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Senior Citizens Commission
Rockville Senior Center
1150 Carnation Drive
September 17, 2009
Meeting Minutes
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| Re: Opening and Welcome Acting Chair Doug Bly called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m. He welcomed Herman Nissenbaum, Rockville resident and Commission guest. Re: Club Reports Pete Sante, reporting for the Triple F Club advised that there had been a meeting on Monday, September 14 with fourteen members in attendance. Pete mentioned that the Treasurer reported the treasury to be $3,240 and that the balance of the meeting consisted of discussions of upcoming trips. Stu Crump, reporting for the Willing 3 C’s, said the club would be meeting September 19th for their first meeting of this club year. Audrey Beck, reporting for the Young In Heart Club said they were meeting concurrently with the Commission meeting. Audrey added that this year they would be celebrating their 60th anniversary and today would be working on the planning for October and November. Doug Bly, reporting for Bethany House, said there had been a meeting on Monday, September 14th with 31 members in attendance and 10 new members. Doug said Jennie Forehand was the speaker and that she talked about the city’s new Chinese Sister City. He went on to say that there had been a lengthy discussion on the Comcast and Verizon services and the problems that residents of Bethany House had been experiencing. Re: R.S.I. Norene Stovall, reporting for R.S.I., said she had been unable to attend their meeting that was held on September 15th but that she understood they had been working on their fundraiser, the Book Sale, scheduled for September 26th. Re: Task Force Doug Bly, reporting on the Building Expansion Task Force said there had been a few changes that had been made by the architect and that it appeared the project would now have a slightly lower cost. He went on to say that the group is working hard now to be able to take advantage of this ‘window of lower cost’ that has appeared due to the recession. In closing Doug said they would meet again September 25th. Doug mentioned that the Commission has not yet secured a moderator for the Candidates Forum and that the gentleman who presided over the event in 2007 was not really interested in doing it again. Re: U.S.M. Report Ciriaco reported that the next U.S.M. would be held Monday, September 21st and that he was planning to attend as he invited any of the other Commissioners that were available to go with him. He went on to say that he would be returning to Rockville to attend the Monday night Mayor & Council meeting to report on the Commission’s FY ’09 & ’10 Goals and Accomplishments. Re: Chair Report Ciriaco said he there had been no meeting over the summer for the County Commission on Aging. Re: Old Business The Commissioners held a brief discussion on their thoughts and ideas for the F.O.R.S. ‘logo’ as they talked about the possibility of issuing ‘F.O.R.S. Partner’ emblems / stickers to those businesses that were senior friendly. They further discussed the logo design as they decided to gather their main ideas for submission to the Graphics Dept. for the emblem creation. A motion was passed that the Commissioners agree to submit the recommendation of the Black-Eyed-Susan and Lorraine said she would check with Graphics to get an idea of the cost of the stickers so the Commissioners could also be working on a budget for the project. It was also suggested that a Commissioner check with the CVS Corporate Office (as an example) to see if there would be any restrictions on the size / shape etc. of such a sticker for placement in a prominent window or front door of one of their businesses. Norene said she had attended the Planning Commission meeting regarding the Victory Housing Project on Saturday, September 12th. Norene said there had been a lengthy discussion led by the President of the Courthouse Walk HOA as several negative aspects of the project were brought to everyone’s attention such as the loss of trees, the drainage situation, trash collection, crime and added traffic congestion in the area. After their discussion, the Commission voted unanimously to let the Mayor & Council know that the Senior Commission was completely in favor of this affordable housing project. The Commissioners moved on to the upcoming Candidate’s Forum and the types of questions that the moderator would ask those candidates that chose to attend. It was decided that everyone would send their comments to Kathy Neale by September 23rd so she could compile a list of issues that seemed to be of the most importance to everyone. Re: New Business Marshall Levy asked if there was a ‘Commission Library’ that housed all the important papers that came in to the possession of the Commission over the years, information and articles that were of particular interest to the work the Commissioners became involved in. During the discussion it was noted that there was no such ‘library’ and that for public access, if one were to be created it would most likely have to be housed in the Senior Center Library. Due to time constraints, the subject was tabled for this meeting. Re: Staff Report Lorraine said she was passing out a list of ‘59 Ways to Make a City More Friendly to Seniors’, a copy of an article that was published in the New York Times, as a matter of interest to everyone. She also passed out copies of flyers for the two Expo’s: the first to be held on October 25th at the White Flint Mall and the second to be held at Temple Beth Ami on Travillah Rd. in Rockville on November 1st. She encouraged all the Commissioners to attend. Lorraine also mentioned the upcoming Knights of Columbus Dinner Dance that’s scheduled for Saturday, October 3rd,noting that the tickets are free on a first come first served basis to anyone who was interested in attending this fun evening of music and good food. Lorraine said all the department heads and supervisors have been working on the budget. She noted that $2.4 million had been cut form the state budget for the city so everyone has been charged with cutting 2.5% from their operating budget. She noted that this was for the FY ’10 budget and that FY ’11 would probably require further cuts.. Lorraine said Channel 11 has been running a 3-minute video for the Home Maintenance Project that Mark Barrick had arranged for a widow living in Twinbrook. She noted that the piece could also be viewed on the Rockville website. In closing Lorraine said the Annual Hispanic Heritage Festival would be held next week, September 24th starting at 11:00 a.m. with lots of music and good food. Tickets for this event are $10 and the event is almost sold out if any of the Commissioners would like to attend. There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 12:15 p.m. |