Chair Gonzales called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m.                                                              

Re:    Approval of Minutes

Chair Gonzales asked if there were any corrections, additions or deletions to the April minutes.  Audrey said she would like it noted that she had nominated and that the Commission had voted unanimously to appoint Doug Bly as Vice Chair, to serve in Ciriaco’s absence when necessary.

Re:    Club Reports        

Audrey beck, reporting for the Young in Heart Club, said that during today’s meeting they would be having their annual awards and installation of officers ceremonies.  Audrey also said that during their April meeting they had held a Springtime Luncheon and hosted Nate Wall, the city’s Environmental Specialist, to talk about ‘going green’.

Stu Crump, reporting for the Willing 3 C’s, said their last meeting had been held May 16 and had been strictly a business meeting with the election of officers which, he noted were reappointments for last year’s officers (President – Ella Smith, Vice-President – Lewis Rhodes, Secretary – Miriam Cumberbatch, Treasurer – Ruth Brown). Following the elections the members enjoyed a viewing of the movie “Mama Mia”.  In closing, he said the club would hold their officer installation ceremonies at the Cozy Inn in Thurmont on June 20th.

Pete Sante, reporting for the Triple F Club, said there had been 12 members in attendance at the last meeting hosted by Karen Lumpkin, Rockville’s Senior Recreation Coordinator.  Pete said he had talked briefly about the Commission’s latest happenings.

Doug Bly, reporting for the Bethany House Club, advised their last meeting had been held May 3rd with 22 attendees.  He said the Treasurer reported $1,198.29 in the account. Doug added that they held their officer elections with the date for the installation at the Golden Bull in Gaithersburg to be announced at a later time.  Doug noted that their entertainment consisted of several games of BINGO where he was the caller.                                                                                                                                     
    
Re:         R.S.I.

Reporting for R.S.I., Pete said their May meeting had been held Tuesday, May 19th with the election of Board members, their Volunteer of the Year Award Ceremonies and the annual Volunteer Appreciation Party. Pete said Betty Hughes had been voted to receive the Estelle Berberian Volunteer of the Year Award.  It was noted that Barbara Weidenbruch and Susie Chi were newly elected to the Board while Ron Barber and Mary Jane Walling (current members) were also elected.  Mary Jane will serve as the new Board Chair and George Galasso will serve as Vice-Chair. Pete mentioned that the committees would be chosen in July.  He also said they discussed a new fundraiser, a book sale, and talked about Bingo and the Doll Show coming up on August 8th. In closing, Pete said the Board has decided to place ads in the Rockville Gazette for volunteers for various duties at the Center and during special events.
                
Re:         U.S.M.

Ciriaco said he had attended their last meeting on May 18th with a presentation of the new B.R.A.C. program (base realignment and closure), as it will relate to Ft. Meade, Aberdeen, Ft. Detrick and the Bethesda Naval Center.  The legislature has shown concern how the closing of Walter Reed will affect the Maryland area military facility infrastructures, roadways and congestion and the influx of thousands of new people to the area.  Ciriaco also noted that U.S.M. had published their 2009 Legislative Platform (see attached) noting that concern had been expressed about the loss of the Montgomery County Commission on Aging liaisons to th organization.

Re:         Chair Report

No report

Re:        Old Business
   
Lorraine mentioned that the Commission needed to appoint an R.S.I. liaison.  Following the discussion, Doug nominated Pete with Norene as co-liaison to share the position so that all the meetings would be covered.  All Commissioners voted aye on the nominations.              

Doug, reporting for the Expansion Task Force, said their scheduled meeting for next week has been postponed but they will be looking for a second or alternative design that will be followed by a public viewing.  

Audrey reminded everyone of the upcoming Health Fair, May 27th.  She noted that she and Pete would be ‘manning’ the Commission table that would have lots of information about the Support Services activities and classes, upcoming events and services.  Of special note will be the State’s Attorney’s talk on Ending Senior Exploitation with John McCarthy that will be held June 4th and the Power of Attorney Fraud program with Luiz Simmons on June 22nd .

Pete mentioned an article that he had read entitled “Lack of home repair is the latest crisis” (see attached) that talks about the economic crisis as it relates to home maintenance and how that might relate to Mark Barrick and the Home Maintenance Program recently started by Rockville.  Mark mentioned that he has seen a slow and steady increase in phone calls and inquiries for the program with 36 calls this past month, 8 site visits, 5 follow-ups and 5 inter-office meetings.  Mark also said that plumbing inquiries seem to be the #1 topic and that he is actively looking for personal recommendations of contractors from people that have actually used the companies.  

Re:         New Business

Ciriaco noted that Elizabeth Scott, the newly appointed Commission member, has had to submit her resignation as it was realized that city residency was a requirement of the position and that she is a Gaithersburg resident.     

Re:        Staff Report

Lorraine said she was happy to report that the Commission sponsored Flower Sale fundraiser had earned $435 for the Senior Assistance Fund.  She also mentioned the Victory Housing proposal (see attached) and how it might relate to the Commissions work on senior housing.  She provided a copy of the information for everyone while asking that they take it home and study it so that they might possibly make a recommendation to the Mayor and Council.  Norene and Steve volunteered to form a subcommittee to take an in-depth look at the proposal and report back to the Commission.  It was also decided that it might be wise to arrange for a combined meeting with the Human Services Advisory Commission.  

During these discussions Lorraine passed around a copy of a draft letter for the city’s Homeowners’ Associations as another way of offering introductions and support to Rockville’s senior residents.  Norene said she had received a listing of those neighborhood groups that they might want to contact and after paring down the list by noting one contact person per group or eliminating overlapping or duplicate contacts the final list would be a group of 68.  All the Commissioners were in agreement with the letter and the proposed mailing list.

There being no additional business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:25 a.m.