President Pat Rudolph called the regular meeting of the Residents’ Council [the Council] to order at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, April 5, 2022.  All members of the Council, except Betty Elder, were present. Forty-nine Residents’ Association members attended. Visitors included residents, Pat Kasuda and Naomi McAfee, members of the Board of Directors, and Clara Parker, Executive Director.

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

Previously distributed minutes of the March 1, 2022 minutes were approved.

MISSION MOMENTS: (Pat Rudolph, President)

President Pat commented that she enjoys Mission Moments because they recognize the goodness of fellow residents.

Jude Socher recommends Elva Tillman and Jim Jones for a Mission Moment because they came to Charlestown ready to enjoy everything Charlestown had to offer and to share their gifts. They bring sunshine wherever they go. For instance, last year Elva and Jude were waiting to pick up their carry outs at dinnertime. While they waited, they talked about how nice it is that their neighbors like to share books and magazines. The downside was that leaving them on chairs at the elevator lobby took up seating. Wouldn’t it be nice to create a little lending library for sharing used books? The very next day when Jude was heading down to dinner, she found a little bookcase and magazine rack to hold shared books and magazines for all to use. Elva and Jim left a handmade letter inviting residents to enjoy the reading material. They saw a need and found a solution in the Treasure Sale furniture room. The idea had come to life.

For the next Mission Moment, everyone can give themselves a pat on the back! Loretta Harders nominates the entire Charlestown community. Loretta wrote:

“Several residents noticed I was being pushed in a wheelchair by my husband rather than walking on my own feet. I received cards, phone calls, inquiries and good wishes, all of which were comforting and helped in the healing process by lifting my spirits. Those expressions of empathy made me realize how we are all connected on our way. And it was not only the residents who helped. The institution supports us with the medical and rehab centers, a free wheelchair loaner, and more medical experts nearby for immediate help. Special thanks to Cecilia Walsh, who organized substitutes to help me with my duties as a communion minister. Thank you, Charlestown, as a whole, you did good!”

If you are experiencing a mission moment, or if you see one in action, please forward the information to Phil Lansing at Phil lansing@yahoo.com or CR 403.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REPORTS

Pat called on the following officers and committee chairs for reports. The text of those reports appears below.

• Pat Rudolph, President
• Mimi O’Donnell, Secretary
• Ron DeAbreu, Treasurer
• Eugenia High, Chair of the Benevolent Care Committee
• Dick Crebs or David Elder, Co-Chair of the Communications Committee
• Anna Marie Ciarrocchi, Chair of the Conservation Committee
• Ron McNab or Mary Lee Seaman, Co-Chair of the Dining Committee
• John Yoder, Chair of the Finance Committee
• Mike Rose, Chair of the Grounds Committee
• Carol Eshelman, Chair of the Health Services Committee
• Sebastian Petix, Chair of the Housekeeping Committee
• Pat Payne, Chair of the Legislative/Political Committee
• Gordon Piché, Chair of the Maintenance & Engineering Committee
• Rosemary Eck or John Remias, Co-Chair of the Resident Life Committee
• Justine Parezo, Chair of the Safety & Security Committee
• John Yoder, Chair of the Nominating & Elections Committee

UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None

NEW BUSINESS: None

WORDS FROM MANAGEMENT

Clara Parker then presented “Words from Management” which appear below.

President Rudolph adjourned the meeting at 7:57 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted
Mimi O’Donnell, Residents’ Council Secretary

REPORTS—EXECUTIVE TEAM

ANNOUNCEMENTS/ PRESIDENT’S REPORT (Pat Rudolph):

We are trying closed captioning tonight. We learned that this technology was used in a ELLIC class. This is part of the most recent PowerPoint program. It is very easy to use…. just a few clicks. It is not perfect but we’re hoping it will make it easier for all residents in the auditorium to know what is going on. At the end of the meeting, I’m going to ask for some feedback.

I want to welcome our Executive Administrator, Clara Parker. I also want to recognize our resident members of the Board of Directors, Naomi McAfee and Pat Kasuda.

I have a couple of announcements.  First, we are still looking for people to run in the next election for the Residents’ Council. As you could see at the beginning of this meeting, we do have fun in addition to going to committee meetings, I hope some of you might consider running for the Residents’ Council.

Second, you may have attended or you may have heard that the Residents’ Council conducted listening/brainstorming session to try to figure out what might be done on an interim basis with the space in the Historic District. That information has been made available, but I know some people may not have access to a computer. We printed out that information, the suggestions, and the summary. Copies of the report at the back of the auditorium for anyone who wants a copy. It’s also on CCI Charlestown and MyErickson.

VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT (Merci Izquierdo-Whitaker): – No report

SECRETARY’S REPORT (Mimi O’Donnell, Secretary, and Diana Dunaway, Assistant Secretary): – No report

TREASURER’S REPORT (Ron DeAbreu):

The Residents’ Council’s account balance at the end of February was $2,432.03. The council had no income in March and expenditures for the month totaled $750.14. Thus, the Council’s account balance at the end of March was $1,716.89.

The annual dues collection campaign is underway. On or about April 1, a packet of information was placed in each of the approximately 1300 Independent Living apartments that are currently occupied. As of seven o’clock today, dues have been received from residents in 331 households. Thank you very much to those residents who were so very prompt in sending your dues.

REPORTS—COMMITTEES

BENEVOLENT CARE (Eugenia High, Chair):

The Benevolent Care committee met with the philanthropy staff on March 23, 2022.  Patty Santoni provided an updated philanthropy activity report. The Treasure sale will occur on May 5 – May 7. The spring pop up sale occurred on March 25.

Gladstone James and Patti Santoni will give a financial assurance presentation on March 31 at 11:00 am in the auditorium. It is open to everyone including family and friends. The Tin Cup Golf Open is scheduled for June 6. Information will be sent to people on the Family and Friends list.

The new memory walk signage has been approved.  It is scheduled to be installed before the May 26th Memory Walk.

Our emphasis in our committee will be on promoting planned giving and legacy giving among our fellow neighbors as a way to support the future of the Benevolent Care Fund. We will continue our ongoing process of brainstorming with the intent to explore possible additional future fundraising ideas.

The Benevolent Care committee will not meet in April.  You are all invited to attend our next meeting on Wednesday, May 25, 2022 at 2:00 pm in Charlestown Square Room 116.

COMMUNICATIONS (Dick Crebs and David Elder, Co-Chairs):

James Spivey, Mary Evans, and Greg Johnson from the Charlestown administrative staff attended the last meeting. We had a moment of silence in honor of Janelle Douglas. Jason Spivey shared details of the alert media system which will go live on April 1, replacing both the Swift 911 and the Swift Reach systems. Jason provided us with an update on the status of the Charlestown ConnectConnect or Charlestown or Erickson Connect Network is the name for the local telephone and Wi-Fi system at Charlestown. READ MORE Wi Fi upgrade project. Problems connecting printers seems to be the main problem. If a resident is experiencing Wi Fi related problems, there should be no charge to the resident’s account.

Evergreen topics are now available to everyone on CCI charlestown.org. Zoom calls now have an enhancement; subtitle transcription is now available. The Residents’ Council will also attempt to incorporate a PowerPoint version of this feature at the monthly meetings.

Be advised if there is a power outage, 314 landlines may not work.  Check CCI Charlestown emergency information for details. You will see a big red square, click on it and it will give you what you need. This issue will be further investigated and reported at a future meeting.

My EricksonMy Erickson is a resident portal. It is provided by Erickson Corporate and is managed by Charlestown staff, mainly Community Resources. See Portal. READ MORE outages should be reported to the IT desk. The IT personnel record and monitor technology concerns and notify Security for safety issues.

The next meeting of the Communications Committee will be on April 25, 2022 at 2:00 pm via Zoom.

CONSERVATION (Anna Marie Ciarrocchi, Chair):

There are plans to bring a flat top to the campus to enable residents to clean out junk sometime in the spring. This is for things you have that are not quite good enough for the Treasure Sale. Please save the good items for the Treasure Sale.

The committee continues to monitor legislation concerning the environment and recycling. Only Senate Bill 528 has passed both the House and the Senate and has been sent on to the Governor. This bill, entitled The Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022 requires, among other things, that the State reduce greenhouse gas emissions, establish zero emissions vehicle requirements for the state fleet, and establish an electric school bus pilot program.

In a sobering discussion about Climate Reality, the group recognized that the goal is to learn how to live, tolerate, and prevent the tremendous impacts of climate change from getting worse.  What we can do is mitigate and limit.

Finally, we have trash and recycling data for 2021. We had 679.5 tons of trash. We recycled 263 tons of recycling and 92.5 tons of construction recycling.

Our next meeting will be on April 19, 2022 at 2:00 pm in Brookside Classroom 1.

DINING SERVICES (Ronald MacNab, Co-Chairs):

The Dining Services Committee met on March 21 at our new meeting location, Charlestown Square Room 116 at 1:30 pm.

Ken introduced two new management staff.  First, Doug Brown, the Staff Training and Development manager. Doug will oversee staffing and training in all restaurants. Next, Ken introduced Jamie Barnes, who goes by JB, as the General Manager of the Terrace Café.

Ken reviewed the dining and dining quarterly communication plan. During the first month of the quarter, there will be a Town Hall meeting. In the second month of the quarter, each restaurant will host a chat session with the general manager and chef.  In the third month of the quarter, dining management and staff will be available for questions and will dine in the restaurants.

Much of the meeting was devoted to discussing the role of our new restaurant subcommittees under the Dining Services new quarterly communication schedule.  Ken shared that new tables will be purchased for the Fireside. He showed samples of laminate and asked for feedback.

Ken said the sale of fresh fruit in the cafes was going well.

The next meeting of the Dining Services Committee will be on April 18, 2022 at 1:30 pm in Charlestown Square Room 116.

FINANCE (John Yoder, Chair):

The Finance Committee met on March 29, 2022. Jason Spivey, the newly appointed director of General Services was an invited guest. Among other things, Jason reported that his main goal is to develop efficient and effective procedures and practices and making sure that the residents of Charlestown are well served.

Occupancy in Independent Living has kicked up a percentage point to 92% and is now slightly above the budget of 91.4%. There were 15 settlements and 13 releases reported for February, making a net increase of two.  Occupancy in Assisted living is just over 97% and continues to be well above this budget of 94%.

Operating Income, though, is still suffering from the effects of two years of COVID and struggling to reach budget. Now that staffing levels are approaching normal, overtime expense is being looked at carefully. But there are unanticipated costs, such as the unexpected discovery of repair needed at Caton Ridge, which will place an extra burden on our finances, requiring us to go into the rainy-day fund.

Rebuilding departmental revenues, such as those from housekeeping, transportation, catering, etc. to the pre COVID level is a priority that will help with the overall bottom line. The Benevolent Care Fund supported 24 residents during February with a cost of about $147,000.  Projections are that the number of individuals receiving assistance from that fund is likely to fluctuate between 20 and 24 for the foreseeable future. The fund received a welcome bequest of $352,000 in February.

The next meeting of the Finance Committee will be on April 26, 2022 at 9:00 am in Brookside Classroom 1.

GROUNDS (Mike Rose, Chair):

Topics discussed at the March committee meeting were: lamppost painting and repair; landscaping of exterior grounds at Brookside, Herbert’s Run, and St. Charles; Nature Trail maintenance; perimeter fence breach repair; Memory Walk signage; road striping; garden plot maintenance; a five-year plan; downed trees in the woods; cemetery tree trimming; racing markers at the lake; and leaning benches.

You might be noticing that the same topics have appeared repeatedly over several months. Often, what looks like a straight forward Grounds concern can be somewhat complicated. For example, the “unsightly” trees, limbs, etc. that are piling up in our wooded areas. One might say, “why not have the Grounds Staff chip them up.” It is not that easy.  The State or County might need to determine whether or not we can take that action. What seems to us to be unsightly trees, limbs, etc. can be habitat for all sorts of life forms. Thus, time is lost getting permission or in many cases not getting it. What looks like a dead tree standing or lying without bark in the woods (to us unsightly pile of debris) is often considered a condominium for birds, small animals and insects and replenishment soil material for the forest.

The next meeting of the Grounds committee will be on Tuesday, April 26, 2022 at 11:00 am in Brookside Classroom 1.

HEALTH SERVICES (Carol Eshelman, Chair):

Here are some of things the Health Services committee does. The committee members attend the monthly Residents’ Council meetings and the quarterly family council meetings that Continuing Care holds. They also attend the quarterly home health advisory meetings.

Periodically, we arrange the Medicine Take Back event. The next one is scheduled for May 23.

At our last meeting, Bob Larson announced that he is the secretary of the Charlestown Chapter of the Maryland Continuing Care Residents’ Association, MACCRA.  He proposed that the Health Services committee work with MACCRA to develop a series of programs about Erickson that describe life and activities at all levels of living at Erickson.  For example, programs that define Independent Living, Memory Care, Assisted Living, and Skilled Nursing. Topics/questions might include:

What are the different levels and how are they funded?

How does Memory Care improve the quality of life?

What is assisted living and how is it funded?

What types of medical care are available in independent living?

What are the typical experiences of residents when they enter or when they go to a different phase?

What roles do legislation and relations play? What role do we play?

We had a lot of questions, but we don’t know where this is going to go next. But we were very interested and we will to continue to explore these and other questions. If anyone here thinks that this initiative sounds interesting and want to involved, let me know.

The next meeting of the Health Services Committee will be April 12, 2022 at 11:00 am in Brookside Classroom 2.

HOUSEKEEPING (Sebastian Petix, Chair):

The committee met on March 28 with six of our members and two guests.  One was a member of the Residents’ Council and one a management representative.

We discussed questions and concerns that have come up repeatedly in the last few meetings. One was the need to use larger type when sending email messages.  Members also suggested that there are some people who do not use computers and we need to send messages to them in more traditional methods.

We need a couple of volunteers for the Housekeeping Committee. All buildings are covered except for Maple Terrace and Edgewood. If anyone here lives in one of those buildings or if you know people who live there and might want to join the committee, please let me know.

There were certain issues that that have come up and were not resolved in a timely manner. We need to address such issues to Michelle Fenn and/or Jason Spivey to get things done.

Michelle Fenn discussed several issues with us. Renovations at Brookside will be starting sometime in the near future but there is no precise date yet. Construction related problems, such as noise and debris, have been an issue and they are not always dealt with in a timely fashion. We need to take steps to address issues about noise around construction and debris that’s left in the hallways.

Michelle also said that we will have a spring cleanup day in May. There will be a place to take any items or trash that do not want in our apartments any longer and that are not suitable to donate to the Treasure Sale. We discussed the schedule for window washing. Many of us were not aware that it is done every two years and we suggested that perhaps we should look at this again. Some of us have healthy bird “droppings” and many of us do not want to wait for up to two years to get exterior windows washed. We need elevator license notices to be updated in some of the elevators.

The next in-person meeting will be on June 27, 2022 at 10:00 am in Brookside Classroom 1.

LEGISLATIVE/POLITICAL (Pat Payne, Chair):

This has been an exciting year for those of us who find legislation and politics fascinating. Last month, I reported that Maryland’s redistricting process was an uncharted territory. And that’s because the once every 10-year redrawing of election district maps in Maryland, at all levels of government, ended up in the courts.

Here is where we are, as of April 5, 2022.

Regarding congressional districts, the governor and the legislature just reached agreement. The legislature’s second version of the congressional redistricting maps was approved by the governor yesterday, thereby avoiding a prolonged court action. It appears that Charlestown will be in Congressional District seven, which will be primarily Baltimore City and a little chunk of Baltimore County around Arbutus and Charlestown.

The Maryland General Assembly legislative districts with your senators and your delegates are being discussed in Annapolis today. Legislative district maps approved by the General Assembly were challenged in court as well, leaving many elected officials unsure of what districts they are going to be running in for the 2022 general election. A special magistrate advising the Court has said that the map should be accepted.  The special magistrate will be reporting next Wednesday to the court, which is expected to hold a hearing on these maps.  In the current maps, which the Legislature approved, we would end up in a district called 44A, which is entirely in Baltimore County. Our current delegation has one senator and three delegates. In the new district, we would end up with one senator and one delegate all of whom live in Baltimore County. Our district would be entirely in Baltimore County. For the past four years, part of Howard County was included in this district as well.

Now let’s discuss the Baltimore County Council.  After the first map, prepared by the Baltimore County Council, was rejected by the courts, the Council revised the map. They submitted this revised map to the judge who approved it. Now we know, for sure, that Charlestown is located in County Council district one.

Here is the election schedule, revised due to all of this activity. The candidate filing deadline is now April the 15^th.  The primary election will be on July 19, 2022. The general election will be November 8, 2022. That has not changed.

The Legislative/Political committee is in the process of planning candidate forums for the general election. We propose having forums with candidates for Governor, Congressional candidates, Legislative District candidates, and County Council candidates. We’re going to be discussing these forums and planning for them in our next meeting.

The General Assembly session ends April 11. It’s been very active session. The budget has been a big focus this year because of the surplus.  Of particular interest to residents of Charlestown is the agreement between Governor Hogan and the leadership of the General Assembly on tax cuts for retirees and working families.  Individuals 65 and older who make less than $100,000 in retirement income will receive a $1,000 tax credit.  Couples over age 65 earning less than $150,000 in retirement income will receive a tax credit of $1750.

There has been major action on climate change, which Anna Marie mentioned in her report from the Conservation Committee. We are going to be updating the rest of the legislation before the General Assembly at our April meeting.

That meeting will be on April 13, 2022 at 10:00 am in Brookside Classroom 1 and you are all invited to attend.

MAINTENANCE & ENGINEERING (Gordon Piché, Chair):

Our committee met on Tuesday, March 22nd at 2:00 pm, in the General Services’ Conference Room with General Services’ Kevin Crawford and Chris Caldwell.  Also in attendance were the Council President and Council VP.

PROJECTS SCHEDULED FOR 2022

Brookside Renovations are scheduled and include carpet, wallpaper, and furniture.  The Bldg. 7 (Courtyard Crossing) elevator repairs will be finished the end of March or early April.  Terrace level awning replacements will be completed this spring and summer. The air conditioning update for Maple Terrace is scheduled for the April time frame.  Action is underway for the interior signage up dating project.  Piping repairs to the water leakage from the ceiling in the Ladies Boutique has been completed.

PROJECTS SCHEDULED FOR NEXT YEAR 2023

The replacement elevator for Charlestown Square is delayed until 2023.  Renovations are expected for Herbert’s Run and the Auditorium Stage.  Scheduled roof replacements for Buildings 8 and 9 (Arborside and Green Tree Court) have been rescheduled for 2023.  A decision on the interim usage of the Refectory space is in process, given that the return of the Refectory as a dining facility is expected to be three or more years away.

ITEMS OF CONCERN THAT NEED ATTENTION AND NEW ISSUES

Renew centerline striping on road near the Chapel.  Some of the roadway wood guard rails are in bad condition – an incremental approach for replacement was discussed.

The Herbert’s Run/St. Charles bridge support foundation needs repair.  Many A/C bridge units are not working – a failed unit will be examined to determine cause.  Lighting issues at the crosswalk at the East end of Brookside are being worked on.  In Building 1, a piece of facia is missing on main entrance side.  This is currently being worked on.  Recommendation to build a covered walkway from the Building 1/Medical Center entrance to the parking lot was resubmitted.  This was first recommended in 2004.

Next scheduled April 26, 2022 at 2:00 pm in the General Services Conference Room.

RESIDENT LIFE (Rosemary Eck and John Remias, Co-Chairs):

Rosemary Eck 

The Resident Life Committee met on March 16, 2022. Our guest was Mary Evans, staff liaison, who made an in-depth report centered on the overall responsibilities of her Community Resources team. She was joined by David Elder who shared information about voice detect innovations and closed captioning coming to Channel 972 in the near future. Deanna Booker is the new Administrative Assistant in the Resident Life office. Phil Lansing is the contact for additions and changes in the Mission Moments. John Remias shared information on the Shortline trail accessibility and it is still being studied. John Remias also invited all to attend a meeting with Ian Brown, the Corporate Vice President for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, in the conference center on Friday, March 18, 2022.

Out next meeting will be on Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at 2:00 pm in Brookside Classroom 2.

John Remias 

The last Resident Life Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DIB) subcommittee meeting was on March 18, 2022. We had 50 residents and 16 staff in attendance. We were really appreciative of Clara and number of the executive staff joining us that time. Our guest speaker was Mr. Ian Brown. He gave us a very informative presentation on the direction of the corporation’s goals of increasing the level of diversity and its acceptance both at the staff and the resident community levels.

On the subject of observing Pride Month, Ian said that this observance is a symbol of inclusion, not a political statement. He also stated that the organization of diversity councils and/or committees in Erickson communities is recommended to be on a joint basis. At this point we’re currently organized separately. We have a Resident Life DIB subcommittee and we have a staff level or administration level DIB Council. Our plan is to eventually evolve to a joint approach, at some point in the future, with equal numbers of residents and staff. This will allow us to work much more closely with the administration on DIB issues and also answer many challenging DIB questions very clearly.

I received those questions, in writing, from Ian. We will be sharing those with the Resident Life committee and the DIB subcommittee and with anyone interested in some of the questions that he dealt with, relative to Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging.  This can be a deep and warm topic within our community.

Last year for the first time, his department published the corporate brochure titled, Our Commitment to Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. This is a corporate document.  It is very well done and outlines the corporation’s philosophy on this topic. A new version will be coming out soon, more than likely this month.  This is available to any resident, if they wish, and will certainly be shared with our committee. The recording of the meeting has been shown on Channel 972 a couple of times.  The recording is also available under MyErickson, Community Presentations, DIB.

The next meeting of the DIB subcommittee will be on April 22 at 1:00 pm, most likely in Brookside classroom one.  Since sometimes we have more folks than can fit in that classroom, I may have to make an adjustment but that will be announced at a later date.

SAFETY & SECURITY (Justine Parezo, Chair):

Our last meeting was on March the eighth. Guests were Pat Rudolph and Merci Izquierdo- Whitaker from the Residents’ Council, Jason Spivey, Craig Nelson, and Shaun White attended representing the Security department.

A big part of the discussion at that meeting actually sprang out of a question that was raised at the last Council meeting. A resident asked a question about what we do in the event of a fire. He wondered why we never have fire drills or why we don’t see the security guards practicing what to do if there’s a fire. Afterwards, I also heard people asking, “how does the fire department know where to go when they come to campus?” These are questions that we hear over and over again. As you know we are instructed to shelter in place whenever we are in our apartments or in a room anywhere on campus, when a fire is taking place outside of that area.  The fire department has looked at our facility. They’ve considered the age and the needs of our population. They’ve considered all of the systems that we have in place everywhere from sprinklers to the board that notifies the security guards when there’s a problem, and they have considered the buildings themselves.

The Fire Department has determined that it’s much safer for us to shelter in place, should the need arise, than to practice going down stairs.  That could be more of an endangerment for us than sheltering in place when there is a need. We have many, many things here that really ensure that we will be safe. Our apartment doors are rated for two hours resistance to fire and our hallway fire doors automatically close if there is a fire.

The Fire Department has decided, on the basis of fire regulations and the fire codes, that the is the best thing for us to shelter in place. There are good reasons and good science behind this advice.  Our Security Department knows where people, who have need for assistance, live. We’ve talked about that last time and actually after the last Council meeting, one of my colleagues from the Council came up and said they really do know this to be true because a couple of weeks ago there was an electricity outage or something that had happened and within three minutes a guard was at my neighbor’s door because he was a he is a person with blindness. And they knew it and they knew that he might need assistance. And in addition to that our security department has a very good working relationship with the Baltimore County Fire Department.

The next meeting of the Safety and Security Committee is scheduled for April 12, 2022 at 1:00 pm in Brookside Classroom 2.

NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS (John Yoder, Chair)

As chair of this committee, I want to report that we have had a strong response to our request for nominees to run. I think we have a strong group of candidates for the election, but we are still open for additional nominees. If you are interested in self nominating, please feel free to do that. Or if you know of someone that’s just down the hall or near you, please take the name to one of us on the committee, and we’ll be glad to follow up. I’d like to give a shout out to the committee. They are an extraordinarily hard working, smart, dedicated committee. I won’t take time to name them. But it’s been a pleasure to work with them.

WORDS FROM MANAGEMENT (Clara Parker):

This has been a great meeting and I will keep my report brief also.  If you had the opportunity to come to our Conversations meeting earlier today, you might say that some of my comments might be redundant. But not a whole lot has changed in the last few hours.

We are planning a second booster clinic at Charlestown. We are targeting a date between April 26 and April 28.  We will have much more information about the clinic in the next week or so.

I’m pleased to hear that our IT upgrade issues have largely been fixed. I realize that there are still some printing issues with wireless printing, but we’re working through that solution.  Don Grove assures me that complaints and phone calls are now few and far between. It took a while for IT to figure out the problems. We took what was one big network and divided into 12 smaller networks so it’s able to handle the volume without conflict.

I want to take a brief minute to address staff responsiveness because I heard a few reports tonight that our staff are not getting back to residents in timely manner or sometimes even at all.  I have an expectation that our staff will at least acknowledge that you’ve left a message within a 24-hour period or 48 hours as the worst-case scenario.  Obviously if it’s an emergency, they need to respond immediately. I do not, however, have a system or a mechanism to track their responsiveness. I’m entirely dependent on you to be willing to tell me that an individual you contacted did not call back.  For example, say you call Ryan Truitt. I used him as an example, on purpose.  Many times, you have to leave a message for him because he works outside all day. However, I do expect him to call you back within 24-48 hours.

But please let me or anyone else in leadership know if you are leaving message(s) for someone who does not return your message(s). The only way I can hold the staff accountable is to know who they are. Alerting leadership will help all of us.

There was a report out tonight about being cautious walking across the bridges because of the work that we need to do on the footers. I want to assure you the bridges are structurally sound. I don’t want to unintentionally start a rumor that the bridges are going to fall down. They are very structurally sound. We have them assessed on that on a regular basis. We do need to do some work on the footer because there’s some erosion down in that area. We are doing that work.

COMMENTS FROM RESIDENT GUESTS

Justine Parezo asked:

I’m just wondering if this technology (closed captioning) is going to be available for use with committee meetings.

Pat Rudolph responded: 

Anybody who has the latest PowerPoint has this technology.

Mary Ann McCormick asked:

About two and a half years ago, we had a meeting with the fire department from Catonsville. It was open to all of the residents and it was very helpful. I was wondering if we could that again.

Rosemary Eck responded: – Possibly

Sondra Tucker asked:

I have a question for Anna Marie. When we take all of that recycling stuff to wherever it is, you take it, do we get money for that?

Anna Marie Ciarrocchi responded:

No, we don’t get paid for the recycling.

Pat Rudolph asked attendees about the closed captioning used during the meeting.

Attendees indicated positive support for using it in the future.

Gordon Piche noted:

Closed captioning also works with Zoom.

Pat Rudolph noted:

With the latest version of Zoom, make sure you get the update will also allow you to do closed captioning.