President Wendel Thompson called the regular meeting of the Residents’ Council [the Council] to order at 7:00 pm on January 7, 2019. The December 4, 2018 minutes were approved as distributed.

44 association members attended. Visitors included residents, Naomi McAfee and Charles Denton, members of the Board of Directors, and Nathan Blumberg, Associate Executive Director.  The Council observed a moment of silence for those who have passed away.

Wendel called on the following officers and committee chairs for reports; the text of those reports appears following the formal minutes:

• Anne Erfle, Vice President
• Sherry Stewart, Secretary
• Jack Murnane, Treasurer
• Jean Eichenlaub, Chair of the Benevolent Care Committee
• Walt Howe, Chair of the Communications Committee
• Bill Tilles, Chair of the Conservation Committee
• Bob Caulfield, Chair of the Dining Committee
• Gil Fisher, Chair of the Finance Committee
• Ted Durr, Chair of the Grounds Committee
• Louise Dempsey, Chair of the Health Services Committee
• Diane Lyons, Chair of the Housekeeping Committee
• Seldra Funk, Chair of the Legislative/Political Committee
• Jackie Graham, Chair of the Maintenance & Engineering Committee
• Sam Cushman, Chair of the Resident Life Committee
• Janet Allan, Chair of the Safety & Security Committee

UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None

NEW BUSINESS: None

Nathan Blumberg hen presented “Words from Management” which appear below for those residents interested in reading the full text of the message.

President Thompson adjourned the formal meeting at 7:30p.m.

Sherry Stewart, Residents’ Council Secretary

Hope Tillman, Residents’ Council Assistant Secretary 

REPORTS—EXECUTIVE TEAM

ANNOUNCEMENTS/ PRESIDENT’S REPORT (Wendel Thompson):

Mission Moments:

The New Year begins with two residents being recognized for the Erickson Living Values:  Respect and Caring, Responsibility and Excellence. These two individuals are giving the Residents’ Mission Moment a great start for 2019.    

Kit Knoll recommended Roger Beliveau who recently moved to Charlestown. In early spring of 2018, her husband, Jack Knoll was no longer able to drive to choir practice at St. Agnes Church, but he loved to sing.” Roger without hesitation offered to take Jack to choir practice with him. He was so kind and gracious. It meant so much to me (and Jack). When I thank him for it, Roger just brushes it off. Maybe recognition as a Mission Moment will let him know I am serious.” 

Another resident, Marge Timmel recommended Anne Kredell.  Marge stated, “Anne never stops being a blessing, bringing beauty with her gifts of decorating:  1) Courtyard Crossing (Building 7), first floor table at the elevator wears a different round tablecloth, freshly ironed, topped with seasonal decorations. 2) She takes care of plants on the long hallways at RG, 3) She gifts people with her artwork such as at the Medical Center, 4) She’s always positive, polite and friendly, especially to staff workers, 5) She is involved with the Treasure Sale, etc.” 

Both Roger and Anne have demonstrated caring for others assuming responsibility for tasks others could not do while building positive relationships. Let’s make 2019 a year filled with recognitions of residents that clearly live their lives sharing their gifts to help others celebrate life.  

Announcements: I have four announcements. The Council is providing an ELLIC class about the Residents’ Council on February 13. You can sign up when the catalog becomes available this Wednesday. If you want to know more about what the Council does and especially, if you are considering running for the Council this year, this would be a good place to test your expectations.

Second. Some of you have experienced problems with your Wi-FiWi-Fi is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for wireless networking and allow nearby devices to exchange data by radio waves. Wireless local area networks (WLAN) are widely used in the world to link laptop computers, tablet co... READ MORE. You have a chance to meet with Hans Keller, CIO for Erickson Living.  Come to the Communication Committee meeting, January 28, 2:00 pm in CTS-116.

My third announcement is that our Council work session is next Monday at 2:00 pm in BR-1.

Fourth. The Council celebrated the holidays with a party in the Gallery in December. I asked, Carolyn, my wife to organize it and she did a bang-up job, offering packages of wisdom symbols—a rubber band to remain flexible, a paper clip to keep things together, and many others.

VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT (Anne Erfle):

At the 12/10/18 Residents’ Council Work Session, Wendel discussed the attempts he and I made to find additional storage space for the Treasures Unlimited furniture store.  The store manager had requested that the ping pong room be used for storage since it is located adjacent to the furniture store.  Wendel and I discussed this idea with the ping pong group, the store manager, the band that uses the ping pong room, and the billiard players.  We created some consternation about possible alternatives.  More space to display the furniture for Treasures Unlimited may increase sales—a 10% increase in sales would produce $1,500-1,900 additional income annually for the Benevolent Care Fund.  However, we were unable to find suitable alternative space for ping pong.  Therefore, we did not recommend any change.

SECRETARY’S REPORT (Sherry Stewart) presented by Hope Tillman:

At the 12/10/18 Residents’ Council Work Session, Wendel Thompson described the meeting with Deb Doyle and Todd Mathiesen, Erickson COO and CFO, and reiterated the good conversation they had with the Executive Team members of the Council.

Janet Allan reported on the work she and Sam Cushman had done: the implementation of the Take Back Your Gun effort, the possibility of a Sell Back Your Gun effort and the planning of the Forum that will be held for residents about guns, gun laws and gun controls. Several other Maryland CCRCs have been contacted by committee members; Ann MacKay is contacting others via her position with MaCCRA. Many more details to be worked out regarding the Forum and the Questionnaire that will follow.

The issue of dealing with complaints was discussed, whether they be pet complaints, EMV complaints, etc. Sam mentioned that Resident Life is talking about several possibilities for serving as a mediator/complaint board/intermediary in issues such as this. Safety and Security is looking into training for new EMV users.

The remainder of the meeting was devoted to a discussion of Mental Health Issues. An AA group held its first meeting in the Jeremiah Room on December 22.  An Al-Anon group is already meeting here at Charlestown.

TREASURER’S REPORT (Jack Murnane):

During the month of December, I issued five checks in the amount of $2,392.27 and received a deposit in the amount of $2.00. Two checks were for the transfer of the Charlestown Archives’ funds from the Council’s bank account to the Archives’ account in the amount of $1,863.21. Two checks were for the Benevolent Care Fund for the past Council President Steven Harders’ honorarium of $100.00 and a donation of $50.00 in memory of David Pollitt.  A check was also issued for Charlestown Catering for a hospitality expense of $379.06. The deposit was an Association dues payment for 2017-2018. At the end of the month of December, the book balance amounted to $ 2,942.84 and the bank balance amounted to $ 2,942.84.  There was no difference. 

REPORTS—COMMITTEES 

BENEVOLENT CARE (Jean Eichenlaub, Chair):

The committee did not meet in December and will not meet in January.

COMMUNICATIONS (Walt Howe, Chair):

No Communications Committee meeting in December. The next meeting is scheduled for 2pm on 28 January in CTS Room 116. The Website Subcommittee meets there at 1pm on that date.

CONSERVATION (Bill Tilles, Chair):

Attendance: Committee members, 2 guests and Michelle Fenn (Housekeeping Supervisor, Erickson).

The recycling and trash monthly statistics for November 2018 showed consistency with the average annual numbers for all of last year which we use as a basis for comparison, namely 80 tons of regular trash per month and 27 tons of recycled trash per month. Through Sunburst articles, displays and reports, the Conservation Committee is encouraging the community to recycle whatever they can instead of throwing their recyclables out with the trash. By doing so, the cost for our trash collection is reduced.

With the help of Michelle Fenn, we have been placing tri-fold bulletin boards showing what can be recycled and what cannot at various locations on campus as a reminder to residents. A recycling handout is also being prepared to accompany the display.  It is planned for release by the end of January, 2019.

The plastic bag collection project continues to go well. Resident volunteers support the project by picking up the plastic bags from plastic bag drop-off containers in the laundry rooms and taking them to the Giant or other stores where plastic bags are collected for recycling. 

There will be a conservation program on 972, the schedule soon to be announced. Look for more details on the 972 schedule available in the lobbies.

The next meeting of the Conservation Committee will be at 2:00 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2019 in HR 142.

DINING SERVICES (Bob Caulfield, Chair):

The Dining Services Committee did not meet in December. The regular “meetings with managers” at the various venues did take place in December but the minutes of those meetings will be compiled in the January Dining Services Committee meeting. The next meeting will be Monday, January 21, 2019.

 

FINANCE (Gil Fisher, Chair):

The Finance Committee did not meet in December. The next meeting will be on January 29, 2019, at 9 am in Brookside 2 Classroom. 

GROUNDS (Ted Durr, Chair):

The Grounds Committee did not meet in December. Our next meeting is scheduled for January 22^nd at 10:00 AM in the General Services Conference Room.

HEALTH SERVICES (Louise Dempsey, Chair):

The Health Committee did not meet in December. Our next meeting is scheduled for January 8^th at 11am in Brookside Classroom 2. Please note change in location. The medication disposal day will be held Monday, January 14. 

HOUSEKEEPING (Diane Lyons, Chair):

The Housekeeping committee did not meet in December. Our next meeting will be Friday, January 18^th.

LEGISLATIVE/POLITICAL (Seldra Funk, Chair):

The Legislative/Political Committee did not meet in December.  Our next meeting will be Wednesday, January 9th. 

MAINTENANCE & ENGINEERING (Jackie Graham, Chair):

The M&E committee did not meet in the month of December. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, January 22nd.

RESIDENT LIFE (Sam Cushman, Chair):

Our committee did not meet in December. Our next meeting will be held on January 16, 2019 at 2:00 pm in HR142, the Council Office.

SAFETY & SECURITY (Janet Allan, Chair):

The Safety and Security Committee did not meet in December. The next meeting will be on Tuesday January 8, 2019 at 1pm in Brookside Classroom 1.

WORDS FROM MANAGEMENT (Nathan Blumberg):

Nathan began his report by wishing everyone in the room a happy new year. He pointed out that the next Treasure Sale will be this coming Thursday-Saturday, moved up because of the impending renovations beginning soon.  He then commented on the many projects under way or to be started soon:

• Charles roof replacement
• Charles Town Square parking lot, milling and striping to begin next week
• Buildings 7-9 refresh
• Cross Creek cooling tower refurbishment to begin next week
• Chesapeake renovation, hopefully to begin by the end of January. Dining service will be moved to the areas across the hall from the Chesapeake
• Brookside elevator – rebuilding the motor. Otis maintenance will be providing a timeline as soon as possible

Nathan also commented on the new signature dining menus that began today.

As a public service announcement, Nathan recommended extra handwashing at this time of year. We are coming into flu season.