President John Remias called the regular meeting of the Residents’ Council [the Council] to order at 3:00 pm on Tuesday April 2, 2024. 86 people were in attendance including association members; Residents’ Council members minus four; Patti Santoni, Philanthropy Director; Gladstone James, Finance Director; Don Grove, Executive Director; and Resident Board of Directors members Pat Kasuda and Stephen Schimpff.

Previously distributed minutes of the March 5 meeting of the Residents’ Council meeting were approved as presented.

Moment of Silence

The Council observed a moment of silence for those who have passed away.

Mission Moment

In late 2020, Joe Auffarth spotted Toeti Poedjastoeti at her door when she moved in. Post-Covid 19, when residents were gradually returning to restaurants, Joe welcomed Toeti and invited her to join him and another neighbor for supper. “I felt like I belonged”, Toeti recalls. “I was so grateful that Joe included me. Right away, I was welcomed into the neighborhood.” Joe continued to reserve tables, inviting others from the hall.

Toeti and another newer resident, Leslie Krause, describe the welcoming cards from Joe. She remembers one that said “you left your old house, and now you have moved to a new home. Welcome Toeti.” Leslie later realized that Joe’s kindness was secondary to his vision and respect for each of us. He brought many residents to the table literally, resulting in diverse and lively conversations.

After dealing with various health issues, Joe died peacefully in February. May his spirit live in others.

Do you have a “Joe” on your hall? Could you be the Joe who brings neighbors together in a similar respectful, and caring way?

Joe, we remember you!! Thank you Toeti and Leslie for sharing this story.

Executive Team Reports
John Remias, President
Each year the Administration goes through a very rigorous budgeting process. The process begins in earnest in July. In this process are included hundreds of maintenance items, equipment upgrades, roof repairs, landscaping work, many capital expenditure projects, and tons of line items.

This year the Residents’ Council will be asked to canvas their committees to come up with ideas to be included in the budget. Beginning this month, I will be asking each committee to spend some time at each of their meetings to brainstorm possible projects. They will further be asked to prioritize the projects and then submit their committee’s recommendations to our Finance Committee for its final review and decision making on what projects to forward to the Administration.

So, I have an ASK of you, each one of us, to attend one of our committee meetings to share your ideas on how to improve our community. And if you are unable to attend one of our twelve committee meetings, just share your idea with one of our blue-tag residents, also known as the Residents’ Council.

And now my second ASK of you. If you can, please contribute to our Annual Scholarship campaign. The scholarship committee has recently finished their approximate fifteen-minute individual interviews with 19 candidates. Lots of work, but apparently very gratifying. One of the committee members told me that he wants to adopt every one of them, that’s how impressive they are. Now they must go through the rigorous process of determining what candidate gets what named scholarship.  This is our chance to help send some of our very own best and brightest to a school of their choice.

Diana Dunaway, Treasurer

Balance – February 29, 2024                          $7,633.30
Expenses                                                         $   296.79
Balance – March 31, 2024                              $7,336.51

March 2024 Expenses Details
TV for Residents Council use – Reserves        $    296.79

Committee Reports

Benevolent Care, Carol Kefford
At the March 27 meeting Patti Santoni updated us on funds contributed this year.  We have received about $160,000 representing direct contributions, primarily from residents, treasure sale donations and legacy donors — the 3 major categories of support for benevolent care.

Our emphasis this year is to raise understanding of the benefits of Legacy Giving.  The Benevolent Care Fund Committee has been holding “Get the Scoop”, peer to peer discussions on ways to leave a Legacy. The next session is Monday May 13, please join us for ice cream sundaes and information.

On April 9 there will be a presentation on Estate Planning and Probate Law, by the Baltimore County Registrar of Wills at 11 AM in the Conference Center.

The next Treasure Sale is May 2-4.  If you are interested in working with us, please contact me or come to our next meeting on April 24 in room 116 in CTS.

Communications, David Elder and Larry Taylor, Co-chairs

• Don Grove emailed, sent out a letter, and talked on 972 about ComcastThe Charlestown Comcast bulk service contract provides basic HD television in the apartments. Address your concerns to General Services. See more information about apartment television and television connections. READ MORE moving MASN 844 & 845 (Nationals & Orioles) channels from the Basic Limited Plan to their Ultimate Plan. If you have or are planning to upgrade your plan, when calling Xfinity/Comcast 1-855-638-2855. Make sure that you mention that you are a Bulk Service customer. Per Xfinity/Comcast you will need an X1 cable box (Receiver) to get these extra channels. They should tell you this when you call to upgrade.

Currently Larry Taylor is working on a list of the 185+ channels that are available in this Ultimate package, which provides more HD and Sports Channels. Note this plan does include all the Limited Basic channels you already have. He will add the completed list to CCICharlestown.org and MyErickson.

FYI – Gregory Johnson did manage to get MASN installed in the Chesapeake Card Room over the past weekend.

• Photo/Email project update

The printed Photo Directory project will not go forward, as only 10% of residents expressed interest in participating. However, we are still encouraging residents to add their pictures to their Profile in MyErickson.  We only have about 11% of residents included.  Note – Veronica Coleman is doing a wonderful job in St. Charles. She now has 18% of St. Charles residents included in MyErickson. If you need help getting your photo added there will be help available at the upcoming Tech Bar.  Also, David and Betty Elder will be hosting tables at restaurants later this spring to help residents with their photos.

• Construction Communications

Historic District – Rose Suter announced she will be communicating regularly with us concerning this construction. We will post this information about the progress on our own CCICharlestown.org website as Rose shares this with us.  Also, John Remias has established the Historic District Design Review Team  that includes buildings: Maple Terrace, New Carroll, Fountain Hill, Edgewood, and Courtyard Crossing.

• Tech Bar for April – The Tech Bar date is now on April 9 from 10 to 12 in the Chesapeake Restaurant. REMINDER! This is a FREE event. Also note that onsite service calls can be booked at this event, and they are also FREE!

• Charlestown Campus Indoor Map Update- Art Timmons has redesigned a new Indoor Campus Map. His new map can be downloaded and printed. It’s located on our website at: ccicharlestown.org/campus-info/campus-map/Indoor Maps.

• MyErickson – Don Grove has started using email message alerts for admin messages. When you go to MyErickson you will see and hear this alert which will appear first.  This is a way to get new messages to residents faster.  One additional note – We cannot express the importance for Residents to visit our own Council Website at ccicharlestown.org. This website allows you to see what is going on in Charlestown through the eyes of our fellow residents.

Next Meeting: Monday, April 22, at 2:00 PM via ZOOM.

Conservation, Mark Buehlman
We began our March meeting discussing the recently released Sustainable Grounds Working Team report. Many of the recommendations, such as the increased use of native grasses and native plantings for erosion and runoff control, will be followed by the Grounds Committee. Others, like education and coordinating Resident Volunteer planting events, will be led by our committee.

We will host a table at the upcoming Nature Fest. Our committee will have displays on the Nature Trail recommendations along with an educational display on erosion and runoff control at Charlestown.  As a “save the date,” Nature Fest this year will be from 10am until 2pm on Thursday, April 25.

In cooperation with the Legislative & Political Committee, we continue to track Maryland proposed environmental legislation, placing special emphasis on the most significant four or five. For several reasons, including budget constraints and intense lobbying from opposition groups, it does not appear like much significant environmental legislation will pass this session.

As you may be aware from General Services Town Halls, sediment will be dredged from the lake this summer or fall by a process called hydro-raking. We will be working closely with General Services to properly characterize the sediment and provide advice on disposal alternatives.

Next meeting: Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at 2:00 pm in Brookside Classroom 1.

Dining , Peggy Carey and Stephanie Leddy, Co-Chairs
I’m Stephanie Letty. Co-chair Peggy Carey resigned, and Kathy Stevens is the new co-chair. Reports from our subcommittees:

• Dietary Focus – Guest speaker Charlene Friedman, a certified diabetic educator talked on different facets of diabetes management and the medications. She is resident here and suggested some such as adding a calorie on the carry out menus, a reduction in starchy vegetables, and an increase in good vegetables. She also would like to see certain posters outside of the individual restaurants.
  1. Are you a diabetic?
  2. A picture of what a healthy dinner plate should look like. One half fruits and vegetables, one quarter protein, one quarter whole grades
  3. Or mantra, Eat less, move more live a healthier life.

Dining ambassadors – We will work with the Resident Life Committee to re-examine helping new residents to become comfortable with the dining scene and meeting new people. I asked for volunteers to join the brainstorming committee being formed through both Resident Life and Dining members. Eight people responded.

Subcommittee reports

• The Atrium did not meet.
• The Chesapeake and Shortline had very positive responses and food is coming out hot.
• Fireside talks about making people more comfortable.
• Terrace said a great deal has improved.
• One comment from My Nutrition is the lack of consistency by the chef’s and placing menu items from the restaurants on the special menu to add My Nutrition.
• Atrium did Valentine’s Day correctly.

Ken’s report- Dining Services completed their move to 4-302. He talked briefly about the sound panels that are going to be installed at the Fireside. The public TV’s in the restaurant areas will have MASN on for the baseball games.

• One change in our meeting time for April –We will be meeting on April 22^ndin CS 116 but at 1pm not 1:30

Our meeting for this upcoming April has been changed. We will meet on Monday, April 22, instead of the 15 in CTS116.

Finance, Pat Rudolph for John Yoder

• Although Net Operating Income for February was below budget, Charlestown finances remain strong.
• Billed occupancies:
  • Independent Living: Jan. = 95.5%
  • Continuing Care: = 93.3%
• Year-to-date there were 26 settlements and 37 releases. Releases are normally high during the first quarter of the year.
• Fifteen residents received Benevolent Care funds in February.
• The Finance Committee will be gathering suggestions for capital expenditures for 2025.

The next meeting: April 30 at 9:00 in Brookside #1

Grounds, Dick Voelkel

• Resident planting day in April – date TBD.
• Caton Ridge face lift will result in thinning of plants.
• Grounds mulching has started.
• Nature Trail upgrade delayed by County permitting process.
• Lake hydro-raking, when started, will take 45 days.
• Demolition and replacement of buffer fencing along Erickson Way beginning.
• Catonsville Rails to Trails extension debated.

Next meeting: April 23, at 11am in Brookside classroom 1.

Health Services, Jean Tribulski and Connie Cooney, Co-Chairs
Dean Crawford, Practice Administrator Charlestown Medical Center provided updates at the last committee meeting. He:

• Emphasizes improved quality care on all levels from the receptionist to the Doctors.
• Encourages new and current residents to sign up for the Care Path Program that allows residents to use the medical center even if they have outside doctors.
• 98% of all calls to the medical center after hours and on weekends are answered within 5 minutes.
• Going forward patients will be asked to bring their actual medications, both prescriptions and over the counter meds with them for doctor review.
• The new Covid shot will be available at a Covid clinic April 18 at the Fireside Gallery.
• A CAPHS (Consumer Assessment of Healthcare providers and Systems) survey is underway here at Charlestown. All who receive the survey are encouraged to complete it.
• The next Medication take-back will be April 22.
• Holleran survey results good scores still showing improvement.
  1. Confidence in Primary care…. up 3%
  2. Accessibility of Medical Staff…up 2.3%
  3. Responsiveness Med Center….up 6.4%

Continuing Care and Independent living liaison Louise Dempsey reported that absentee ballots will be provided to those residents who wish to vote in the primary elections in May.

Home Health Advisory: Carol Jones said that the readmission rate to the hospital is 9% for Charlestown compared to a national average 15%. Due in large part to the services of Home Health Care.

New Business: Merci Isquierdo-Whitaker spoke on the Low Vision Brigade Program which connects resident readers to visually impaired residents. She is always looking for volunteers.

Next meeting is April 9 at 11:00 am in Classroom BR 1. Stevanne Ellis, head of Maryland Ombudsman program, will speak on the program.

Housekeeping, Sebastian Petix

Many improvements were noted in various areas but with little consistency as to locations. Problems continue with contractor related issues. Management continues to do training.

Action items:

• Invite management responsible for contractor coordination and accountability to attend meeting.
• Promote tours to all residence via schedule on bulletin boards
• Ask current committee members to begin asking neighbors to consider joining committee.
• Promote tours to all residents via schedule on bulletin boards. Michelle Fenn, housekeeping manager has scheduled monthly tours of each building and invited committee members to attend.
• Recruiting new committee members is a priority.

Next meeting is April 15 at 10:00 in Brookside 1.

Legislative/Political, Paulette Hammond and Art Johnson, Co-Chairs
Co-chair Paulette Hammond announced that several MaCCRA members from Charlestown attended the Statewide MaCCRA meeting in Annapolis on March 19.

The CCRC bill (HB68) with slightly weakened amendments, was passed unanimously in the House of Delegates, and referred to the Senate Finance Committee as SB76. It had just been voted favorable on the third reading in the Finance Committee. (It was then referred to the Rules and Executive Nominations Committee.) She mentioned that she had spoken to our state senator (Charles Sydnor) and he can be counted on to vote for it when it comes to the floor of the Senate.

There was a continued discussion at the February meeting regarding bringing candidates to Charlestown for a meeting. The committee confirmed their desire to interview only the general election candidates (not primary candidates).  The committee favored doing this via ZOOM with interviews taped and replayed on 972.

The League of Women Voters Primary Election Guide is available at the lobby desks. There will be another one for the General Election in the Fall.

Next meeting:  Wednesday April 10 at 10:00 in Brookside Classroom #1

Maintenance and Engineering, Jerry Donaldson
Under Old Business, there are still six (6) open Action Items. They are briefly summarized as follows:

• Caton Ridge Renovations:
  • Stabilization is scheduled to complete by March 31, 2024.
  • All backfill is scheduled to be completed by mid-April.
  • New patios and exterior landscaping are scheduled for completion by mid-May.
  • PT office is scheduled for completion by the end of August.
  • Combo apartments and resident storage area are scheduled for completion by the end of August.
• The replacement of the Elevator in Chapel Court has been started and requires a completion date.
• The replacement of the wooden guardrails has started and requires a completion date.
• The repair of the St. Charles to Herbert’s Run bridge support washout and the walking bridge on the Nature Trail are waiting for Baltimore County permits.

Under the Category of New Business, Mr. Jason Spivey, Director of General Services, briefed the Maintenance and Engineering Committee on the status of the evaluation of the A. J. Adams report. The Adams Report addressed all the suggestions and recommendations and by the resident members of our M&E Committee and that M&E Committee resident representatives will be a part of the evaluation of the Adams Report. To that end, the next meeting for evaluating the Adams Report has been set for April 8 and will include representatives from the Residents Council and focus on the development of the recommendations to be adopted by the Administration.

The Signage Sub-Committee of the Maintenance and Engineering Committee has been formed and is meeting regularly. They developed the signage needed near the Terrace Cafe and at the corner in Arborside where a sign directing people to the Medical Center was removed some time ago. They met with Gable Signs to give them the developed signage requirements and expect a proposal soon. They plan on reviewing the Gable proposal and then presenting it to the rest of the M&E Committee.

Regarding the railing along the sidewalk in front of the Courtyard Crossing entrance, General Services reported that approval for the railing has been received, along with the funds to support it. They are in the process of scheduling the project.

General Services addressed the issue of elevator inspection sheets that have not been completed in several elevators around campus. General Services reported that approximately 85% of the elevators on campus have been recently inspected and passed. These elevators should all have updated inspection sheets. The remaining elevators are in the process of being inspected and will have updated inspection sheets soon.

During the discussion of new items, General Services agreed to review the laundry room in Chapel Court for defective dryer units. They also agreed to address the reported defective exit door in the Chapel.

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 23 at 2:00 pm in the General Services Conference Room.

Resident Life, Nancy Fayer and Margaret Vincent, Co-Chairs
Nancy Fayer, Co-Chair of the Resident Life Committee, reported on two areas of the committee.

The current, established Subcommittees include the Tapestry and  DIB program which held its eighth listening session on March 25, at Charlestown square .  Their next listening session will be in June in the Chesapeake restaurant area.

Secondly, Dine Together BYO supper group for new & almost new residents, met at 5:15 –6:30 PM on Monday, April 1, in the Cross Creek Arts and Craft room. Twelve new residents participated.

The Friendly Visitors program, one of the RLC Welcoming programs, has 20 Friendly Visitors volunteers throughout Charlestown to welcome and assist the 12-15 new residents who move in each month.

The Ageism/Ableism/ Accessibility Subcommittee addresses negative attitudes and assumptions about older people and is working with a variety of groups around campus.

The RLC committee is also developing new projects to serve our community. New Welcoming projects include Move-in Day meals group which is working to develop an information flier and possibility providing a simple meal to new residents on move-in day.

A second new Welcoming project is the Dining Ambassadors for Newcomers. This project is working to find ways to encourage existing residents to invite newcomers to share a meal.

The third new Welcoming project is Navigators for Newcomers, for helping newcomers finding their way around the Charlestown campus. The team first met on Friday, March 22, 2024.

In the Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging section of the RL committee, a new project is working to aid residents who daily face the impacts of loss of vision. The members have met twice and will hold a working lunch at the Fireside restaurant on April 26th.

Next RL meeting: Wednesday April 17 at 2:00 in BR 2

Safety and Security, Ed Appel
Charlestown General Services & Security management were in attendance at the March 14 meeting, updating us on issues and activities.

Charlestown Security increased efforts to improve traffic safety. If you see unsafe driving, report the car description/license to Security. All residents should remember that protecting us depends on keeping staff apprised of concerns and incidents. Charlestown Security saves several people per day: they are trained Emergency Medical Responders.

Pendants have all been checked to verify function after a manufacturer recall. They can be used not just for your emergency, but for someone else’s.

Baltimore County PD reports that auto theft and break-ins continue, so be careful to lock your vehicle, keep valuables out of sight and park in safe places.

A dementia safety working group proposal was discussed.  The purpose would be to see how we could support ongoing Charlestown staff and resident dementia groups, such as helping those with dementia who get lost.

Charlestown safety and security continue to operate at a high professional level.

Next meeting: Thursday, April 11, 2024, at 1:00 in Charlestown Square Classroom CTS

Nominations and Elections, Mark Buehlman and Joe Carrick
Mark and Joe co-chair the resident Council nominating committee for 2024. I am pleased to report that we currently have a real strong group of candidates running but we are looking for a few more people to round out our slate. I’m going to be up here if you can think of anybody that if either you or a neighbor or anybody else. If you can think of anybody that might be qualified and interested, I’ll be up front for a few minutes at the end of the meeting. We will be accepting people up until the end of this module.

Questions and Answers

First question: Since we have been advised to use Drano to clear up drain clogs, what is recommended. Don’s response: For plumbing related concerns, please contact General Services. Let them be the one to do the Drano or whatever is necessary. As far as residents who may cause an incident you know, obviously we work with them. The Residents Service Coordinators work with them to advise and so as to provide future problems. If it happens on multiple instances, we follow up with the resident and make adjustments as necessary

Another resident mentioned that she is unable to make out of country (Kenya) calls. Larry Taylor was asked to investigate this.

Don Grove’s comments:

If you haven’t seen it, we have action in the Refectory where real demolition is ongoing behind the wall.  Some action is great to see after all this time. They do have the wall up so that if you walk by, they also have the windows where you can look in and see what’s going on. But it’s exciting to see that work getting underway. We met for the first time with the design committee for the historical area resident group and will continue to meet.  In the coming days you will see a couple of renderings of what the refectory space will look like as well as some finishes. We’ll probably put that around their Refectory and might move it around since it’s not as well traveled. We want to make sure folks get a chance to see that we will maintain access to continuing care throughout the process, and the dining staff will have access to their kitchen, supplying food to the Terrace throughout the process.

Regarding Caton Ridge, the push piers are complete so the work underneath the building is complete. We would like to see the company managing the effort, finish their work so we can do the things we need to do such as finishing the first floor. A letter will go out to Caton Ridge residents, if not today by tomorrow with the details and who to call if they have any necessary follow-ups. We will be checking their apartments for damage such as dust around windows or some things that may have fallen or need repair after the work. They will also check the hallways.

The question that has come up frequently regarding the rails to trails discussion and Dick shared a little bit about that. I want to clarify clarity because I’ve heard some mixed messages and some rumors. The Catonsville Rails to Trails (CRTT) came to us about a possible free fence. They were willing to put a fence up across the back of the community to extend their trail behind the community. CRTT had discussed before putting a gate on the back and when they first came to us about the trail to which I said no we’re not interested. Residents have been clear on that. This is not about a gate. but possibly replacing a portion of our fencing.  We were in the market for a new fence coincidentally; it’s not the greatest it needs work. So, we put off that piece of replacement on the fence while this plays out. But the area they’re covering as far as that fencing, we’ve estimated as much as $200,000 worth of fencing that they would be their offerings provides so that you’re clear, they came to us with an idea. And we ended up what’s called an MOU, a memorandum of understanding, to which we said that we’d like to hear more. That’s it. Okay, just so folks are clear. That’s all we entered in to.  We did not commit to anything until they come back to us with all the details. When a tree falls, who’s going to fix the fence who’s going to maintain it, who’s got all those questions? They must come back to us and then our board and our lawyers would review that process and whether it makes sense. Obviously, it is an opportunity to have a fence replaced a couple $100,000 that wouldn’t have to be paid for by residents. That’s an interesting thing we want to hear more about, but we want to make sure we understand all the terms and details. At no point will there be any entry points across the back of the fence. I wanted to be clear that we have not entered in any agreements regarding that property. And we will essentially see what comes back from that, from the CRTT.

Another update relates to continuing care. If you’re not aware that Pauline Frazier is a 19 years employee. She was our nursing home administrator. She has left the company so she can spend some time with family overseas. But Pauline has left us and, in the meantime, Leslie Johnson, our Associate Executive Director who I was all excited to get in my office to help us last year and now we have to send her back over to continuing care helping lead that program and obviously since she was the Director of Nursing, Lesley is very capable and has a good team there.

We are working very hard on some improvements in the Continuing Care buildings and when I say continuing care, I’m referring to Wilton Overlook, our assisted living, skilled nursing and memory care. We’ve introduced a new concierge program, which allows residents and family members to have a clear contact if they have questions or and need follow up. One of the things we’ve discovered with our new buildings is that they are big, much larger than what we had in the past. That’s wonderful in many ways because residents have large apartments and bigger spaces, but at the same time that creates a situation where everyone is a little more spread out. In our regular satisfaction survey for continuing care, we identified some opportunities to improve regarding communications. We are working very hard right focused on that effort and we’re doing more meet and greets with families like we did with you all. We’ve always done resident town halls and meet and will increase the number of those to make sure we’re hearing and communicating with those residents and their families.

Respectively submitted,
Nancy Meier, Residents’ Council Secretary