Attending: Lawrence Mansier, Anne Bolick, Severino DiCocco, William Farmer, Jean Harrington, Joel May, Virginia Silliphant, Nils Stout
Others: Senior Coordinator: Abigail Waugh
Pennington Borough: Weed Tucker
Citizens: Helen Lee, Chuck Potter
Chairman Mansier called the Meeting to order at 2:06. Notice was made of meeting the Open Public Meetings Act requirements. The Minutes of the November meeting were approved as read.
Senior Services Coordinator's Report:
Senior Center: No further updates are available. In light of the changing political makeup of the three municipalities, it will be important to monitor progress. Since nothing has been heard from Liz Muoio regarding the Mercer County grants, Mayor Sandom will contact her again.
Recent Programs: Seven people joined the first hike of the Outdoor Group on December 8th. The group split into a faster and a slower group which seemed to work well and the attendees were very positive about the experience. The next hike is scheduled for January 19th at the WXSP Visitor's Center.
Transportation: Greater Mercer RideProvide will be the Hopewell Valley Rides vendor effective in January. A new brochure is available and a Transportation Update presentation will be held at the Senior Center at 10:30AM on January 27th.
Future Organizational Events: See the Senior Spirit or the web site at www.hvseniors.org/activities.html
Chairman's Report:
Renaissance Magazine: Chairman Mansier began his report by mentioning Renaissance Magazine, an on-line offering by the Foundation on Aging. He will send the Board Members a notice of the web address.
Goals and Accomplishments:
The goals of the Advisory Board for 2009 included:
The accomplishments were:
Board Membership: Severino DiCocco and Joel May have contacted Hopewell Township government to request a three-year reappointment to the Board. Jean Harrington is working with Hopewell Borough on her reappointment. Two names have been submitted to Pennington Borough as a replacement for Bob Riley. Nominations for Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary will be offered at the January meeting.
Committee Reports:
Explorations Program: The Explorations Program, which ran from October 12th to November 19th was deemed a great success. Forty-one people registered for one or more of the four courses offered (Medical Ethics, Enjoying Shakepeare, Myths, Lies and Legends of American History and Genealogy: Preserving Your Family History). Attendance was respectable and the program raised $1,250 in tuition funds which will be used by the Hopewell Valley Senior Foundation to fund improvements at the senior center.
The Spring semester of Explorations will begin on Easter Monday, April 5, 2010 and run for six weeks, the final session will be on May 13, 2010. Chairman Mansier mentioned a number of possible topics that could be considered including
Parking at the Pennington Presbyterian Church remains a problem. Availability of additional parking was arranged for at the Methodist Church and the question of also gaining access to rooms there was raised. The Universalist Church was also mentioned as a possible venue.
Handicapped Restroom: Following discussion of the future utilization of the current senior center as well as the "West Franklin Building," it became clear that the current senior center would be used for both the nutrition program and other functions well into the foreseeable future. In light of that, William Farmer moved, and Nils Stout seconded, that the Senior Advisory Board should move forward with Pennington Borough to upgrade the bathroom at the current senior center to meet ADA requirements. Funding will come from the Senior Foundation and the Borough of Pennington. The motion passed unanimously.
Farmer then moved that we continue to investigate and negotiate the feasibility of sharing the existing Capital Health System building on West Franklin St. with the Teens Group. The motion was seconded by Severino DiCocco and passed unanimously.
New Business:
The Hopewell Valley Senior Foundation has raised approximately $2,000 to be used for upgrading the facilities at the senior center. The Senior Services Coordinator was asked to consider what was most needed by the center and to proceed to procure it, sending the bill to the Foundation.
It was noted that the Stony Brook Assisted Living Center will be holding a fund raiser in the Spring and that the Foundation would be benefited thereby.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:10PM
Respectfully Submitted:
Joel May, Secretary
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 2pm at the HV Senior Center.