President John Remias called the regular meeting of the Residents’ Council [the Council] to order at 3:00 pm on Tuesday March 5, 2024. 114 people were in attendance including association members; all but one Residents’ Council member, Jason Dennis, Assistant General Services Director; and Paul Edelman, Assistant Dining Services Director.

Previously distributed minutes of the February 6 meeting of the Residents’ Council meeting were approved as presented.

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

Mission Moment
Our mission moment this month is unusual in two ways. First, the Honorees request to be anonymous and, second the Nominator is a Staff person.

Thykira Pirore, who is often at the St. Charles desk, was given a stretch assignment some time ago of scheduling Reserved Resident Parking spaces. She has maintained the St. Charles list for three years and informs residents when their request for a parking space comes to the top of her list.

Thykira recommends two St. Charles residents for this month’s Mission Moment recognition. They had been patiently waiting for a reserved spot for some time, but when their name came to the top of the list, it was for a pristine space directly in front of St. Charles. They immediately asked if the people next in line needed that convenient spot more than they did. They are both mobile and said they would be glad to remain on the list until another parking spot became available. So, indeed, their new spot was able to be shared with those next people in line who had the greater need.

These two St. Charles residents choose to remain anonymous. Thykira said that in her experience no one has ever offered to wait for a new turn on the list.

Whoever you are, we thank you and welcome your generosity of spirit.

Executive Team Reports

John Remias, President
I want to focus on a couple of community-wide efforts that are going on outside of our committees’ scopes.

First, I just want to spend a couple of minutes on the Design Review teams that we are establishing in coordination with the Administration. The purpose of these teams will be to provide for residents’ opinions on the Administration’s proposals for furniture, lighting, carpeting, and wall paint during our building renovations. Frankly, because the first buildings selections were made some time ago, we have just focused on the furniture selections for Brookside and Herberts Run.

The St. Charles team met once to discuss their suggestions about some of the proposals for the St. Charles furniture and we are waiting for a response from the home office and our own staff about these suggestions. The St. Charles team approved my sharing their names. They are Rosemary Erdman, Steve Harders, Julie Helms, Rosemary Herman, Dorothy Nyberg, and Carol Schimpff. So, if you have any questions, you can go ahead and contact one of these good people.

The next design team will be for the Historic District, and I will be looking for volunteers to be part of that team in the next few weeks. If you are interested, please be in touch with me.

Second, I want to share some information about a program that is being planned by the Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Joint Council. This month we will help with the celebrations of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day. We are inviting residents and employees to come tell their Women’s Day stories by participating in a 5–10-minute interview on 972 this Friday, the 8^th. Come share a milestone, accomplishment, or any other element of our journey. So far, we will have Naomi Benzil and Elva Tillman share their efforts in promoting women in law and industry in our area and nationally. We look forward to celebrating and recognizing your stories. If you do have a story you would like to share, please contact Merci or me. On March 26th, our Council will continue to share this celebration of Women’s History Month in the Wilton Overlook meeting hall at 1:00. More to come.

Diana Dunaway, Treasurer

Balance – January 31, 2024                $7,778.57
Expenses                                             $   145.27
Balance – February 5, 2024                $7,633.30

February 2024 Expenses Details

Secretary                                             $     73.22 – certificates, forms, and covers

Conservation                                      $      72.05 – paper and envelopes

$     145.27

Committee Reports

Benevolent Care, Carol Kefford

Benevolent Care Funds received in February:

• Treasurer Sale brought in $52,000 which was a record high.
• Winter Putterland brought in $8000. Kudos to Pat Kasuda and her team.

Legacy Tree “Ruby Leaf” Dedication Ceremony was held on February 13 in celebration of 40th anniversary.

• 3 Plaque entries – donation of 100% of Entrance Deposit
• 4 Boulders – donation of $25,000+
• 6 Large Leaves – donation of $10,000+
• 18 Small Leaves – donation of $5,000+

The next “Get the Scoop” event will be in the Gallery on March 20 at 1:00.

Next meeting: March 27, 2025,2:00 via Zoom.

Communications, David Elder and Larry Taylor, Co-chairs

• Photo/Email project update: The Council is requesting all members to participate in this activity. We are still working to get more Residents to add their photos to MyErickson. Please note that MyErickson can only be accessed by Charlestown Resident’s and Staff, which is a secure website.
• Success of the last Tech Bar (40 + residents participated): Check-in changes were made, allowing residents’ concerns to be addressed quicker. Check-in was managed by Community Resources and with help from residents. Also, Myrone Foster, our IT Manager, received additional support from Charlestown Administration, Home Office IT staff and the 800 Computer Services folks.  They all made this Tech Bar a great success and is always appreciated by all Charlestown.
• Our next Tech Bar is scheduled for Wednesday April 3 from 10 to 12 in the Chesapeake Restaurant. This is a free event and onsite service calls booked at this event are also free!
• Administration deployment of email communications with residents: Don Grove noted in his past Administration Update on February 12 on 972 that he would like to use emails to replace Cubby Stuffing. He also had asked Residents to check, update or add their email address in MyErickson.
• We cannot express the importance for Residents to visit our Council Website at https://ccicharlestown.org to see what is going on at Charlestown through the eyes of fellow residents.

Next Meeting: Monday, March 25, at 2:00 PM via ZOOM, and preceded by the Website Subcommittee Meeting at 1:00 PM also by ZOOM.

Conservation, Mark Buehlman
After some discussion during the month, Charlestown will continue to recycle used batteries. The collection points will still be in the laundry rooms. Also, many of you drop off your dining carry-out bags for reuse. Those collections will continue as soon as Marty Tewksbury is able to set up a new storage area.

The 2024 Maryland Legislative Session is well under way. In cooperation with the Legislative & Political Committee, we are tracking Maryland proposed environmental legislation, placing special emphasis on the most significant four or five. Pre-addressed postcards were handed out that could be sent back to our local Legislators in support of the Better Buildings Act.

Once again, the Committee will have a table at the upcoming Nature Fest. As a “save the date,” Nature Fest this year will be from 10am until 2pm on Thursday, April 25.

We have been working on a study of freshwater use at Charlestown. An article providing practical water conservation tips for both residents and Administration will be published in next month’s Sunburst. While this may not seem like a major issue, to put it in perspective, a faucet that leaks one drop of water per second wastes over 5 gallons of water in a day.

Next meeting: Tuesday, March 19, 2024, at 2:00 pm in Brookside Classroom 1.

Dining , Peggy Carey and Stephanie Leddy, Co-Chairs

• Dining increased from 76% to 87% in quality this year in resident survey with an 80.2 overall.
• A reminder when the new Static menus come out, there will be no specials that week to allow the kitchens to adjust to all the new menu items.
• A reminder that new fruit specials are in addition to the fruit cup. They will be available as a side or dessert. Some will be whole fruit or selection of a fruit such as grapes.
• The best way to be heard is through QR CODES. This past month the numbers dropped from 1100 responses to 750.
• Committee is looking at sound paneling in Fireside.

Concerns from, committee leaders include:

• Better communication ordering from static menu on Special Days.
• Improved consistency-for example, fruit special listed on all menus.
• Questions as to what “Corporate” initiatives are versus “Charlestown”.
• Lack of My Nutrition entries for Specials.
• Lack of gravy entries on My Nutrition

The next meeting: March 18, at 1:30 in Charlestown Square 116.

Finance, John Yoder

• Charlestown finances remain very strong.
• Net operating income for January was almost $2M above budget.
• Billed occupancies for January 2024
  • Independent Living 7%; average for 2023 was 94.6%
  • Continuing Care 3%; average for 2023 was 98.1%
• As of January 31, there were 16 residents on Benevolent Care funds.
• There were also 13 settlements and 18 releases in January.

The next meeting: March 26 at 9:00 in Brookside #1

Grounds, Dick Voelkel
The Catonsville Rails to Trails (CRTT) organization received a $75,000 grant for fence work to replace some of our Charlestown fence. They hired a surveyor, who began work last week. CRTT is also having a volunteer Shortline Trail cleanup on March 2nd in Kensington area.

Nature Trail work is not yet been scheduled. The contractor wants to stage equipment on butterfly garden.

Lake hydro raking could take place in spring. Dried sediment could be used as fill on campus. Courtney will get samples to see what’s in the mud.

The Ruppert grounds contract will not end until March 2025. A new contractor will probably not be them.

Roadway guard rails replacement will occur soon. The contractor is selecting the posts.

Next meeting: March 26, at 11am in Brookside classroom 1.

Health Services, Jean Tribulski and Connie Cooney, Co-Chairs
Kristen Aybar, Home Care Administrator, Capri White-Coleman, assistant Home Care Administrator and Shannon Scranton, manager Home Care Clinical provided a presentation on Home Care services. They defined the difference between Home Health versus Home Support, what each one is, how does one get into each program, and the benefits it gives to Charlestown Residents. All 3 stressed they are always available to answer questions and encourage residents to contact them to ask the questions. Note that while home support services have a fee, some are covered by your long-term insurance policy. Most all Home Health Services are covered by Medicare. For more information, go to ccicharlestown.org …Health/Fitness…Home Care or ccicharlestown.org… council committees…health committee.

1. Continuing Care: Pat Kasuda and Louise Dempsey reported that Wilton Overlook is again enforcing masks.
2. Ombudsman Program: Stevanne Ellis, head of the Ombudsman program will speak at our April 9 meeting.
3. Communicable Disease Statistics: from the CDC, Respiratory illness from flu is holding steady at 4.4% with most activity in the southern states and flu vaccinations are recommended. CDC study shows that non-egg-based vaccines are more effective than egg based. Charlestown residents receive the non-egg-based vaccine.
4. Technology: Jim Fitzsimmons clarified that assistive technology refers to devices used to assist people with mobility issues.
5. Falls Prevention; members of this committee worked with the Administration committee titled Preserving Independence. The Home Health Services are also involved with this effort. Their kickoff presentation was on February 28. If you did not get a brochure on preventing falls, there is a copy of it on Ccicharlestown.org…news…health. Or they are in their office in Cross Creek.
6. Kasuda mentioned that the annual Nurses Luncheon will be coming up in May and encouraged anyone who was a nurse to attend. If you were a nurse and are not on the list for the luncheon, please let me know and we will get you added. When the scholarship funding campaign is underway, you can designate your contribution to go directly to nursing or health care in general on the form.

Next meeting is March 12 at 11:00 am in Classroom BR 1

Housekeeping, Sebastian Petix
Housekeeping Committee did not meet in February. Committee members and several individual residents submitted reports directly to management regarding contractor issues, carpet and floor stains, ceiling tiles, paint chips, missing lights, and the need for wall protectors. Residents are encouraged to submit housekeeping issues observed to cciworkorders@erickson.com and copy joysig@aol.com for follow-up to your request.

Next meeting is March 18 at 10:00 in Brookside 1.

Legislative/Political, Paulette Hammond and Art Johnson, Co-Chairs

• The committee agreed to wait until candidates are chosen for the final election in November before considering how the committee might engage them on our campus.
• New residents and residents who have moved within Charlestown need to change their voter registration. The League of Women Voters is actively engaged in informing our residents about voter registration.
• MaCCRA is planning a day in Annapolis for March 19 from 9-1. Since then, it was decided not to participate in this event due to concern about the focus of the event and the status of its planning.
• Several bills were discussed or mentioned in our last meeting. You may find the status of these and other bills that we have mentioned in the past on the residents’ website: org.

Next meeting:  March 13 at 10:00 in Brookside Classroom #1

Maintenance and Engineering, Jerry Donaldson
Jay Spivey updated the committee on the status of the evaluation of the A. J. Adams report. Charlestown contracted with the firm to survey and evaluate the Brookside complex with respect to potential water intrusion incidents. Mr. Spivey reported that AJ Adam’s survey and evaluation of the Brookside PVC piping indicated that the Brookside PVC piping was in good condition and would not require replacement.

Mr. Spivey reported that the AJ Adam’s Report did address all the suggestions and recommendations made by the resident members of our M&E Committee but that M&E Committee resident representatives would be a part of the evaluation of the AJ Adam’s Report. It should be noted that the evaluation of the AJ Adam’s Report has just begone and there is still a much work to be accomplished.

There are still six open Action Items. Three of the six, the repair of the St. Charles to Herbert’s Run bridge support washout, the walking bridge on the Nature Trail, and the replacement of guardrails, are waiting for Baltimore County permits.

The Caton Ridge building renovations are progressing with the stabilization work scheduled for completion by the end of March 2024. The remaining tasks, including relocating the Physical Therapy area back to Caton Ridge, are scheduled to be completed by the end of the first quarter of this year.

New Business:

• The Signage Sub-Committee, under the M&E Committee, was formed with identified members, meetings, and focus of the committee.
• A plan to address the Charlestown clogged gutters will be generated following a cost analysis between installing gutter guards and contracting an outside firm to clean the gutters.
• The broken exit door on the fourth floor of Chapel Court has been replaced.
• The lack of hot water in Edgewood following a power outage was investigated but could not be duplicated. This issue will be monitored.
• The need for a sidewalk handrail in front of the Courtyard Crossing entrance is being evaluated. The results of this evaluation will determine the appropriate action to be taken.
• It has been noted that several of the Charlestown elevators have posted inspection documentation that is not up to date. General Services accepted an Action Item to address this issue and will report on the action required to bring the inspection documentation up to date.

 

The next meeting: March 26 in the General Services Conference Room at 2:00 PM

Resident Life, Nancy Fayer and Margaret Vincent, Co-Chairs
Margaret Vincent announced an upcoming brainstorming meeting for improving our resident-run efforts to welcome new residents on March 7, 2024, at 1 pm in BR 1. The survey results concerning the possible Photo Book are being evaluated and a final decision about the viability of the project will be forthcoming. Ms. Vincent encouraged all residents to add their photo to the MyErickson Resident Directory.

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

Safety and Security, Ed Appel
The Baltimore County 911 presentation on February 22 was extremely well received by over 70 residents. EMT Lt. Jennifer Martucci, assisted by our Craig Nelson, gave an informative and energetic presentation on the capabilities of the 911 system.

It should be mentioned that we, the residents, should still contact our Security department first, unless there is a real emergency, so that our security team can do the initial evaluation, and possible treatment, of the situation and then get in touch with 911 immediately when necessary.

Our committee plans to establish a Guns Working Group to review Charlestown’s policies on guns possession and related firearms safety issues.

There was some preliminary discussion on establishing a Dementia Safety work group. Concern was expressed about the occasional situations where some of our residents lose their way on campus due to the onset of dementia and how to help them in an appropriate way.

It has also been reported that there are occasional thefts of personal items off our shelves. Again, these thefts should be reported to the Security department, who will then turn over the investigation of those thefts to the Baltimore County Police Department.

John Remias also reported that the flashing red stop sign on Erickson Way was indeed stolen shortly after the last Treasure Sale.

Ed asked me to share that it is his opinion that our overall safety and security at Charlestown continues to be high.

Next meeting: Thursday, March 14, 2024, at 1:00 in Charlestown Square classroom CTS

Nominations and Elections, Mark Buehlman and Joe Carrick
Along with Joe Carrrick, I Co-chair the Residents’ Council Nominating Committee for 2024.
In addition to Joe and myself and me, we have a strong team consisting of Peg Buehlman, Pat Kasuda, Pat Rudolph, Jean Eichenlaub, Wendel Thompson, and Mary Lee Seaman. We are seeking nominees for the Residents’ Council.

Council Members serve for three-year terms on a rolling basis. Seven members will retire at the end of this August and will need to be replaced by qualified candidates. The committee tries to recruit twice that number to give all residents a choice and to be able to fill unexpected vacancies that arise during the year.

Please be open to a call and consider serving on a Council that lets residents have a voice in making Charlestown the best possible place to live at this stage in our lives. Also, please consider who among your friends and acquaintances might make a good candidate and let any member of the committee know.

Questions and Answers

One resident requested clarification on the status of the Shortline trail and access to it from Charlestown. John Remias provided this clarification:

For those of you that may not know, we have a Rails-to-Trails trail just north of us. It is called the Shortline trail. To get there, just go out our front gate, turn right on Maiden Choice Lane and walk, or drive, about ½ mile and you will reach the trail. If you then turn right and walk for exactly a ½ mile, past the Baltimore National Cemetery, you will reach the end of the trail and will see our Brookside building over the high wooden fence along Erickson Way.

The Shortline Trail is maintained by the Catonsville Rails to Trails (aka CRTT) organization. They have begun planning to extend the trail along our wooden fence for about four tenths of a mile past the Kensington home complex. They have been in contact with Charlestown about requesting a sliver of land (repeat sliver of land) along sections of the proposed trail, where there is an adjacent ravine, to give them space to accommodate the new trail’s width requirement. In exchange for this, CRTT will replace our old worn-out wooden fence, that you can see along Erickson Way, with a new wooden fence.

CRTT received a $75,000 grant to survey the layout of the proposed trail extension. Again, CRTT has obtained this grant. Charlestown is putting out NO money for this project and is gaining a new fence along our perimeter.

FINALLY, Charlestown has NO plans to approve an access gate to the Shortline Trail. I confirmed this with Don just last week and am sure nothing has changed in the last few days. Let me repeat that – there are NO plans for an access gate to the Shortline Trail.

Respectively submitted,
Nancy Meier, Residents’ Council Secretary