Attending: Larry Mansier, Bill Farmer, Anne Bolick, Severino DiCocco, Joel May, Bob Riley, Virginia Silliphant

Excused: Jean Harrington, Nils Stout

Senior Coordinator: Abigail Waugh

Hopewell Township Mayor, Vanessa Sandom

Citizen, June Lee

The Meeting was brought to order at 2:06 by Chairman Mansier. Notice was made of meeting the Open Public Meetings Act requirements.

The previous minutes were approved upon correcting the spelling of Councilman Tucker's first name, notating that Mr. May was appointed Chairman of the survey creation committee and that the "next meeting" had jumped a month, should have said Nov. 19.

Senior Services Coordinator:

Ms. Waugh reported on the current facility:

1. The building has been approved by the fire commissioner, up to code.
2. Stu Schwab is preparing local signs for directions to the center.
3. Awaiting confirmation from the pro bono contractor regarding the handicapped bathroom functional rework. (Later in the meeting there was a discussion about the Board's posture vis-a-vis Pennington on the frustrating delays. The idea of sending an assertive letter was temporarily shelved and it was agreed to further gather facts about the proposed solutions.)
4. The county will fix the parking lot issues, at its convenience.

During October, 162 rides were provided by Stouts, reaffirming that this function is one of the seniors most required services. Our benefactor, BMS, confirmed that funds remaining from '08 could be rolled over to '09 pending finalization of a new budget. Gross costs of a ride by Stouts is about $11-12.

Ms. Waugh presented a critique of the special programs, showing a turnout of 8 to 10 per meeting. As attendance at these programs are somewhat variable, efforts are continually made to skew these toward areas that seem to resonate with local seniors.

Ms. Waugh expressed pleasure of the apparent success of the "Memoir" program that encouraged seniors to commit their extensive experiences to paper and presented techniques for getting started and recapturing those experiences for family and friends.

Chairman's Report:
Chairman Mansier reminded that the terms of four members of the SAB are expiring at the end of the year. He advised the following to seek absolution of their inadequacies by their respective municipalities and, consequently, reappointment:

Hopewell - Jean Harrington
Hopewell Township - Sevy DiCocco, Joel May
Pennington - Bob Riley

Hopewell Borough Survey:

The Board unanimously expressed admiration for Ginny Silliphant for her dogged determination to find our what her Hopewell Borough constituents were thinking about senior issues. She designed a survey, tested it for practicality, mailed it at her own expense, and compiled the results.

A remarkable 1/3 of the surveys were returned. Although the data is available for perusal, the following are her observations and basic conclusions:

- 97% tended to have a favorable attitude toward senior programs
- 48% favored informational programs
- 43% favored exercise programs commensurate with age group
- 30% favored training programs, particularly computer
- 22% expressed a willingness to share expertise or otherwise donate time
- The superlatives: much, much lower property taxes and dedicated transportation

Senior Advisory Board Brochure:

There was a meeting of the brochure committee to discuss the goals and parameters of the proposed brochure, intended to bring the general populace up to speed on the Board's and related senior activities. Chairman Bolick presented a first draft for initial comments. It was decided that there was no need to include information on the Foundation, such inclusion perhaps bringing confusion about the charters and related duties of the two separate entities.

Accordingly, the committee will meet for purposes of preparing a new draft.

Survey Committee:

Upon hearing about Ginny's results in Hopewell and learning that senior activities will be addressed as a segment of the Hopewell Valley general survey, the committee decided to defer its efforts until a time when the SAB survey won't undergo the risk of seeming redundant.

Hopewell Township Mayor:

Mayor Sandom challenged the Board to demonstrate a sense of demand on the part of seniors and the general public so as to support public financing. Such material must be realistic and supported by attendance figures, surveys, findings of other outreach establishments, e. g. churches, Lions Club and other such research. She reminded us that the three municipalities start considering their annual budget at the first January meetings and that participation might help for short-term operations funding.

For long range funding, particularly that relating to a new Center, it will be required that the Board present pro forma operating plans, co-funding capital participants (in addition to the County) and other supporting pertinent information.

New Business:

Evergreen – it was suggested that this entity, operating out of the Princeton Resource Center had very useful programs that might very well supplement ours. Mr. Riley expressed concern in that it sounded as if it might be Al Gore with his hand in Mr. Riley's pocket (again), but when assuaged that “Evergreen” referred to a hope for senior's outlooks, rather than a plea for saving pygmy scorpions, it was unanimously recommended to invite them to the December 17th meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:06.

Respectfully Submitted:
Bob Riley: Secretary

Next meeting scheduled for Wednesday, December 17, 2008, 2:00 at the HV Senior Center