President Joe Carrick called the regular meeting of the Residents’ Council [the Council] to order at 3:00 pm on Tuesday March 4, 2025. 101 residents attended including Residents’ Council members minus six. Staff members included Don Grove, Executive Director, Leslie Johnson, Associate Executive Director; Jay Spivey, General Services Director; and Karen Leighton, Resident Life Director.

Moment of Silence

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

Previously distributed minutes of the February 4, 2025 meeting of the Residents’ Council meeting were approved as presented.

Mission Moment
Before he passed on December 21, Bob Socher nominated Kathy and Jim Saint Amant for their kindness. With the permission of Bob’s wife Jude the article was published in this month’s Sunburst. In his nomination, Bob explained that he and Jude returned from a trip to discover that his electric wheelchair was missing from the Brookside entrance lobby. Several days later, when Jude relayed the story of the missing chair to Kathy, she immediately offered the use of her husband Jim’s scooter for as long as Bob needed it. Because of Kathy and Jim’s kindness, Bob was able to “get to five medical appointments, six dinners, two duplicate bridge games and an ELLIC presentation” until Bob’s replacement scooter arrived. Jude affirms that “this generous gesture helped Bob through a very difficult time.” Kathy and Jim’s friendliness and caring illustrate the neighborliness that is found every day at Charlestown.

Executive Team Reports

Joe Carrick President
It’s March! March is a time of transformation and anticipation. As the days grow longer and the first signs of spring begin to emerge, there is a renewed sense of hope and possibility in the air. Nature comes alive, reminding us of the beauty of change and the promise of brighter days ahead. It is a time to embrace fresh beginnings, both in the world around us and within our own community.

March also serves as a bridge between the cold grip of winter and the vibrant bloom of spring. It encourages reflection on the past season while inspiring optimism for what lies ahead. The month symbolizes growth, renewal, and the importance of patience as we eagerly await warmer days and new opportunities.

As we move through March, the Council has a couple of new initiatives this spring. The first is getting residents and committee members involved in capital improvement process at Charlestown. Who best to know what capital improvements are needed than residents. This year the Council developed a process for submitting capital expenditures for the 2026 Charlestown budget. The procedure and form for submitting to a committee is contained on MyErickson under forms as well as CCICharlestown.org. Each Council Committee has until March 31 to submit their committee capex proposals. Art Johnson will give more details of this new procedure when he gives the Finance Report.

Starting in April at least one Council Committee will be holding their monthly meeting at Caton Woods. The meeting is open to all residents of Charlestown. This gets those in Continuing Care involved with the Residents’ Council. It is not always possible for Continuing Care residents to travel to one of the classrooms in Independent Living, so the Council decided to take the meeting to them. The month of April will have the Health Services Committee as well as the Resident Life Committee. I hope that resident in independent living will make the walk across the street to attend these meetings.

Connie Cooney, Treasurer

Balance – Jan 31, 2025                       $ 4,430.23
Expenses                                             $    370.96

Balance – Feb 28, 2025                       $ 4,059.27

January Expenses Detail
Treasurer                                            $     370.96

Total                              $    370.96

Committee Reports

Benevolent Care, Virginia Antevil, Chair

The committee is working on an informational brochure for residents with information on sources of funding for benevolent care, planned giving options, etc., to be presented at “Neighborhood Chats”. The committee also is seeking additional members. In particular, the committee would like to acquire a representative from each Charlestown building or neighborhood.

Next meeting: Wednesday, March 26, 2025 at 2:30 in Charlestown Square Room 116.

Communications, Larry Taylor, Chair

• First Quarter Technology Assistance Day (Tech Bar)
• This past Wednesday in the Gallery. There were 65 Residents that received help and 16 Residents Visits to be scheduled. Next Tech Bar is scheduled for June 4 in the Chesapeake Dining Room.
• MyErickson Directory Updates
  Community Resource reported they were working on adding names, phone numbers, and photographs of certain employees to the MyErickson directory. They also mentioned that they were discussing protocols for the call centers and managers.
• Update to Building Carts & EMV

General Services talked about Cart Tag Implementation and EMV registration improvements.  32 carts have been tagged so far, allowing for better tracking.  GS also mentioned a new system for EMVs has been implemented in the work order system, enabling better management and violation tracking.

FYI – Not sure if you are aware that 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/Xfinity increased their Services cost in January affecting the Ultimate plan, which is MASN TV,  TV Boxes + Remotes charges, Service fees and they also reduced their discounts for Autopay & Paperless bills. These increases were noted in their December 2024 bill if you are billed by mail, otherwise you would need to login into your account.

• Electronics Recycling Day.

The date is still to be announced but I hope for some time this month.

• Amazon Delivery
  Greg Johnson has established a relationship with Amazon Golden Delivery, who handles Amazon deliveries of our Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM. Residents are still encouraged to schedule deliveries during these times to ensure better service.
• IT Department

IT will conduct network surveys in all buildings to address connectivity issues.
Gen 2 tablets are still pending for our restaurants.
All (UPSAn uninterruptible power supply or uninterruptible power source (UPS) is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source fails. It is supposed to kick in when there is a power outage. A UPS is typically used to protect hardware such as computers, data cent... READ MORE) Uninterruptible Power Supply backups have been installed in all buildings to maintain network access during brief power outages.
Shuttle Trackers – IT is still waiting on General Services to complete work so that IT can install Herbert’s Run, Fountain Hill.
Printers are seeing a common issue with printers losing their network settings after short power outages. Explained that the default setting needs to be manually re-entered to include the IP address, default gateway, and MAC addressThe Media Access Control (MAC) address is given to all devices that communicate electronically. It is a unique identifier, and every device has a different MAC address. The address is normally assigned to a device when it is manufactured. The numbers as displayed consist of numbers 0 through 9 and l... READ MORE.

• Mobile Phone System and NetworkA network consists of two or more computers that are linked in order to share resources (such as printers and CDs), exchange files, or allow electronic communications. The computers on a network may be linked through cables, telephone lines, radio waves, satellites, or infrared light beams. See also... READ MORE Infrastructure

The committee and Myrone discussed the mobile phone system, prioritizing Continuing Care and Independent living. IT mentioned two vendors, Telnet and CTS, with the latter being the preferred choice at this time.
The infrastructure, including discussion about the new version called ConnectConnect or Charlestown or Erickson Connect Network is the name for the local telephone and Wi-Fi system at Charlestown. READ MORE 3, was discussed, offering a single connection point from each apartment and eliminating the need for a Mac address entered into the CCI-Portal.

I also mentioned the need for a procedure for printer installations.  IT mentioned a tech time demonstration on 972 for printers which was to happen last Friday.
Lastly, I emphasized the importance of the mobile phone system and the network infrastructure update for Independent Living, aiming still to have it approved before the end of the year or first part of next year.

Also, note our Evergreen topic has been posted to ccicharlestown.org.

Next Communications Committee meeting:  Monday, March 24, at  2:00 PM. Contact Larry Taylor at cherokee405@verizon.net for the ZoomAI Companion is a generative AI-powered assistant from Zoom (for those with the paid version). It uses large language models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta, and has also trained itself by listening in on thousands of meetings between Zoom employees.  Some of its uses include:
• Summarizing... READ MORE link.

Conservation, Mark Buehlman and Charles Robinson, Co-Chairs

Good Afternoon. My name is Mark Buehlman and I’m co-chair, along with Charles Robinson, of the Conservation Committee. Our Committee  continues to work on several initiatives.
At our February meeting we had an update from our Recycling/Reuse Sub-Committee. Recycling efforts continue to work well. Marty Tewksbury, the head of this Sub-Committee, has done a remarkable job over recent years. However, he now needs to give up that role. This is an extremely important position on our Committee, and we are actively looking for someone to take on this function. Marty is willing to train a new person and help the transition to go smoothly. If anyone is interested in this position, or if you know someone that might be, please let either Marty or I know after the meeting.

Based on trail camera information from the bow hunting group, we had a discussion on the current size of the herd and the population density. Despite a couple successful hunts, the deer population is still many times higher than it should be. We made a recommendation to General Services that the target quota for 2025 be similar to 2024. That should eliminate the annual population increase and start to reduce the herd to a healthier level.

We heard a report from our recently formed Sustainable Dining Sub-Committee. Some of their early focus is on recycling at the bars and reducing the use of takeout containers and takeout paper bags.

We submitted the Sunburst article for March. The Nature Festival this year will be on Thursday, April 24th, from 11 am to 2 pm at the Conference Center, and we decided our display will focus on the less traditional recycling items like batteries, light bulbs, and plastic films.

We are inviting representatives from the County Recycling program and the County Stormwater to speak at our March and April meetings.

Next meeting: Tuesday, March 18, at 2:00 pm in BR1. Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend.

Dining Services, Stephanie Leddy and Cathy Stevens, Co-Chairs
Ken Zahn reported on the Dining Services policy for inclement  weather. To serve the residents with minimum disruption, Dining Services will first:

• offer a modified buffet with entrees and sides offered in a buffet, and sides, salads, dessert and starters ordered from servers, then
• if more help is needed, use disposable plates, utensils and cups to alleviate need for a full kitchen staff.
• if more help is needed, get assistance from volunteer residents in taking/serving drinks, salads, etc.
• if more help is needed, modify hours of operation of restaurants so staff can get home safely.
• if more help is needed, close one restaurant and redistribute staff to the remaining restaurants. (This has never had to be done.)

The Terrace Cafe will not be closed until Cafe on Main is up and running with the kinks worked out. Questions have arisen as to whether residents can order Starters as side dishes. Ken will get back to us.

Restaurant reports:

• Atrium – they are working on heating issues
• Terrace – much improved since December
• Fireside – the hiring of more servers has greatly improved service
• Chesapeake/Short line – no report

Next meeting: Monday, March 17 at 1:30 at CS116.

Finance, Art Johnson, Chair
CapEX26 progress was discussed by the committee

Summary review of January 31, 2025 financial data included:

• 17 Benevolent Care residents as of 1/31/25 compared to 16 in 12/31/24
• 22 residents in spend down status as of 12/31/24 compared to 26 as of 1/31/25
• $6 million carryover in capital expenditures from 2024 budget to 2025
• As of 1/31/25 net operating income was positive compared to budgeted amounts for Independent Living and Continuing Care
• Cost per “resident-day” was above amount budgeted as of 1/31/25 due mainly to snow removal.
• Discussion of Power of Attorney and Long-Term Insurance care advice and committee agreed that how we share information about this topic deserved further discussion

Next meeting: Tuesday, March25, 2025 at 9:00 in Brookside 1.

Grounds, Dick Voelkel Chair

• New Charlestown Grounds Manager, Adam Narivanchilk was introduced to the Ground Committee members.
• The Conservation Co-Chair, Mark Buehlman, briefed the Ground Committee on sustainably and the deer herd problem. Mark discussed getting the camera data from the hunting club which allowed him to project the number of deer still on campus. Mark provided information on how he was able to determine the numbers. Mark also discussed the grounds sustainability report which was authored in 2024 by residents and administration. Mark was seeking to get Ground Committee to take ownership of the document and to begin leading the follow effort on ground sustainability. Dick Voelkel said that he would chair that effort and see if he can get members from both the grounds and conservations committees to join him in this effort.
• Shortline Trail: the agreement between the Catonsville Rails to Trail (CRTT) and Charlestown on allowing the use of some Charlestown land to CRTT and CRTT replacing the fence in the back of Charlestown was signed by all parties. Charlestown administration along with CRTT representatives will present a joint briefing to residents sometime in April.
• The outside sidewalk light problem between Arborside and Edgewood buildings has been fixed.
• The hydro racking is still on hold although General Services has been meeting with Baltimore County over permits. It is still projected that the hydro racking will take place towards the end of summer.
• There was money in the capital budget for 2025 to pave the hiking trail around the lake but that cannot be done until after the hydro racking of the lake is completed. It was highly suggested that the trail has a permeable surface.

Next meeting: Tuesday March 24 at 11am in BR-1.

Health Services, Marty White and Lois Eldred, Co-Chairs
Good afternoon.  I’m Marty White, co-chair the Health Services Committee with Lois Eldred.
Kristen Aybar, from Home Care, and Samantha Appler, from Corporate discussed the Home Support Program, which employs 40-70 people, 60% permanent and the remaining 40% are flex employees.  Home Support provides personal care, companionship, and medication reminders in 2- and 4-hour time blocks, and employs a team of 3-4 caregivers for any given client.  There was discussion regarding challenges with matching the scheduling needs of residents with the template, but it was felt that the current model is better than the old one.  It was noted that residents with dementia do better with a single consistent caregiver as opposed to a team of caregivers.  Residents who are unable to have their needs met by Home Support can be referred to outside agencies.

Pat Kasuda reported that Continuing Care programs have included local restaurant outings, fitness programs, violin music on Valentine’s day, a Nature Program featuring live animals, participation in Putterland and Tapestry programs, and a crab dinner in March.

Dr. Pelczar reported that this flu season is the worst we’ve experienced since the Swine Flu 15 years ago.  This strain is highly contagious and more lethal than previous strains.  There have been 45 million case of influenza thus far, with over 300,000  hospitalizations and 14,000 deaths.  80% of those presenting to clinics with flu-like symptoms are testing positive for influenza.   Vaccination rates are down, and that is likely contributing to the high numbers and severity of cases.  Influenza A-H5, better known as the bird flu, is spreading from birds to poultry, and cattle, and has infected some cats with high degrees of mortality.  There have been 67 human cases, all from exposure to either dairy cattle or backyard chickens.  The only human death was associated with a mutated strain of virus.  It is highly recommended that people avoid raw milk and  dead birds.  Those with bird feeders should keep the feeders clean.

Barbara Schubring stated that Maryland state libraries will mail digital books with free return labels.  They also provide braille readers and brail classes and offer book sharing groups for books with synthetic voices.  Baltimore county libraries offer mobile services, some assistive devices, and will mail some library materials.  Our Charlestown library has large print as well as audio books.  The Low Vision Group is sponsoring a presentation by the Hadley School for the Blind in the Gallery on March 20 at 10 AM

Several people have hit their heads on the unpadded pillar corners in the pickleball court.  Administration is aware and seeking a solution.  In response to our request for grab bars in public restrooms, General Services plans to do a mockup in a single restroom to see what positioning works best before addressing all the restrooms.

Our committee is co-sponsoring an ELLIC class on May 19 on a variety of assistive devices, to be given by the Occupational Therapy group.

Last week’s medication disposal event was well attended.  The next one will be on May 19, and our next meeting is on March 11, BR 1 at 11:00 AM

Housekeeping, Jean Williamson, Chair
My name is Jean Williamson, and I Chair the Housekeeping Committee.
I hope you had an opportunity to see the TV interview on 972 last month when I joined with Mel Bonaparte, Housekeeping Supervisor, to talk about the Housekeeping Committee, its activities, as well as how residents can help work with Housekeeping to keep our home here at Charlestown all we want it to be – clean, healthy and safe, and attractive!

Mel emphasized the importance of notifying Housekeeping if you see any spills as soon as possible in that it is much easier to clean before the stains become permanent. Notifying Housekeeping of concerns, whether it is spills, trash, dust, or space needing vacuuming is not complaining; it is just helping bring awareness to places needing attention.

We also shared the Housekeeping Flyer that is available at every lobby around Charlestown. It not only states what they are responsible for but, importantly, lists all the other services which they offer at a small rate…things that you may find helpful as life situations change. Having them come in to clean, spot clean carpet or furniture, move furniture, or flip mattresses are just a few! They are here for you!

If you were at the Town Hall meeting, you might remember that Jay Spivey spoke of the importance of putting your plastic trash bags into a trash can. This not only helps in the elimination of spills on the carpet, but it also helps in not attracting mice. While Orkin is here 5 days a week to lay traps and seal openings in your apartment or to outside doors or walls, as Residents, we need to do our part also. Again, not using a trash can to place your plastic bags into adds to the problem of attracting mice and spills. Recently we delivered a flyer to every apartment in Parkview, Greentree Court and Chapel Court to remind residents of the need for trash cans. Our plan is to make sure every resident is provided a flyer, next working through Harbor View and Caton Ridge. You may already have a trash can and feel the flyer wasn’t necessary, but this is just a way to ensure all residents are notified and treated equally.

The other thing that is adding to the mice problem are the bird feeders around campus. You may not realize that a bird/squirrel feeder creates a mini eco-system that attracts and feeds an abundance of wildlife. The discarded seed on the ground attracts prey such as cottontails, mice and rats. However, the prey eating the discarded seed also attract opossums, racoons, skunks, and fox. For those on balconies, mice can even crawl up the outside walls.

So, again, let us all work together! Each of us has a role in keeping Charlestown, our home, safe, clean and attractive!

Next meeting: Monday, March 17 at 10:00 in BR 1.

Legislative/Political, Paulette Hammond and Richard Lee, Co-Chairs
There was no report from the Legislative/Political Committee.

Maintenance and Engineering, Rob Vickerman, Chair
Sink Overflow: The committee was working on a flyer to give to all residents concerning sink overflow. That has changed to a magnet for the sink of refrigerator with the same message. Regarding the  making of a video addressing the sink overflow this has changed to a video addressing multiple helpful hints to make life better at Charlestown.

Elevators: Park View is being renovated. Herbert’s Run 1 failed final inspection. Is in the process of being fixed. When HR #1 passes final inspection, HR #2 elevator will be taken down for renovations.

Heating Units: In a discussion with Kevin Crawford, he said that the heating units in the hallways and bridges were running at full capacity. This is due to the unseasonable cold weather we are experiencing because the original heating system design did not account for outside temperatures as low as we have been getting. Chris Revels said that there is a new hot air heating system in the design stage for the bridges.

Outside/parking area lighting:  Buildings 7,8,9 repairs are done. Lights for Brookside and Herberts Run will be done next week.

Light bulb Replacement: There was a question concerning the replacement light bulbs by the M & E Department as to the intensity of the bulbs. This will be investigated.

Next meeting: Wednesday, March 25, at 2:00 PM in the General Services conference room.

Nominating and Elections Committee, Nancy Meier and Connie Cooney, Co-Chairs
Good Afternoon, I am Connie Cooney, and along with Nancy Meier, I’m Co-Chair of the Residents’ Council Nominating Committee for 2025.

I am pleased to report that we currently have a strong group of Residents running, but we are looking for a few more people to round out our slate of candidates. We will be accepting potential candidates up until the end of this month. If you, or any of your neighbors or friends might be interested, please let Joe Nancy or me know after the meeting. We will be up front for a few minutes.

Resident Life, Bill Jones and Fred Sadler, Co-Chairs
The Tapestry Leadership team has scheduled their spring sessions for March 25 and April 1. The topic for the two sessions will be “What do you know about You, and how does your heritage shape your sense of who you are now” focusing on our personal ancestry and heritage. Information on attending either session will be coming out on March 10.

The Ageism and Ableism group will meet March 24 at 11:00 AM in the Cross Creek Cardroom and has invited Bill Crowley, Re-occupancy Manager and Jason Dennis, Asst. General Services Director to discuss ESL accessibility standards and how we might support universal design of apartments.

The Low Vision Program will be sponsoring a presentation on March 20 at 11:00 AM in the Gallery focusing on the availability of educational tapes on “How to skills for Low Vision people”.

The Dine Together Program saw 27 people participate in February and 24 people in March. Consideration is underway to expand the program to the Café on Main once construction is completed and this might be a luncheon get together.

The Friendly Visitors Program saw 56 new residents contacted in the past month. This continues to be a very worthwhile effort to engage new residents in the community and to provide support as they become acclimated to Charlestown.

The Transportation Sustainability group will be examining parking issues, in cooperation with the Charlestown Security and Transportation Departments, and will  be examining alternative transportation options for residents other than personal vehicles. A meeting will be scheduled with Craig Nelson, Security Chief, after his Department does a presentation on parking issues on March 17.

Next meeting: on Wednesday, March 19 at 2:00 in Brookside Classroom 2.

Safety and Security, Ed Appel, Chair

Mike Fischer, Erickson Senior Living Security/GS Director addressed the committee at our last meeting. He had a remarkable career as a Maryland State Police officer and executive, and leadership roles here at Charlestown in security and general services.  He now oversees security and general services for Erickson Senior Living.  He has had extensive training in executive security management.  As you might recall, the Safety-Security Committee previously had two sessions of presentations by Security Manager Craig Nelson on Charlestown’s own security team.  We also had a presentation by Chantal Richmond, Chief Information Security Officer, Erickson Senior Living, on measures taken to protect ESL and Charlestown computer systems, internet and routers.

Mike has a unique perspective on Charlestown security.  He recognizes the right blend of protection and open campus feel needed for life at Charlestown.  After all, we’re not a military base or intelligence agency with top-secret things to protect. He is applying to each ESL community the training, technology, manpower, skillset and hardware needed to protect residents and staff and respond to virtually any threat or incident.  He and Erickson plan security technology upgrades for Charlestown as they become available in the future.

We are fortunate to have Mike as leader of ESL security and the security team under Craig Nelson and Shawn White here, whose daily efforts serve us well.

On February 26, a group of committee members and security officers delivered thank-you posters and cookie platters to BCFD, BCPD, and Arbutus VFD.  The firemen, EMTs and police were delighted, and we expressed our respect and gratitude for their services, as they are here daily.

Phone, email and computer scams are hitting Charlestown residents.  Don’t respond to texts, emails or phone calls from anyone you don’t know.  Be careful even if the sender seems trustworthy.  Call, text or telephone only verified parties.  The government and companies will not demand immediate payments!

The next committee meeting has been changed to Mar. 13, CTS 216, 2:00-3:00 PM to avoid conflicting use of our normal classroom and a Treasure Sale lunch schedule.

Update from Don Grove, Executive Director
Good afternoon, everyone. The council really does their job and knows what’s going on campus and is appreciated. As far as the nominating committee, I hope some folks out there will consider joining the council. It’s a good group who do good things for the campus. I think they must have fun as well, and it’s for a good cause, so I hope folks will consider running work for the Council.

Don talked about a recent death of a member of the care team who passed away while working. Heidi was a caregiver who’s been with us here for about eight plus years, very popular among the team. An eight-year veteran of CCI, exceptional caregiver. She leaves behind the husband, four daughters and three grandchildren.  Don praised the response from so many on the Charlestown staff.

We had a very large free fall on our fence and into the road. Very proud of the team who was here early Sunday morning trying to get that cleared so that the road could be cleared. We talked about the Catonsville Rails to Trails (CRTT). We signed an agreement to allow the CRTT to expand their trail behind the community. And we will have a session coming up, hopefully in April, to talk more about that so everybody can understand that project. The fence will be replaced as part of that project. The CRTT work project would take place in the fall. We’ll of course secure the fence until then.

The first Herberts Run elevator is completed as it finally passed inspection, not without great frustration with dealing with the vendor. Otis will go into  the second elevator, as two elevators are twin elevators, and they run on some of the same circuits and a call buttons. We had thought we could take a pause, and that was not communicated to us. We’re told it’s a seven-week project. Don’t think my watch is not set to seven weeks, and GF team is with me there. We watch very closely to keep that moving. I know that’s been a frustrating, lengthy process the park. Few other remains on schedule, which is good to hear.

You received a notification today that my friend Ken Zahn will be leaving on March 14 after 10 years here as our Dining  Director. We are excited about his opportunity. We’re happy for him. Paul Edelman, Assistant Dining Director will be here and fill in the meantime while we go through the interview process. Any concerns there, of course, you can bring to our attention. But I think you’ll find with a strong leadership team in dining, we should be good to transition and get right to work on the things we intended to do. Adam Narivanchilk is the new Grounds Supervisor and Rachael Susio will join us as the Philanthopy Manager. She has varied experience working within the ESL community, with lots of experience that make her well suited for her newest position. We met a few candidates and  feel like she’s a great choice. We’re excited for her to join us on April 1 and introduce her to you as soon as she’s here.

I always also like it when my team makes an effort to get resident feedback and develop it and make things come to life. An example is the trivia night that folks were asking.  And we have a trivia night coming up. And another one is the Tea Party. They put together the Tea Party and they sold out the event and plan to have multiple events. I know Leslie’s involved. Community Resources team is really going with this. But just to see something residents want! Another example that is coming up will occur is on Monday, March 17, at 1pm in the auditorium–a brainstorming session that the General Services team put together, and which is something we wanted to try out, and it’s to promote and get your ideas. It’s not to come and say, Hey, this is a problem I have, or this is the issue I have. This brainstorming session led by the General Services team will be focused on one of our favorite topics, parking. As we build our resident satisfaction plan for the year we have feedback from residents and different ideas that we try to incorporate. I caution everybody who attends that it’s a brainstorming session. We’re going to try. If it works, we’ll look to do it on different other topics. I hope it does.

Questions

St, Charles 319 resident – On the CRTT you said that we’re still going to own a property that’s on a trail?

Yes, they provided an easement to the CRTT folks so they can use it to put the trailer. But we own that property.

Can Charlestown be sued if anything would have occurred.

I had these conversations a while back so trying to remember the details, but with Board, we are in good shape, covered within that we do have the responsibility. They’re going to replace the fence itself. If the fence were to fall later, that is us providing a new fence, the maintenance of it. But there are no legal concerns regarding if someone were to fall on that specific piece. If there was an injury on that part, it would be Charlestown, not Erickson. It would be yes, but again, Charlestown lawyers, as well as Charlestown lawyers for the Board, and the legal team we use through Erickson, all review that area that closely to make sure we were not at any significant risk. I any

Brookside 531 resident had 2 issues two issues one of which is parking. I have one of the five spaces that is in the Cross Creek lot bordering Erickson Way, and frequently someone else has parked in my space when I come home. A neighbor said she is having the same problem. The parking people are willing to move our space, but that’s not going to solve the problem. I’d like to suggest putting stand-up reserved sign in front of those five spaces, rather than just reserved on the ground, because people are ignoring what it says on the ground, would

Certainly, a possibility. Jason Dennis is here, and we are going to be very aggressive with our parking approach this year, in trying to sort out, make sure people are parking in designated areas, and things like someone taking your space doesn’t happen. I want to put that on our suggestion list, because we are actively having conversations, and there’s going to be a change in parking around campus. We will be coming come out  with some promotion for residents who could consider getting rid of a car that is unused. We have sufficient parking on campus although it’s not where we all want it. It’s always our challenge. We’re going to talk about the sign option versus what’s written on the park on the space.

My other suggestion really hit me at the concert on Sunday in the conference center. Would it be possible for the perhaps the wood shop, to build risers for the performers, because they’re on the same level as we’re sitting and we can’t see them, and it would be nice to be able to see the performers. That has come up as a CapEx issue.

I thought it was in the budget, and I need to check. This comes up with numerous resident events. Let me see where we are for the conference center. It would be good to have. I want to make sure it’s in the budget for next year. That’s been talked about for a few years, and I would have hoped it would we resolve that by now.

Respectively submitted,
Nancy Meier, Residents’ Council Secretary