri La. Residents took part in the Cinco de Mayo celebrations in Bellaire. A talk on Me dicare matters was given by Toni King. Bingo sessions continue to be very popular. An excursion to Bayou Wild Life had to b e cancelled due to bad weather. Work continues on the preparation of the Leisure Guide and City Currents. Items of interest to Seniors will be explained, including discounts on trash collection , pet regulations and the availability of $185,000 in supplemen tary rebates on property taxes. A celebration will be held on Father’s Day (June 21 st ) including a performance by the Throckmorton Band . An evening Tai Chi class has drawn 7 participants so far and a mixed ability supplementary class is being considered (T hursday evenings) A Mah Jong class is held on Thursday evenings as well with, so far, 6 participants. APAC (Virginia Lootens): At the May 14 th meeting of APAC, Stephen Andriko spoke on “Reducing the Risk of Developing Dementia”. Deborah Moore Representativ e from the Area Agency on Aging (AAA) reported on the following: 1) the Bridges Conference sponsored by AAA was held May 7 & 8 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Houston. It was attended by 322 persons. The Keynote speaker was Dr. Thomas Freeman (age 96) Profes sor of Forensics at TSU. 2) AAA is recognizing staff & volunteers at various sites in Houston in May (Older Americans Month). 3) Currently 4,500 people are receiving meals daily from AAA. 4) A new support group called “Conversations with Caregivers” has he ld one meeting and will meet again in June. 5) Veterans with disabilities will begin to be served in cooperation with AAA beginning July 1, 2015 – particularly those who wish to stay in their own homes. Council (Joan Johnson): The report covers three Coun cil Meetings (two of them including Workshops) on April 13, 27 and May 4. The survey of a representative sample of homeowners conducted to determine attitudes towards an exchange of property with the Baptist Church and the relocation of the City’s maintena nce facility resulted in a vote of 49.3% in favor and 35.5% opposed. Comments were received regarding the Facilities Master Plan and the need to modify existing Council term limits so that only half the Council members are replaced at one time and the expe rience of the remaining members is preserved. Proclamations were given a) to St. Mark’s School recognizing its 75 th anniversary, b) to West University Senior Services Board and to Naina Pai who raised $700 through bake sales to support the Good Neighbor Te am. Council had a first reading of the Houston Surface water Rate Increase of 1.4% as required by the Houston -Galveston Subsidence Board. The rate increase to the City was 4.4%. At the
April 27 Workshop & Council Meeting a long discussion was held regardin g the transfer of property between the City & the Baptist Church. May 2015 was proclaimed as Water Safety Month and a proclamation was presented to Recreation Manager Bakes. A second reading of the Houston Surface Water Rate Increase was held and approved. At the Special Meeting Workshop & Regular Council Meeting on May 4 th , discussion continued regarding the transfer of property between the City of West U and the Baptist Church. At the regular Council Meeting Susan Sample made a motion which passed to tabl e the the Agenda items regarding Certificates of Obligation, Facilities Long Range Plan and property exchange with West University Baptist Church. Council had not seen a completed Facilities Master Plan at this time. 17 residents spoke during public commen ts. Good Neighbor Team (Michelle Moore): The next meeting to prepare for distribution of items connected to Hurricane awareness will be held on June 18 th . Items in each bag will include a brochure, a flashlight, a magnifying glass a toothbrush & paste and a word game. PARD (Tim O’Connor & Toby Brooks): Toby reported that there had been no response to her short piece in City Currents inviting a show of interest in participating in Senior Activities. It is her opinion that people in the 55 -65 age group are mo re interested in activities which take place after 5PM. Toby reported that Mary Lee Gray is combing through the voter registration list to pinpoint all seniors (over 55). Tim stated that the Friends of West University Parks Board are willing to advance $25 ,000 for the design phase of the project to permit flexible winter & summer use of the western end of the site of Colonial Park. Administration. Absent an emergency there will be no Board meetings in July & August. PRESENTATION TO JOAN JOHNSON: All members of the Board present thanked Joan Johnson for her sterling work as Council Liaison during the current term and presented her with two months free passes for water aerobics and an orchid. A cake was shared by all present. The Meeting adjourned at 2:55PM