President, Merci Izquierdo-Whitaker, called the regular meeting of the Residents’ Council [the Council] to order at 3:00 pm on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. 107 association members attended including Council members, Pat Kasuda, and Naomi McAfee members of the Board of Directors. Don Grove, Executive Director, Ken Zahn, Dining Services Director, Craig Nelson, Security Manager, Karen Leighton, Resident Life Director, Greg Johnson, Communications Manager, , Jason Spivey, General Services Director and Amber Fisher, CTV Coordinator.

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

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

Mission Moment: 

March 2023 Mission Moment—Charlestown Recyclers, Honorees

“Protect the Environment with Robust Recycling”

Marty Tewsksbury has been working with Housekeeping Manager Michelle Fenn on the recycling program at Charlestown for many years. He recommends for a Mission Moment all those who are helping Charlestown recycle. Many years ago, Charlestown received a little money for recycled materials. That is no longer true! The Charlestown advantage is that the hauling charge for recycling is lower than the charge for trash, and it helps protect the environment.

Recycling is complex. Marty notes that residents Mary Marshall and Mel Standiford are taking on the responsibility of moving the recycling posters to increase awareness around the community. Resident Tom Hall and others had been collecting aluminum cans to benefit the Arbutus Volunteer Department. When Tom needed to step aside, Andy Kochis was willing to step in. Volunteers help collect cans, crush them, and load them into Andy’s pickup. The cans go to a nearby recycling center where they are weighed. The cash proceeds come back to bolster the Benevolent Care Fund. In 2022 those cans brought in about $750.

Two other examples of volunteer efforts to save the environment are the persons who take soft plastic bags from the laundry room collection points to nearby grocery stores, and others, who gather the brown paper bags for groups who can put them to good use.

All these volunteers are going the extra mile to show responsibility, excellence, and teamwork which are values forming the foundation of Charlestown’s community spirit.

If you are aware of individuals or groups who spend their time helping others in the community, please let the Mission Moment Committee know. Send your nominations to Phyl Lansing. Her contact information is in the Resident Directory.

Old Business

None

EXECUTIVE TEAM REPORTS Merci Izquierdo-Whitaker, President Announcement:

• Nancy Meier named Co-Chair of Resident Life Committee
• Holleran Survey to be reviewed by Residents’ Council
• Residents’ Council to meet with BOD SPCOC Committee

Our meetings are recorded for later viewing on channel 972. Some of you do not like to speak in public or to be recorded , but we still want to hear your  thoughts and any questions you may have answered. There are index cards/paper available at the registrations area for any of you that would like to write down questions in advance or to write down any that may come to mind during the meeting. After the committee reports, you will have an opportunity to ask questions or comments;  the same will be true after the administration’s update.

Some of our council members are not able to attend today because of illness. We wish them and all our residents that are ill a speedy recovery.  Please wash your hands frequently and encourage you to wear masks when in crowded areas.  Help keep us safe.

We congratulate Don Grove on his promotion as executive director. He has hit the ground running for which our residents are grateful. We look forward to continuing our partnership. Together we will make this our home even better.

John Remias, Vice President

DIB JOINT COUNCIL REPORT –  I am John Remias, co-chair of the DIB Joint Council along with Don Grove as the other co-chair. First, who are we? The Council is a combination of six staff and six resident members. We range in age from the 20s to the 80s, so we will have a great mix of ideas in our planning of DIB programs and events through the years to come. On the staff side, we have representation from the HR, Finance, Continuing Care, Dining, Rehab and Administration departments. A great mix there.

What do we hope to do? We will be developing a formal mission statement, but the basic idea is for us to plan and offer programs to our community that will focus on the various elements of diversity, like for example culture, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion, and more. One of our hopes is to also focus on programs that can have participation from the staff as well as the residents. This can become a challenge for staff attendance as they have real jobs to do while wanting to be a part of our events.

A couple of the things that we anticipate offering will be the recognition of Pride Month in June and possibly a Multicultural Festival in the Fall.

Don and I do want to give a shoutout to Greg Mazzeo, from the HR department. Greg has been a vocal spokesman for promoting diversity programs at Charlestown for a number of years and is now a key member of our Council, showing much enthusiasm and leadership. Thanks Greg.

Our next meeting will be at the end of March for Council members only.

Diana Dunaway, Secretary

No report

Mimi O’Donnell, Treasurer 

Treasurer’s Report — March 7, 2023

• The Council’s account balance at the end of January was $4,258.11. During the month of February, the revenue was $4213.00
• The Council had no expenses in the month of February.
• The account balance as of February 28, 2023, was $8132.25.

The Residents’ Council collects dues in the usual amount of $2.00 (or more) from residents to fund Council activities.  These activities include:

• Continuous maintenance of the CCI Charlestown web page.
• Providing a Zoom account for Council meetings.
• Providing transportation for residents who may travel to Annapolis to lobby for specific legislation impacting Continuing Care Retirement Communities that has been introduced during the Maryland Legislative Session.
• Procuring stationery supplies for the Council such as the envelope package given to each residence for the Dues Campaign.
• Giving a donation to the League of Women Voters for the tabloid guide prepared prior to each election.
• Other items, as approved by the Council, in support of activities for Charlestown Residents.

While the dues campaign period was listed as from February 10 to March 10, dues will be accepted at any time.

As of March 1, 938 residents have given the Council dues ranging from $1.00 to $100.00. The average dues payment thus far this year is $4.49.

The Council appreciates the generosity of the Charlestown residents.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Benevolent Care, Carol Kefford, Chair, Presented by Merci  Izquierdo-Whitaker Events:

• Winter Putterland Raised $10,662
• The next treasure sale is in May
• Paint The Town Red is going to be our 40th Anniversary Gala, on September 22

Planned Giving Update:
Focus Groups in March and April (If You Get an Invitation, Please Participate )

Next Meeting will be Wednesday, March 22, 2023, at 2:00 PM CTS 216

Communications, David Elder, Co-Chair Administration Presentation:

• Gregory Johnson spoke about Wheelchair & Cart recovery.
• Accessible communications TTY were discussed Dry Erase boards, Call Cords & Email .

On-going issues:

• 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 Issues, Connectivity, Stability, and Recent Outages were discussed.
• Charlie Eichenlaub discussed the Evergreen Topics.
• Channel 972 progress was discussed- Fiber cabling has been completed for highdefinition upgrade for Charlestown 972. Only item now outstanding is an insertion card from 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 to get HD working on campus to enable digital closed captioning.
• Communications Committee Communications Survey – final review and timetable.

New Business:

• Chair raised the request for residents to consider running for office on the Residents’ Council. Merci reminded us of the ELLIC Residents’ Council 101 class.
• Final review and timetable for the Communications Survey were discussed.
• Announcement of the upcoming Technology Assistance Day on Monday March 20^th from 10 AM to noon in the Chesapeake Dining Room.
• Plans for moving Communications/Website Committee to hybrid meetings in April.
• Upgrading Comcast/Xfinity TV services – review of what is part of the bulk service contract, service add-ons, and hardware available from Comcast. For those questions we cannot answer, we will send them on to Jason Spivey as Comcast point of contact.
• When you call Comcast BULK SERVICES [1-855-638-2855] please verify with EACH person you speak with, that you are speaking with BULK SERVICES!

Next Communications Committee meeting is March 27, 2023, By ZOOM, preceded by the Website Committee ZOOM Meeting at 1 PM. The same link will be used for both meetings.

Conservation, Mark Buehlman Chair

At our January meeting we went over our ongoing projects such as recycling and reuse.

We are continuing to bring in outside presenters to share either about their group or role at Charlestown. In January we had Cortney Baker, the new Grounds Supervisor. He shared some of his ideas about the role of sustainable horticulture and the use of native species in Charlestown’s landscaping plans.

The new legislative session for Maryland began January 11^th  and we continue, in conjunction with the Legislative/Political Committee, to track and if appropriate comment on, proposed environmental legislation. In support, our February presenter will be Paulette Hammond, cochair of the Legislative/Political Committee. She will talk about the work of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, environmental legislation introduced this session and strengthening MEPA, the Maryland Environmental Policy Act.

Our next meeting is Tuesday, February 21, 2023, at 2:00 pm in BR1. Everyone is welcome.

Dining Services, Mary Lee Seaman, Chairman Presented by Merci Izquierdo-Whitaker

Natalie is ill so she could not come but that group is studying the Dining Social Proposal to encourage people to socialize while dining and  upcoming events. There will be an Open House at all restaurants April 5, 2023, at 2:00[m.

The next meeting is March the 20th at 1:30 in Charlestown Square 116.

Finance Committee, John Yoder, Chair

The Finance Committee met on February 28, 2023, at 9:00. Highlights of the meeting include:

• Jason Spivey reported highlights of current and anticipated projects:
  • Caton Ridge repairs have encountered challenges that required additional equipment. Completion date is uncertain, likely late spring or summer
  • Initial plans for Historic District have been submitted to BOD; still subject to revision; input from residents will be invited.
  • A list of Capital Expenses projects that will be funded for 2023 was reviewed.
• Highlights of Financial Report for January include:
  • Total Net Operating Income (NOI) was above budget. IL was below budget but was offset by Continuing Care being above, Independent Living occupancy was 94.1%; Continuing Care 100% (i.e., ‘full’)
  • Fourteen settlements were offset by 18 releases, most of which were due to deaths. o As of Jan. 31, there were 79 open staff positions
  • Seventeen residents were on Benevolent Fund support – down one from December
• Finance Dept and Committee are sponsoring a Cyber Security workshop 4/27 at 10:00 AM

The next meeting of the Committee will be March 28 at 9:00 in Brookside #1.

Grounds Committee, Mike Rose, Chair

The Committee discussed: possible remedies to pet damage of the grounds, raised garden beds, future tree trimming and removal, pothole repair, sidewalk repair and replacing the aging boxwood at Brookside.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 28, 2023, at 11:00 am in Brookside Classroom 1

Health Services, James Fitzsimmons, Co-Chair

The meeting on February 14, 2023, was cancelled because the Co-Chairs was unavailable The March meeting was cancelled due to illness.
Next Medications Take Back date: April 10, 2023, at 1:00-3:00 pm at Fireside & Cross Creek Lobbies
Next Meeting: Tuesday, April 11, 2023, 11:00 am in Brookside Classroom 1

Housekeeping, Sebastian Petix, Chair

No Report

Next quarterly meeting will be April 17 at 10 AM in Brookside classroom 1

Legislative/Political, Pat Payne, Chair It’s a new era in Maryland –

It’s a new era in the Executive Branch:

• New Governor, Wes Moore & Lieutenant Governor, Aruna Miller New Comptroller, Brooke Lierman
• The State Treasurer, Dereck E. Davis, is the “old timer” in the Executive Branch with slightly over a year of experience.
• New Attorney General, Anthony Brown

New era in the General Assembly:

• Newly redistricted Legislature is now in place with increased Democratic majorities in both the Senate and the House as a result of the 2022 election
• The General Assembly is also equipped with new authority to reallocate funds in a governor’s proposed budget.

Yes, we are entering a new era in Maryland State Government.

So far, it’s been a very active legislative session. The Legislative/Political Committee is tracking proposed legislation in these key areas:

• State ethics laws
• Election law & voting
• Health Care
• Conservation and Climate Change
• The Maryland State Budget is being voted on as Maryland experiences record high state revenues – Maryland has an estimated $2.5 billion budget surplus heading toward the next fiscal year. and
• The creation of two key taskforces in areas of major concern.

A Few Legislative Highlights:

• A proposed law requiring that polling places be located Continuing Care Retirement Communities
• Proposed Legislation requiring that each county in MD prepare a climate crisis plan.
• Income tax proposals that will provide tax credits for caregivers of senior family members AND for long term care insurance premiums
• A proposal to create a State Task Force to study ways to reduce emergency dept. wait times,
• And a proposal to create a task force to explore the creation of a regional water & sewer authority.

Want to know more? Come and join us at our next meeting which will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, March 8^th in Brookside Classroom 1 at 10:00 am

Maintenance/Engineering, Gordon Piche’

Our committee met on Tuesday, February 28th at 2pm, in the General Services’ Conference Room with General Services’ Kevin Crawford, Chris Caldwell and Don Hoffman.  Also in attendance was the Council Vice President.

PROJECTS SCHEDULED FOR 2023 – Brookside Renovations are completed. Renovations planned for Herbert’s Run should start soon. Action remains stalled for some key locations on the interior signage updating project. Nearly all the black top A/C bridge units are still not working during this cold weather; Maintenance is measuring the units water flow rates.  Caton Ridge building renovations will be completed this summer.

ITEMS OF CONCERN THAT NEED ATTENDTION AND NEW ISSUES – Some of the roadway wood guard rails are in bad condition – Maintenance is considering doing replacement next over the few months. Lighting update for the crosswalk at the East end of Brookside is completed.  The gutter downspout at The ST. Charles is scheduled to be repaired.  A flow test demo for the HVAC water system was completed and demonstrated that flooding can be significantly reduced.  Campus sidewalk tripping hazards reappeared and have been addressed.  The committee discussed the high noise level of an HVAC unit for Chapel Court.

PROJECTS SCHEDULED FOR NEXT YEAR 2024 – The replacement elevator for Chapel Court is delayed.  The extent of renovations for the Auditorium Stage have not been developed.  Roof replacements for Buildings 8 (Arborside) and 9 (Green Tree Court) have been deferred.

Next scheduled mtg March 28, 2023, at 2pm in the General Services Conference Room

Resident Life, Nancy Meier,  Co-Chair

The focus of the February Resident Life Committee meeting was transportation. First, we heard from Mary Evans regarding the 40^th anniversary preparations. Community Services will provide one or two ball caps per residence with additional hats costing $20.

David Schuch, the Transportation Manager gave an overview of Charlestown’s services which are available for medical and non-medical needs. Transportation is free-of-charge to the St. Agnes complex where they make 14 stops, but not to St. Agnes satellite offices. David explained the reasoning behind the increased shuttle cost and answered members’ questions.

Marcel Simmons, the General Manager for the Baltimore County, County Ride program spoke next. The County Ride program is available to residents 60 years of age and older and can be used for medical and non-medical purposes. Once registered, an individual can schedule rides 1-14 days in advance. Aside from their vehicles, they also partner with Uber and Lyft. Ms. Simmons mentioned service to Johns Hopkins Hospital, but they provide transportation to many Baltimore area hospitals.

Next Joyce Tarrant spoke about the MTA Mobility program. It is an ADA 24/7 service costing $2.20 each way. Once registered, an individual can schedule a ride one day in advance. A subscription service is available for individuals with regularly scheduled appointments. Service had slowed down during Covid but has improved.

The first Tapestry event was so successful that the DIB subcommittee has scheduled two more: Tuesday, March 28 at 2pm and Wednesday, March 29 at 10am, both in the Conference Center.

An announcement has been posted on channel 972. The subcommittee is learning from the first sessions and will continue make appropriate changes in the future.

Next Meeting: Topic: “VOLUNTEERING OPTIONS” March 15, 2023, at 2 PM in BR 2

Safety and Security, Justine Parezo Chair, read by Mary Lee Seaman

1. At our last meeting Craig Nelson and our members shared what we were able to learn about lithium batteries. After an extensive discussion, we decided that incidents of danger from lithium batteries are few and far between. Therefore, we see no reason to raise an alarm. At the same time, we recognize that the consequences of malfunctioning batteries or charges are very serious. Therefore, we agreed that we would further research the issue and come up with a list of recommendations to ensure the safety of residents who use such batteries. One of our members who is a highly experienced former safety director has agreed to do this for us.
2. Many residents are concerned about the improper use of EMVs. We will be focusing on proper registration of such vehicles and encouraging users to maintain appropriate speeds. In the meantime, if you see a driver putting residents at risk, copy down the registration number on the back of their vehicle, and report it to Security.
3. We will have a table at the March health fair and will offer an opportunity for residents to sign up for safety pendants.

Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 14, 20231:00 PM Brookside Classroom 1

COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS FROM RESIDENTS AND GUESTS:

Merci introduced Don Grove, Interim Executive Director, who gave an administration update.

Don started by stating his appreciation for Merc’s comments about Chandra Kumar, the former Executive Director. Although her departure was abrupt, she is in a good place for her and  sends us her love.

Other issues covered:

• The helicopter over campus this afternoon was looking for a person who ran from a routine traffic stop, He has been found, and the issue resolved.
• Covid numbers are down with six cases of residents on campus, two in independent living, two in continuing care and two employees.
• The presentation by Erickson IT management that Larry Taylor, RC Chair of the

Communications Committee, mentioned is available on 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 and on YouTube

• Don explained the difference between cellular repeaters and Wi-Fi repeaters. Verizon is taking away their cellular repeaters. Erickson is working on improving cellular reception
• The reported outage of the pull cords, pendants and smoke alarms was not a system outage but was caused by a computer malfunction. The cause is still under investigation.
• Don talked about the close relationship between management and the Residents’ Council working together to address concerns. As examples, he cited the IT presentation, the focus groups on plans to rehab the historic areas, the Brookside furniture, and pictures update. Lessons learned will be applied to Hubert’s Run update.
• There have been many concerns expressed about the need to update the signage around campus and questions about how long some changes take. Some new signs are being added but in the historic area some have not been made because remodel plans have not been finalized and signage will need to be changes when decisions are made.
• Another area of concern is paving and sidewalks. The worst of the areas are being marked to address this spring.
• Residents have complained about work crews leaving lights on in apartments under construction and where workers park. Notices have been sent to vendors to remind them to turn off lights at the end of the day and to remind them of where to park.
• Elevator certificates are supposed to be updated tomorrow.
• Upgrades to the auditorium are scheduled for next year
• Hearing loop setup is being added to the Gallery for people with hearing aids Once that is completed the system will be added to the auditorium and the conference center.
• Management received results from the Holleran Survey and is organizing data so it can be shared with residents. He said the numbers are high, but he wants them higher.
• Don and his wife are eating Friday dinners at Charlestown to observe. He said their experience has been good, but he is taking notes and will work on issue identified.
• Some progress has been made with the Terrace restaurant and that is moving forward.
• Don thanked everyone for attending the three o’clock session and said he hoped the 3 pm time would continue.
• Don encouraged residents to participate with their families in the Winter Putterland Events planned for the week of February 20^th to raise money for Benevolent Care. The Treasure Sale raised $35,000 for Benevolent Care

Don then opened the meeting for questions and the following questions were asked:

• Are we ever going to get private dining rooms back?
  • The issue is capacity. Private dining rooms will probably not return until we can safely resolve the seating capacity issue
• The amount of increase in transportation fees was questioned o Don explained that the cost of additional services, such as transportation, were subsidized by the monthly service fee. This year, because of the rate of inflation,

the monthly service package needed to increase by 10% or more. To reduce the amount of the monthly increase a decision was made to price additional services at their actual costs. In the case of transportation, each trip actually requires four trips, two to deliver and two to pick up. No one is happy with the increase in charges, but it is where the costs are currently. Don also praised the RC

Transportation committee for identifying alternative options for transportation.

• Sebastian Petix asked a question about the construction mess left by contractors, specifically plaster and sheetrock dust.
  • Don asked Jason SPIVEY, General Services Director, to follow up on this issue with contractors and with the RC Housekeeping Committee to monitor the issue.
• Barbara Fleming, 8-T05, questioning the need for the 5:30 Sunday morning call about pendants working.
  • Don said that there should have been two calls: one to inform residents the emergency call system was not working, then one to report it was back online. The calls are necessary for safety and security reasons but the, hopefully, the reason for the breakdown has been resolved.

As there were no further questions, President Merci Izquierdo-Whitaker adjourned the meeting at 4:21 pm

Respectfully submitted,
Diana Dunaway
Residents’ Council Secretary