COA Board Minutes March 2021 Beverly Council on Aging
Board of Directors Meeting
Date: March 2, 2021
Place: Meeting held via Google Meet
Members Present: Claire-Marie Hart, Bob Hobbs, Susan Feeney, Stephanie Tallo, and Jessica
Wistran
Staff Present: MaryAnn Holak, Samatha Kossow
Meeting called to order: 2:35 pm
Pursuant to Governor Baker's March 12, 2020 order suspending certain provisions of the Open
Meeting Law, GLC 30A S 18 and the Governor's March 15, 2020 order imposing strict
limitations on the number of people that may gather in one place, this meeting of the BCOA
Board of Directors will be conducted via remote participation to the greatest extent possible.
Secretary's Report: The Board reviewed the minutes of the January 12, 2021 meeting. Bob
Hobbs made a motion to accept the minutes as written, Susan Feeney seconded the motion,
approved unanimously.
Director's Report:
Building Concerns &Usage
• New Wi-Fi in the building is not yet online, we have been told to expect a mid-March
installation.
• The new web-based phone system is online but still having issues. There has been no
training yet from the city and there is still no wiring upstairs so there are no phones
available on the second floor.
• The mural in the upstairs dining room has been painted over.
• There have been some issues with the snowblower during this winter. It may need to be
replaced in upcoming years.
• The second floor of the Senior Center is set up to be a COVID vaccination site. Our first
regional clinic was on February 16th with BCOA staff working at the clinic. The second
dose clinic will be on March 9th. If more vaccines become available, we expect to be set
up to be a vaccination site until at least June.
Administration and Finances
e We have set up a hotline with information about the COVID vaccine and making
appointments. People who call get a recorded voicemail with information and will get a
phone call back within 24 hours. The system in place currently is almost completely
online so many of the individuals who are eligible are not able to make their own
appointments without assistance.
• The regular annual state formula grant was signed by the mayor. There is a new policy
that allows us to keep our grant monies not expended by the end of the year into the next
year.
• FY22 budget plans will be due later this month for the city budget.
• MCOA had service incentive grants available and we applied for two grants. We will get
notification this Friday if the grants are funded.
o Cooks Night Off- ($5950)partner with 7 different restaurants every other week
between March and June (for the length of the grant),prepared meals from local
restaurants to take home with a bag of fresh local produce
o A Walk in the Woods - ($1878)taking advantage of Beverly's walking trails, a
group of up to 12 people with a special guest to take walks together -working
with the planning department and open space committee to identify
safest/accessible walking trails. We will provide t-shirts/masks/etc.
• City Budget- appropriate usage for this point in the year.
• Formula Grant- many line items are not spent down this year due to lack of
programming, we anticipate a $40,000 surplus at the end of the year -we are also
considering replacing the brick sidewalk in front of the building. The Formula Grant
cannot be used for programming, but it can be used for building repairs.
• Enterprise -there is about$5000 in revenue from donations and bus tickets, there are not
a lot of expenses either as this fund is largely used for programming.
Programs and Events
• March 2021 newsletter is more of a resource guide. We ordered 10,000 and asked for
help from Minuteman press to fold this large quantity. Volunteers are doing the labeling.
• We increased the Bootstraps grocery delivery/pick-up service to 50 bags bi-weekly. The
bus drivers are delivering to those who are not able to pick up a bag.
• We are continuing to have regular monthly zoom class meetings
• The daily stretch call, walking club,puzzle and book swap, and craft grab and go
programs are ongoing
Meetings/Activities/Clients/Clients of Concern
• Bi-weekly phone meetings with area COA Directors
• Bi-weekly phone meetings with Seniorcare, Inc.
• Case review with AD, Social Worker, Outreach Coordinator, MSW Intern, and Director
• Uptick in Protective Reports filed.
Personnel Updates
• Kudos to all staff- especially Sam and Clare for their success in signing people up for
vaccination appointments and reassuring others that their turn would come. Also Chip
and Brendan for keeping the building clean, especially the day of the clinic here at the
Center.
• City offered all city employees and families access to free COVID testing Feb. 25 and 26
Bob Hobbs made a motion to accept the directors report, Claire-Marie Hart seconded the motion,
approved unanimously.
Committee Reports:
Grants Committee: The Grants Committee reviewed one application for a grant and it
was approved unanimously.
Awards Committee: No meeting. MaryAnn reminded committee member of the need to
meet in April because the "Senior of the Year" nomination forms are typically in the May
newsletter.
Unfinished Business:
COVID Updates and Responses: Reviewed in the Director's Report, no additional
questions.
Property Tax Work Off Program: Applications were open starting on January 15th. We
received a total of 22 applications from 20 households to participate in the program this
year. We completed over the phone interviews with the applicants, CORI checks, and
asked for their job placement preferences. Placements will be finalized this spring.
Title VI Documents: The next step that we are going to take is a board self-identification
survey. We will be sending Board Members a one page optional anonymous survey.
New Business:
The Board reviewed and discussed three proposed changes to Senior Center written policy. The
Building Emergency Procedure Protocol was updated to reflect the new phone system's calling
procedures, the Transportation Emergency Procedure Protocol was newly created, and the
Shopping Trips Policy was updated to be included with the Transportation Policy and Procedures
packet. The policy changes were approved unanimously.
Announcements: No announcements.
Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 3:40PM.
Next Meeting: Tuesday,April 6, 2021 at 2:30 PM
Respectfully submitted by Samatha Kossow, Assistant Director