Advisory Council Meeting

May 10, 2012

Minutes

Held at 2573 Midpoint Drive, Ste. 108

Fort Collins, Colorado  80525

CALL TO ORDER

Bob Tholl called the meeting to order at 1:32 p.m.

CONSIDERATION OF TODAY’S AGENDA AND MINUTES OF APRIL 12, 2012

Minutes stand as presented.

OFFICE ON AGING PARTNER PRESENTATION:  Mark Iorio, Vice President of Market Expansion for Kaiser Permanente

A panel presentation of the services offered by Kaiser Permanente was presented to the Advisory Council members.

CHAIR REPORT

Bob Tholl stated that John Kefalas and Brian DelGrosso will report on the legislation session.  Bob announced that the Council will be losing four board members at the end of June.  They are Peggy Bowers, Marcy Greenslit, Carolyn Funk and Bill Prather.  Bob thanked them for their services.  Bob reported that on Monday, he and Ruth will go before the Board of County Commissioners to present the bylaws. 

Bob asked for nominations for Council officers because the Council is now at the end of its fiscal year and needs to nominate a new chair and vice-chair.  Jay Adams nominated Judy Jones as vice-chair.  Carolyn Funk seconded the nomination.  All were in favor.  Helen Davis nominated Bob Tholl as chair.  Earl Stevens seconded the nomination.  All were in favor.  The election will be held at the next meeting.

UPDATE ON OFFICE ON AGING

Ruth Long distributed copies of the 2012-2013 funding which will start on July 1.  Discussion followed.  Ruth stated that the Office on Aging’s goal is to spend 50% of the allocation to community partners and about 50% to the internal structure and services.  Ruth described the amount of funding to service providers.  A few changes were highlighted.  One change is the amount funding to Elderhaus for the Benefits Helper program.  Ruth explained that since application assistance is really part of the ARCH program, she has decided to bring that activity in-house as part of the ARCH program.  The Office on Aging will hire a ½ time person to do application assistance. 

Ruth requested a motion to accept the budget.  Earl Stevens moved to accept the budget as presented.  Ellen Pihlstrom seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously. 

Staff Reports:

Katy Mason distributed a summary of the Senior Tax program.  She received 148 applications this year and was able to place 106 people in jobs.  Approximately 4,200 hours of work was provided to the county.  Last year there were 155 applicants and 113 people were placed in jobs.  The budget is $30,000.  Katy also reported that the Homestead Exemption will be back next year.  She has seen a large increase in younger seniors applying mostly because they are unemployed. 

Mercedes Windsheimer announced that she and Linda are working with the Aspen Club on a Medicare Savings Program event to help people complete the application for that program. 

BIOGRAPHY

David Born’s biography was postponed.

BRIDGING THE GAP NETWORKING EVENT

Judy Jones reported that the Bridging the Gap Networking event will be on September 19 at the Embassy Suites.  The committee received a great rate but lost the City of Loveland’s tax exempt number because the venue isn’t in the city limits.  The committee is looking into becoming a 501(3)c non-profit entity in order to receive the tax exempt status.  In the meantime the County will allow the committee to use its tax exempt number.  Registrations for this year’s event will be completed electronically. 

SENIOR ADVISORY REPORTS

Fort Collins Senior Advisory Board Report (SAB)

Cherrie Thornton updated the Council on the new tiered electric rates for the medical assistance program.  It will be introduced as a pilot program for next year and re-evaluation at year's end.  People will need to apply each year.  Cherrie stated that the third Silver Tsunami Community Conversations was held on April 17 and 26.  Over 100 people attended each day. A lot of data has been gathered in these events and it will take time to summarize it all. A reporting-out event is tentatively scheduled for June 20.

Loveland Senior Advisory Board (SAB)

Earl Stevens reported that the SAB is reviewing their goals and has established four committees to work on those goals.  The pancake breakfast was a big success.

Foundation on Aging (FOA)

Mary Shultz reported that the FOA will participate with the Office on Aging and the Fort Collins Senior Advisory Board to wrap up the community conversations’ information.  As part of an advertising campaign, the FOA is currently working on making videos of clients who have received emergency grants from the FOA. 

Human Relations Commission (HRC)

Myles Crane thanked everyone who submitted nominations and/or attended the HRC Awards breakfast on May 1. Sue Elliot, a volunteer at the Larimer County Detention Center, was the recipient of the Senior award. Myles announced that the Elder Abuse Prevention Forum plans are progressing well.  Participation from two speakers, five community resources and the Center for Public Deliberation have been confirmed.

Larimer County Commissioner

No report given.

COMMITTEE & STAFF REPORTS

Community Outreach & Education Committee

Carolyn Funk reported that the Committee discussed Committee goals and the film festival.  Bob talked about the film festival and distributed a flyer that explains why the film festival had been proposed.  Sponsorship forms were also distributed and everyone needs to seek sponsorships. 

Grantee & Partnership Development Committee

David Born reported that Nancy Wallace, our current attorney provider, has decided to continue working until 2014.  New funding allocations and the budget were discussed.

Public Policy & Advocacy Committee 

Helen Davis reported that the bill that would allow the move of the State Unit on Aging (SUA) to the Health Care Policy & Finance (HCPF) was not introduced.  Helen stated that there hasn’t been any movement of the Reauthorization of the Older Americans Act.  It is currently in the Senate for mark-up.  Helen announced that she will be attending a meeting at the state level to develop a coalition to work on behavioral health for older adults.   The Administration on Aging is creating a new agency in Health and Human Services for independent living.  The head of this agency, Administration for Community Living, is Kathy Greenlee, who is also the Under Secretary for the Administration on Aging. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

David Born announced that on June 9, the Estes Park Senior Center will have its annual pancake breakfast fundraiser.

ADJOURNMENT                                                     

Bob adjourned the meeting at 3:22 p.m.