i confirm that a quorum is present I'd like a motion to open the meeting and a second and we'll do a roll call of voting members We'll start with our stenographer Chris
Chris H present Chuck B present Joseph Gold present David Desperson present Jerry present John Ferrar present Cunningham present And introducing other people present We
have Maria Casey who is uh joining us to see what the Council on Aging is about having expressed an interest in possibly becoming a member and our last single council made it more
I don't think so Not with Cindy Just the opposite of Cindy So it's not uh I would entertain a motion to approve the meeting minutes from 31725
Motion second All those in favor i Chuck abstained cuz Jane from the vote I wasn't here Oh on the minutes Okay I'm sorry Um and then we have the chairperson's
report Uh we've been working steadily on getting things ready for the uh sort of conclusion of the ad hoc committee I've met with Cindy a bunch to go over the matrix and
uh some of the other pieces reviewing which uh properties we will judge and talking to the town planner the town administrator the chairman of the select board uh some of the people who worked
on the previous projects for town Um and we hope to have some of those folks here today uh at the ad hoc committee meeting Um also after talk with Janine uh we found that there was a
trust that had been set up for the count on aging a number of years ago uh that has recently been dissolved and the funds have been set aside for the council So there's $4,888 in a account that we can use Uh
essentially it's an for anything that we need So it's a secondary emergency fund Um is it set up as a revolving fund i have to double check Good idea Cuz it probably goes in the free cash end of
the year I'm pretty sure it is because it's been set aside for the Council on Aging specifically but I don't remember that But I will I will make sure to ask Tracy Thank you Um and beyond that I've stopped into a
couple of things uh but haven't participated in in much uh because life's too busy sometimes for me to get down here Um and now I wanted to go on to the
vehicle policy which everyone should have gotten a copy of Uh again very exciting things for us today Um and legal has gone over this Trace and I have both gone over it a couple of times to try and make sure that it
will stand in goodstead you know we've taken certain terms out put things in tried to make it uh a long-standing policy that will work well for the Council on Aging into the future So wanted to see
what you guys thought if you had any concerns comments edits overwhelming silences I was impressed by the work I think it's okay If no one has any thoughts I had one
thing that I did want to bring up So when you look and I can't remember it's in this body of the policy Mhm But on the standards of independence one of the attachments to the policy which is what folks are signing before they come on
van number 10 says there's no charge for transportation Tipping a driver is not permitted in Massachusetts Okay However um this past Thursday a rider gave both our driver and the volunteer
who's on the van $20 each She said "For what you've done over the past year." Okay So they handed that money to me and he said "I know we're not supposed to accept tips but the ethics training that we've all taken is you cannot accept gifts
over $50." Right So is there a difference between tips and gifts do we accept like if she did this every week I would consider it a tip She's done this once I consider that a gift like she's saying thank you to
them Um the volunteer is something completely different because I have no for me the loss takes $50 a year Anything under that is fine All that has to be reported It was what I No it always was Yeah So
even now with the ethics training it says the $50 maximum But do we indic like I this number 10 is left over from the previous document when I came here Do we change this to say tips/gifts over
$50 do we change this take this out altogether i just I don't want to be in conflict to what the ethics training says But the driver should not be accepting a tip every time someone takes the van you And normally what he does is he hands any money someone gives he'll
hand it in and he'll say I can't accept tips But this particular one he said give it to us Gives tips cups at all I don't know Not necessarily So right I do not believe this board has the
right to override the town not bylaw We have to make a motion Send it to the selection Put it on the floor Have it all voted on Got to be an easier way around It's just you must get donations for the town all the time Consider it
that it goes to the it goes to people that select them and that goes to the town But he is saying this woman said these are specifically for us and he's he was hesitant to accept it Right So how do I put donations in what what's
the bylaw here i has been in for what is it though um it's for all town employees everything over um I paid close attention to it because when I went to the coffee shop over the guy says here take a free cup
of coffee or something No can't do that At the end of the year it adds up over 50 bucks and I can't do it So I mean you got to pay attention to this stuff Yeah Um good question for the town administrator
sound lawyer policy I think that the policy protects the driver policy and so it should be the no tip policy should stay in place and we can add to it that
donations gifts can be given to as donations to the council on aging Yep Um where I was going right I just didn't say it right So we're in here tipping the driver is not permitted Massachusetts law for business tipping of municipal employees However you can
make a donation to the council on aging if you would like Cash or checks made payable to the new council on aging can be given to your driver any staff member I think that is it protects the driver from any ethics violation and so I think we just leave it in place as it is So where am I going
with the money that he handed me on Thursday you leave it as a donation Yes I think it because the person signed this waiver we can assume that while she called it a
tip she intended it as a gift to the council She said it was to them It's it's synonymous given Yes I think what we have to do is reach out to this person and say as far as auto's concerned the
assistant is a different the van volunteer the van volunteer can accept that I think so I'm not either and we have to follow the ethics right I mean we're serving on a board
right so maybe that's got to volunteer so this is town council question maybe this I think the policy is correct the way it's written um and I think we can talk
about the tip question how to apply that because that policy is already standing um afterwards I'd like what I'd like to do is take a vote on the policy oh I just have a question When she says it's a
gift that's it It's it's implied that it's a little bit different than a tip meant specifically for auto which he really under 20 under $50 you know he might have been okay to
take that Mhm As long as it's as you say it's not all the time not weekly It's not but I and I but I think it should say tip slashgift you know so that it's clear that I mean
those two words mean something very different you know you would get Yeah the legal Well if someone is saying it's a tip I think then it clearly challenges the policy But I think what I what I'd like
to do is um so I guess the question right now is should gifts be included in number 10 of the standards of independence and behavior or
is tipping the driver what we want to avoid because as you said you know you tip the driver two bucks this time and you give five bucks next week it's going to end up over 50 which is a violation of ethics So I think the tipping is important If we put gifts in there we're
saying that you couldn't you know buy them a chocolate bar Oh give them a or give them a Christmas gift at the end of the year So I guess I I'm comfortable with how it stands but I understand you wanting to
add in the gifts if I'm stating that clearly Okay All right If we do change all of who is going to review this before it becomes uh standard policy the town
administrator town lawyer town administrator So I've already sent all of this to the town council right then it comes here and then I bring it to the town administrator Okay Why Why don't we kick it upstairs and just say "Hey should we include this?" We'll vote on
the next one Um what were you going to say i was going to say you you mentioned you know gift of a chocolate bar or whatnot If they give you a chocolate basket that's worth over $50 in essence they really can't accept that either Well that's one
of the things where it's if it's more than 50 it has to go to the department and then it has to be shared out um may may have added something to that right here So we can do that
I think the language the language needs to simply become more thoroughly adapted for paragraph 10 simply saying that there is no gifting uh or tipping directly to the driver or to any attendant with the driver uh that it
should and just literally say any any transfer of of grati should be considered a contribution left on the seat and he's sweeping the bus all right well he would turn in he would absolutely turn that in but this person
said this is for you for all you've done over the past and he not language touch discussion is humorously about probing Don't expect anybody who's volunteering to be anything other than
quietly honest So the issue is just take the language of saying that any gratuitity given for regardless of purpose of thank you just simply is a gift to council on aging directly The 50 is note is not made here because there's
no allowed gift to the driver This is this is a I mean I spent 50 years with Park Avenue Securities and any gift over 50 was a violation of the at major businesses you can't accept anything But as a former teacher I could accept up to
$50 but when I taught one day a week at a little Mont went to school and they gave me a Christmas private of $200 I could take it I have a question This may sound kind of weird Auto was in the comics and uh
sometimes he drives people in his own car to the events So you're only talking about in the band but he will drive people to an event That's when he's a participant So like if he goes to a veteran event that's totally different That's not that's him coming as a
participant That doesn't count But when he's driving vehicle Yeah When he's driving the vehicle for the town Yeah is where this lies All right All right So I would entertain a motion to adopt the
policy with the more stringent language added to uh line item 10 to clarify gift giving I also I also think that we should clear local destinations I still think that that's ambiguous That was the
comment that I made by email Yeah So I mean there should be like a mileage thing like within 30 miles or within 25 miles Whose definition of local right cuz I like we go to I don't want to say we're not going to go out of state because
every Thursday we go to Sebrook New Hampshire you know easy for us So I have to be careful but we're not going to go to you know two hours away in Maine or you know another couple hours south to Rhode Island or something like that So
do we want to go radius radius or or time center And um and by the way I just Googled it I haven't looked up everything but it says in Massachusetts COA van drivers who are considered service employees can accept tips under
the state's tips act So I think you need research and I think we accept it as is I mean this is not like it can never be changed We can amend it anytime we need to So So I leave it as is except I go back to town council about number 10
Yeah Does it have a doll or a wall so again I haven't read the whole thing and I don't have my glasses but I'll very difficult to interpret a gift that you don't know with the doll So that was a struggle for me because this was left over from the previous director and the
Massachusetts law against tipping versus that ethics training about gifts was it's kind of counter active So receiving anything If you want to just accept So motion to approve as amended Well we don't know We don't know
what the is yet So we accept it as is I go back to town council about item number 10 and have them or do you want to just wait on accepting it until next i think we everyone seems fairly comfortable with everything
except number 10 and the local the definition of the local So I think what makes sense is to accept this policy so that it can go into effect and we can amend it as needed
Uh and that'll be a much briefer discussion because we only have to look at number 10 and what we consider local you know and you know I'm not particularly fussed about that cuz I think that's a judgment question You know if someone
has a medical appointment not that we usually use the van for medical appointments we do We do Yeah Um you know is Boston local no we don't go to Boston you know And that's the thing like you know if I need to go to Northampton I don't
know you know because it's a VA right not that I would not go to Boston but you know I don't know what's what's local I think like I said we'll adopt So I did local for shopping trips was what I was what I
meant for local shopping trips because we go to Newbury sometimes Rowley and then we go to Sebrook So is a different motion So yes let's re motion to accept the document as written with the understanding that we're going to come
back to some things Motion to accept Is there a second second All those in favor i I Well that was easy All right Dog policy You want to talk about
this one okay So we have folks that come in here they come to visit they bring their dog no problem Um I have one gentleman who has a service animal brings that dog to pretty much every event Yep And service animals by
um law are allowed to come into the facility Um we allow other people to bring their dogs in but my concern is we've had a couple of people come to us about
um dogs when there is food being served Not the service dog People don't even know that that dog is here because he has specific training He knows what to do and he doesn't like sit at the table or anything like that Um but people have expressed concern
about other dogs that have been present when we've had food being served Um we also just wanted to review about making sure the the policy that came back to me from town council was way more stringent
than this like specific breeds and I don't want to do that I don't want to restrict any kind of breeds What I do want is that people when they bring their dog when it's leashed that um I'm not checking licenses I know it says they have to be licensed and have current vaccinations I'm not checking that I'm not like carting dogs when they
come over here Um but if the dog is disruptive and whatnot I just wanted to have something in writing that I can go back to so that everyone understands that we're all on the same page that dogs have to be well behaved And I did put in here I met with Janine and Kathy
to talk about this They feel pretty strongly about not having animals outside of service dogs or service animals at events that have food traveling chef game night holiday lunchons things like that People shouldn't be coming with their pet I
know that people have emotional support animals that's not covered under um the ADA act for service animals because of the enormous liability to have untrained dogs in any situation food in a confined
location Yeah Even without food but I'm I'm happy to have people bring their dogs in you know but um when we're trying to serve food and Yeah there's animals it can about
Europeans is there are a lot of people who are allergic to dogs and whatnot and so it makes it difficult for those who have that to be able to come if they know that animals are going to be present You know be something health rules Yeah But
unfortunately if you're on an airplane and allergic to a dog and someone's got an emotional support dog you just have to change your seats You got No it's the air I know But you still got to go even if you change But it's being filtered as it's being rotated Yeah But I'm telling
you I had a nephew came home unbelievably sick If does you still get it well my other point is though if you're allowing dogs and I'm not checking and something happens Yeah that's important Why you know I mean if
I come in and I don't know Jones dog bites me Yep Yeah you know uh we then held liable because we weren't checking to see if that dog was vaccinated or whatever So red So in other words we're going to hear on the
side of caution which makes sense I'm just so then do you want anyone who does want to bring an animal in here they need to provide documentation i would think yes I mean you know minally Yes The other option is that again the
policy says that any dog who you know you have someone sign a policy like before they get on the bus If you're bringing your dog you must swear to X Y and Z So it's not us having to check it Uh okay So then do I give them this and have something like the attachment
yes Public public come on in Um we just didn't want to disturb everybody else but have seats Um you want me to do an attachment where people are saying
I I my dog is licensed my dog is vaccinated and they sign that Yes Can we do that that's rather than you guys having to check then it's exactly they're signing that they Okay And I think that makes it it protects the
accounts on aging and it you know I don't want to stop allowing dogs coming in here cuz I do think people enjoy it Dogs are huge you know Well but Yeah Yeah Like they visit hospitals and nursing homes and Yeah But and mostly
the people that come in here I have one gentleman who comes in here on a Monday afternoon He brings the paper comes in and kind of checks in with us He brings the dog on a leash and there's usually nobody here when he comes in at that time of day end of the day you know So
it's not it's not like there's all these dogs here you know But um I just you know what brought this to our attention was we had a couple of complaints from one event It was actually two times that people felt uncomfortable having a dog while
they being a bigish that's Yeah But otherwise we have a big policy of unto my conflicts Huge And every time I see someone walking the dog and sometimes the dog is in the wrong place and you know they defecate and people sometimes
don't pick it up it's a big problem It's a real serious I'm not a dog person No but I'm telling you still there But that's not an issue I don't have that issue And I don't have a behavioral issue None of the dogs have ever caused a problem No Or barked or caused any
kind of issue But I feel like before it gets to that point we should have something put in that at the discretion of the director I believe that's Sorry I skipped over I didn't throw Okay Yeah Yeah So so I will do an attachment
So do you want to hold off on this yes So I would entertain as a motion to table this to our next meeting So second huge issue even Oh trouble I'm glad we're not
in Europe issue The troop is bringing them right into the restaurant People love God Other people don't love All right So the next item on the agenda is the discussion of the elder emergency fund So we have an elder emergency fund
policy here that was passed by the previous board Um I have a small fund that is donation based for um it's supposed to be a one-time use issue It's not supposed to be something
that is um needed ongoing So I can't pay your electric bill every month kind of a thing right um the director is allowed to approve up to $300 use If anything over that up to $500 has to go through
you folks So I just I've been meaning to go over this with you things that I have approved recently So I had someone who needed a shower transfer bench So I went and purchased that at the um pharmacy They we had someone who is in the
housing units who they are unable to reach the housing units aren't built for people who have certain issues right so having cabinets that are way up high that you can't
reach to put your canned goods and whatnot So I bought a shelving unit for this particular person to because their canned goods and whatnot were all over their countertops uh police had gone in for a well check for something made a comment to me that this was a concern So
I bought them a little shelving unit I see like $40 but it was something that I could help this particular person resolve this issue that they can't reach their cabinets And then I had someone we went Janine and I had gone on a home visit This particular person was in a
hoarding situation He had expired food in his refrigerator We were working to get um get him the services that he needed As a way to tide him over we went and purchased like $40 worth of prepared foods for him to have something to eat for the next couple of days As it turned
out he ended up in the hospital when he was placed but I needed to have a he had no food So I decided to use the funds we had to give him something So I think that answers the whole reason
that this council existed Are there any questions about the elder emergency fund or any further comments um because we have guests coming to the next part of the meeting I want to speed along
So um we had had some questions about communication and the style and frequency of our outreach I'd like to table that to our next meeting So if I could entertain a motion to table that
discussion next time Motion to table Is there a second thank you All those in favor and then can you do your director's report uh I'll be quick So this Wednesday we have our volunteer lunchon We have about 30 volunteers coming If
you haven't um already RSVP if you can see Kathy we have a hearing clinic this afternoon Uh we're doing a financial fraud scam program at the police department next Tuesday at 10:30 a.m The representative from the FBI will be
there to talk about scams Um that continues to be a problem Animal world experience Yeah Animal World Experience is a live animal show that we have They're coming during school vacation week next week People are invited to bring their grandchildren Uh Mother's Day tea is coming up on May 7th We have
a cooking demonstration with Bill on May 8th Our last cooking demonstration went really well so we're doing it again Uh he's doing something new though Um regular things like game nights are coming up traveling chefs We have a veterans breakfast on the 21st of May
That will be here at 10:30 Um and then we are off on Monday the 21st and Monday May 26th for Memorial Day Um the 21st is patron Monday Um and our shine counselor is available year round People call us we connect them with the shine counselor
That's been going really well and we're always in need of volunteers Thank you Is there any new business that anyone would like to have on the agenda for next time all right Uh I'm unavailable the first
two Mondays in May So I propose our next COA be May 19th Is there any reason that will not work for everyone is that Monday I don't I may not feel to make it I'll be in Georgia You'll be in Georgia
It might be hard to commute probably Um okay works for you Yeah Awesome All right So I'd entertain a motion to have the meeting May 19th I'm sorry No that's
okay May what 19 19th at 9:00 So moved Is there a second all those in favor and I would entertain a motion to adjourn So move Second
Second All those in favor hi Hi Hi All right