HomeMy WebLinkAboutDecember 12-14-23
Senior Board Agenda
December 14, 2023 at 2:00 pm
Community Building
Call to Order by Chair Ann Crowley — 2:01 pm
Attendance: Kay Bryan, Debbie Pedrick, Candyce Beneke, Laura Turley, Diana Ayers, Eileen O’Neil, Jerry Wood, Gloria Nino Monticello, Robin Burks, John Montgomery, Karen Kenny, George
Hildebrandt, Toby Brooks, Ann Crowley, Jennifer Strickland, Susan White, Teresa George
Absent: None
Action Items:
State of Texas oath for appointment of office. Signed and will be notarized.
Approval of Minutes from Nov. 9, 2023
Approved by Jerry Wood and seconded by Diana Ayers.
Citizen Comments: Carlos De La Torre, Dick Yaley, Dorothy Zink (sp?)
Dorothy Zink —Suggested that members should resign if preferring to hold undisclosed meetings within the group or cannot actively contribute to it.
Dick Yehle —January 18th, 2024 — events within the city pertaining to the centennial logo.
Carlos De La Torre — focused on listing priorities for the short-term and long-term initiatives to make public places safe and attractive for all, with initiatives from J. Montgomery.
Community center would need to a be a new focus for the upcoming year.
Mission and Vision – developing SMART Goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-based by Ann Crowley
Brainstorming ideas for the coming year -- all members
Kay Bryan -- Involving more men. She also spoke with some men and has gathered some ideas. Basketball for men Methodist Gym. ($85 an hour)
Croquet playing – according to Toby no men came.
Other ideas include dog training, weekly poker game, walking trails and birdwatching, BBQ chilli cook offs, Grandpa and grandkids events,
Set up the google doc for the West University Information Exchange to gather more information about what the community would like to see in the coming year.
Broadcast activities of the senior center at the rec center, especially on the TVs — Karen Kenny
Jennifer Strickland — big screens — put something on the rec screens.
Ann Crowley — personally reach out and bring one person to a class, or a theme meal.
George Hildebrandt — use utility information to find out eligible West U Senior center members.
John Montgomery -- Call Bianca communications manager to improve communication on social media
Toby — please post on NextDoor for us.
John Montgomery — Post one at a time and then bump it up.
George H. How do we increase participation?
Laura Turley — There also needs to be a focus on safety in general including cyber safety
Safety in walkability
Recommendations for walkability and bicycle street map
Church and reach out to rotary clubs.
Karen Kenny — I would Iike the ageism language taken out of WestU
Also, more impact on the new community center.
Intergenerational stuff would be important.
Current Activity Survey – Ann Crowley
Reports:
APAC -- Karen Kenney — no APAC meeting this month.
Senior Services --Toby Brooks — concert had 90+ people attend, meal has 80 people for next Tuesday. Poker/Casino night — it is intergenerational. We can put them on the poker players.
Fake money. That’s also partnered with Bellaire. Get the younger guys out of the house.
Parks and Recreation -- Susan White —
City put on annual employee luncheon today. Distinguished employees include Toby Brooks and Brittney from Recs is the employee of the year. We also had milestone anniversaries in our
department for our employees.
Final walk through for Edloe pathway. That has been completed.
Working on Weir Park — improvements out to bid. Well known contractors have responded. Bid out for the landscaping contract today. Dicks mentioned —
founders’ day 18th January
City Council – John Montgomery
City found a park — we found land in the city that was deeded as park space and we were unaware of on Browning and Bissonnet. Senior service input desired.
We met on Monday and while long, the council members reached agreements on how to proceed.
Pedestrian mobility study focusing on -- How are we providing safe corridors for movement.
Counsel wants an urban planner to come out and how do we make this city more walkable.
We have taken steps to hire more police.
Safety will be a priority and council is working towards this goal.
Fire – would like to see more contribution from South Side and Bellaire and more cooperation with WestU.
We are going to work with South Side on economics and safety issues.
Power line — we can’t bury them. They do go through the front line, and they won’t bury that. Because of CenterPoint asking for millions of dollars. One of the things that council would
like
to see if we could adopt our utility district. We could maintain our own grid, and not use CenterPoint.
Mayor Sample and council are looking to doing more for retention, appreciation, and recruitment of staff within the city.
Drainage is still a top a priority — we are moving forward this. Poor farm ditch repair.
Facilities master plan — increase walkability and green space.
Longer term renovation of city hall
Simplify the code to make it more structurally available for residents.
Adjournment
Karen Kenny and Robin Burks at 3:20 pm
Upcoming Events:
Houston Marathon—Mayor’s Breakfast, January 14th
Submitted by Theresa George -Hung