President John Remias called the regular meeting of the Residents’ Council [the Council] to order at 3:00 pm on Tuesday August 6, 2024. 98 residents were in attendance including Residents’ Council members minus five. Additional staff members included Don Grove, Executive Director; Leslie Johnson Assistant Executive Director; Jay Spivey, General Services Director; and Lesley Johnson, Resident Life Director.

Moment of Silence
The Council observed a moment of silence for those who have passed away.
Previously distributed minutes of the July 2 meeting of the Residents’ Council meeting were approved as presented.

Mission Moment
“One of Charlestown’s Angels”
Jeannette Baugher has only lived at Charlestown a comparatively short time, but she has already demonstrated the Erickson Values so beautifully that she has received two separate Mission Moment nominations.
As Ed and Kathy Appel explain, “Jeannette came to Charlestown a year ago, bringing her mother, for whom she cares due to her declining health. Among her neighbors, Jeannette befriended several whom she has assisted selflessly and tirelessly through sickness, disability, disorientation and even death.”
Anne and Owen Crabb affirm Jeannette’s gifts to fellow residents: “From the day she moved in across the hall, we knew we had a dear friend. Jeannette exhibits a kindness that is a joy to observe.” For example, Jeannette’s simple compliment to a resident on an elevator resulted in her discovering that the woman had just experienced a family death. Jeannette immediately supported her through the practical details of planning the funeral.
Both Ed and Kathy’s and Anne and Owen’s tributes include Jeannette’s caring for a resident before and after hospitalization, even sitting with her as she was dying. Jeannette has also assisted other neighbors with moving in, cell phone usage, meals and medication, and even help at night if needed. On one occasion, Jeannette, in Ed and Kathy’s words, “heard a faint cry for help, discovered an injured neighbor, summoned security and provided support for a broken limb.” Anne and Owen add that Jeannette has continued to care for this neighbor and to share meals and conversations which bring both Jeannette and her neighbor great joy.
Ed and Kathy conclude, “Jeannette continually exhibits friendship, warmth, kindness, and the best spirit of Charlestown.” Although Jeannette has explained her service as just being “in the right place at the right time,” Anne and Owen declare, “We think we would call her “One of Charlestown’s Angels.”
Do you know a resident who has demonstrated Jeannette’s Caring, Friendliness, Responsibility, and the other Erickson Values of Integrity, Diversity, Enthusiasm, Excellence, and Teamwork? Please send your nomination to Marianne Reichelt, HR-419, marianne.reichelt03@gmail.com.

Executive Team Reports
John Remias, President
Well, my year as President of the Council is officially over in 6 days. It has been an honor to lead the Council during the last 12 months and to represent your interests, primarily to the Administration.
I have asked the committees to share some form of yearend report where they can, to give you a summary idea of what they’ve been up to.
My goal at the beginning of the year was to stress the importance of Partnership – a partnership with the Administration, a partnership with the Board of Directors, a partnership with Corporate, a partnership within the Council committees and a partnership among ourselves. We worked on these partnerships, and they are strong.
I do want to thank each one of the Council members for their efforts on your behalf. They have been a great team to work with.
I also want to extend sincere thanks to Don and Leslie for their cooperation throughout the year – both to the Council and especially to me personally.
Thank you both!
One more time! IT’S BEEN A PRIVILEGE AND AN HONOR. Now, it’s time to turn things over to the younger generation.
Election of RC officers

Last month the Residents’ Council Officers Nominating committee presented the slate of Residents’ Council officers for 2024-2025. They include:
President – Carl (Joe) Carrick
Vice President – Jerry Donaldson
Secretary – Nancy Meier
Treasurer – Connie Cooney
The current Council members voted unanimously to accept and elect this slate of officers. The new officers will be installed at our Residents’ Association Annual Meeting next Monday, August 12, here in the Auditorium.

For the other Council positions, we have a strong slate of 13 candidates running this year to include:
o Virginia Antevil
o Lois Eldred
o Jack Flood
o Eileen Friedman
o Bill Jones
o John Kuntz
o Richard Lee
o Charles Robinson
o Fred Sadler
o Larry Taylor
o Rob Vickerman
o Marty White
o Jean Williamson

Election Day will be Wednesday, August 7, outside the restaurant near where you live. The only change from last year is residents in Buildings 1-5 will be voting at a separate table outside the Terrace Restaurant. This is due to the uncertainty of space because of the construction in the historic area. Please review the election material including directions for absent tee ballots.

Diana Dunaway, Treasurer
Balance – June 30, 2024, $ 5,833.63
Expenses $ 458.68
Balance – July 31, 2024, $ 5,374.95
July 2024 Expenses Details
Secretary $ 237.31 – RC Badges
Conservation $ 50.00 – Project Support
Legislative/Political $ 145.22 – Meet and Greet
Health Services $ 10.58 — Drug Disposal Supplies
Nominations $ 15.57 – Election Supplies
Total $ 458.68

Committee Reports

Benevolent Care, Carol Kefford
September is Benevolent Care Month, so look for opportunities to learn more about Benevolent Care and ways to support “Home for Life”. Everyone should receive a packet of information and a donor card in your cubby. There will be drawings for baskets of goodies for those who return the card. Watch the scroll for specific events.

In July we had another record-breaking Treasure Sale. Thank you to all who have worked so hard to ensure this success.

Other highlights from the past year included the 40th Anniversary which we celebrated with a grand gala “PAINT THE TOWN RED.” We also, for the first time in many years, raised more money than we needed to support residents on Benevolent Care. And in support of Home for Life the committee held “Get the Scoop” peer-to-peer sessions to explain the importance of planned giving.

Lastly. I would like to thank everyone who has supported Benevolent Care through individual donations and or by volunteering at Treasure Sales and other club and individual activities that support benevolent care.

It’s been a privilege to work with the committee members and to serve on the Residents Council.

Communications, David Elder and Larry Taylor, Co-chairs
Communications Committee key role
The Communications Committee is charged with helping meet the information needs of the community. Media include Email, Website [CCICharlestown.org], Channel 972, The NEW Sunburst, Bulletin board postings, and campus mail.

2023/2024 saw MANY advances in the communications resources available to Charlestown Residents:

Assistance and Training
The Communications Committee continues to provide ongoing assistance and training to Residents on new and updated application and media.

Work with the Erickson IT local staff
We continue to work with the Erickson IT local staff to improve our WiFi Issues, connectivity, stability, and outages. We are working with IT staff on Resident Voice-over WiFi that is still being evaluated. We continue to assist with IT’s Quarterly Technology Assistance Day (Tech Bar). QUICK REMINDER – IT’s Q3 Tech Bar is on August 14, 10 AM to 12PM at the Chesapeake Restaurant.

Worked with Administration
We have worked with Administration on the new MyErickson Messaging alerts system.
This provides system alert messages to mobile phones, etc.

Provided new Communication Forms
We have completed new Council Communication Forms (Administration Issues, Council Issues, and request for Council Reports) and posted them on both MyErickson and CCI-Charlestown.org.

Updated our CCI Communications GooglePaLM is an advanced technology created by Google that help computers understand and generate text. PaLM (Pathways Language Model) is a powerful program that helps computers do complex tasks involving language. It can:
• Translate languages: It can help translate one language to another, lik... READ MORE group
We are promoting the CCI Communications GooglePaLM is an advanced technology created by Google that help computers understand and generate text. PaLM (Pathways Language Model) is a powerful program that helps computers do complex tasks involving language. It can:
• Translate languages: It can help translate one language to another, lik... READ MORE group. This is now called Charlestown Resident Hub.

Communications Surveys to Independent living and Continuing Care facilities
We ran separate Resident Communications Surveys for Independent Living residents, Caton Woods and Wilton Overlook in November. The results were reviewed and forwarded to the Administration.

Xfinity/Comcast Channel Lineups
We completed the two Xfinity/Comcast Channel Lineup changes necessitated by the 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 MASN change: the Xfinity 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 Bulk Channel TV Line Up and the Xfinity ULTIMATE TV Channel Line Up. Both have been posted to MyErickson and CCI-Charlestown.org.

Website Subcommittee
The Website Subcommittee, with its resident web team, continues to make the CCICharlestown.org website easier for residents to use. Keeping it up to date is a never-ending process. Webhosting has been renewed for the next four 4 years with the support of the Residents’ Council.

Lastly
Since David Elder is finishing his term on the Council, we want to thank him for his Service as co-chair of the Communications Committee.

Again Note – We cannot express the importance for Residents to visit our own Councils Website at ccicharlestown.org. This website allows you to see what is going on in Charlestown through the eyes of our fellow residents.

The August 26 Communications Committee meeting has been cancelled. The next Committee meeting will be on September 23 at 2:00 preceded by the Website Committee at 1:00.

Conservation, Mark Buehlman
Good afternoon, my name is Mark Buehlman and I’m Chair of the Conservation Committee. The Committee had a busy and productive 2024.
Because of changing rainfall patterns and increased consumption, freshwater has become a threatened resource. To address this, our committee set up a Freshwater Working Group. After studying water usage at Charlestown, they authored an April Sunburst article that provided Residents with practical water conservation tips.
Charlestown has many sustainable practices in place. Those practices, however, often take place behind the scenes. In 2024 the Committee developed a list of Charlestown’s sustainability accomplishments, which will be communicated to the broader community through articles and classes.
Early in the year we worked closely with the three Sustainability Working Teams, Transportation, Dining and Grounds. With their final reports now published, we will continue the work they have done and have now formed a Sustainable Dining Working Group to try and implement some of their recommendations.
During the 2024 Maryland Legislative Session, in cooperation with the Legislative Committee, we tracked Maryland proposed environmental legislation and commented where appropriate.
Recycling continues to be a major focus of our committee. This year we provided Residents with information and tips on the recycling of non-traditional items such as printer cartridges and cell phones. In addition, information on item recycling was presented through presentations, events, and informational posters that circulated among the dining venues.
Our committee works very closely with the Nature Trail Club. Last year we offered a joint presentation on general erosion and runoff control at Charlestown that was well received. This year, on Tuesday, October 15, at 1:00 pm in the Auditorium we be making a joint presentation to the Community focusing on the current state of the Trail and highlighting some existing problems and proposed and ongoing solutions.
Energy conservation is important both economically and for the environment. At our July meeting we formed an Energy Working Group, with the goal of providing Residents with practical energy savings tips they can use such as utilizing “smart” power strips to reduce wasted “vampire” energy.
There will be no meeting in August. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, September 17, 2024, at 2:00 pm in Brookside Classroom 1. It should be an interesting meeting, with presentations and Q&A with many of the Charlestown recycling groups. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend.
Next meeting will be Tuesday, September 17, 2024, at 2:00pm in Brookside Classroom 1.

Dining, Catherine Stevens and Stephanie Leddy, Co-Chairs
John Remias presented the dining report since neither Stephanie Leddy nor Catherine Stevens were at the August RC meeting. The Dining Committee presented several highlights for this Council year:
• Use of QR codes: the Dining Committee members along with the Dining office worked different venues during the year to encourage resident to use the QR codes to evaluate the dining experience for that night. the Dining Leadership team as well as the Executive Director review these comments.
• Dining Sustainability Working Group: This Sustainability Working Group was formed in November to evaluate sustainability issues. This Group had a few successes; one was the compositing of garbage and evaluating reusable containers. Composting is now a practice in the dining rooms. Reusable containers are still being evaluated by Dining Services.
• The Dining Committee, working with the Dining Services leadership, developed the My Nutrition handout for residents. These handouts are available at all restaurants.
• The Dietary Focus Group worked with the Dining administration to bring about healthy veggie menu.
Lastly, the lottery for the 15 August Chef’s Table dinner ticket will take place on 10 August so, you need to get your name on the list if you want to attend this special dinner.

There will be no August committee meeting.

Finance, John Yoder
The Finance Committee met on July 30, 2024. Highlights from the written report are noted below:
• Andrew Buckley was introduced as newly hired as Analyst
• End-of-year projection: We will finish about $1 M “unfavorable to budget” due mainly to lower census in CC and higher than expected costs in some areas
• Note: Charlestown is not losing money; just that profitability is lower than expected.
• Bill occupancy for June: IL=96%; AL, MC, SN all below budget.
• Cash flow remains strong.
• Fitch rating remains strong at A-.
• 17 residents receiving BCF in June.
• For the year: Committee has focused on monitoring reports, asking relevant questions, reporting to residents.

Grounds, Dick Voelkel Chair
The hydro-raking agreement needs work on the wording of permits. Start date is probably sometime in September.

Caton Ridge planting of shrubbery and grass seed is completed for now. New sod will be planted when the weather gets cooler.

Deer culling begins right after Labor Day. The deer have been eating themselves out of house and home, so it is necessary to reduce the size of the herd for their health and that of our forest areas. In addition, they have been eating residents’ patio plants and jumping over the garden plot fence to feast on tomatoes.

Our signature achievement this year has been initiating the agreement between Charlestown and the Bow Hunting Firefighters of Maryland to reduce the size of the deer herd on campus.

The next meeting will be a week earlier on September 17 at 11:00 in BR classroom 2.

Health Services, Jean Tribulski and Connie Cooney, Co-Chairs
Independent Living and Continuing Care communities of Charlestown: Members of the Health Services Committee serve as liaisons with Continuing Care and attend the monthly meetings filing a written report and giving a verbal report at the Health Services meetings. Other members serve as liaisons to the Safety and Security Committee.
During the last year the Committee sponsored four Medication Disposal events where residents and staff may bring unused or expired medications for proper disposal. The Committee was assisted by the Charlestown Security officers and the Baltimore County Police Department. The proper disposal of these medications is the Committee’s contribution to sustainability of our environment by keeping these substances out of our landfills and waterways.
Chairpersons give reports at Residents’ Council meetings and a calendar year report to the Charlestown Board of Directors. We attend a quarterly meeting with the Charlestown Board of Directors and give topics to our President for consideration of presentation. We also attend a twice-a- year meeting with representatives of the Erickson Senior Living Administration.
We have sub-committees for Fall Prevention and a Technology Library. Various members act as liaisons with other health related groups such as the Low Vision Group and the Parkinsons’ Group.
We also have reports from members on “What’s New in the Medical World?” and a report from the CDC on current data on communicable diseases.
Throughout the year we have had speakers from various Charlestown departments to familiarize the members with their roles and news of their departments. This has included Mohamed Jalloh, Director of Nursing Continuing Care, Leslie Johnson, Director Emeritus of Continuing Care, Lisa Roeder, Victoria Shirley, Robin Clay and Andrea Amasa Resident Services, Kristin Aybar Home Health and Stevanne Ellis Head of the Maryland Ombudsman Program.
At our July meeting Dean Crawford, Director of the Medical Department announced new contracts with the following MDs as specialists to see patients at Charlestown. They include Dr. John Gambril – Ophthalmology, Dr. John Antoniades -Orthopedics and Drs. Steven Planholt and Dr. Fred Kuhn – Cariologists.
Mr. Crawford spoke to a myth circulating through Charlestown that “if you call Security, you will be charged $50”. Please understand this is NOT true. You are only charged if you request transportation by Security to an emergency care center or hospital.
An article has been written for the January edition of the Sunburst and advertising for the Medication Disposal events.

Housekeeping, Sebastian Petix
• After discussion of revising the trash and recycling pick-up days, they will remain the same.
• The Chapel Court will have some washers and dryers replaced and also some maintenance in that area.
• There are several outdoor trash containers that have been overflowing. We just urge you to please refrain from bringing your trash outdoors unless absolutely necessary. And if those trash containers are filled, then make a call and see that they’re picked up so that we don’t have those trash containers spilling out.
• I mentioned last month that we have a group of housekeeping inspection tours that Michelle Fenn, housekeeping manager, has organized and we requested that they be opened to folks outside of our specific housekeeping committee. That is still being considered. So, stay tuned for that information. The emphasis on common area cleanliness and aesthetics is being encouraged and you’ll note that there is new carpeting now at the Charlestown square leading up to the second floor. I looked at that today and it’s looks very good and attractive. The committee will be taking a closer look at common areas. Generally, we look at the hallways and in the areas is specific to where we pass every day, but the general areas around the clubhouses aren’t necessarily looked at that carefully. We’ll be doing that a bit more carefully, and reporting on those.
• Again, I am asking all of you to be part of our committee unofficially by looking and see what you see that may be a ruinous and send your reports. Take a photo if necessary and send that to CCIworkorders@erickson.com and copy me at joysib@aol.com. Our has been working closely for the last few months with our General Services Management team and we’re pleased that they’ve been responding to us and whatever we requested they have really given us 110%. We now have a list of just what is the hierarchy, where we go for specific areas That’s been cancelled.

Legislative/Political, Paulette Hammond and Art Johnson, Co-Chairs
• Committee members and others attended a public forum on the Maiden Choice Lane repaving project with BGE and county Council member Pat Young. Charlestown residents made up approximately 60-70% of audience. (October)
• Committee sponsored a “Meet and Greet” with our state delegation and county council person. (November)
• Committee members tracked Legislative Proposals during the 2024 Legislative Session with the support of Hope Tillman. Significant legislation adopted: “CCRCs Transparency, Grievances, and Entrance Fees Unit Reoccupancy.” (January-March).
• Committee sponsored “Legislative Forum” with our state delegation and county council person. Young announced that Maiden Choice Pavement Project should be completed by the end of the summer. He referred to the public meeting in October as being important to getting project better coordinated between the County and BGE. (July)
• Committee regularly received information from MaCCRA and League of Women Voters. These are long term relationships that continued throughout the past year, including the legislative session and primary season.
Next Meeting: Wednesday, September 11, at 10:00 in Brookside Classroom 1

Maintenance and Engineering, Jerry Donaldson
The M&E Committee did not meet in July as scheduled due to Chairperson; Jerry Donaldson being quarantined with COVID. Instead of rescheduling the meeting, Jerry requested General Services to respond in writing to the Action Items contained in the agenda. Those responses will be the basis for my reports.
General Services reported no known significant issues that would impact the completion date of early Fall for the Caton Ridge Renovation project.
The Chapel Court elevator replacement was scheduled to be completed by the end of July. While Otis, the elevator company, is not willing to commit to a start-up date, they were willing to accept a target completion date of September 1, 2024, the date that we will track. Following completion of the Chapel Court elevator replacement, Herbert’s Run and Charlestown Square will be the next candidates for elevator replacement.
The erosion repair on the Herbert’ s Run to St. Charles bridge is schedule to start this month and be completed by the end of next month. General Services reported that there are no known significant issues with this project that would jeopardize this schedule.
The evaluation of the PVC pipe constraint versus pipe support issue is targeted to be complete by August 12, 2024. The PVC pipe inspection/survey for the Charlestown complex is proceeding. The Maple Terrace, Courtyard Crossing, Arborside, and Greentree Court buildings have been completed Parkview building is approximately 90% complete.
Ten washing machines for the Chapel Court laundry room have been received. The installation of these machines is scheduled to be complete by August 12, 2024. The dryers for Chapel Court are on order and will be installed as soon as they arrive.
With respect to the Low Vision issues, additional lighting for the stairs between Edgewood and the Terrace Café has been installed. Unfortunately, the carpet company ordered the wrong carpet for re-carpeting these stairs. The carpet has been reordered and is expected to arrive this and installed by the end of this week. New snap-on, high contrast, elevator buttons have been ordered and Otis will install them this week. The design of light shields to improve the visibility of the elevator location lights when viewed from the elevator lobby is in process. Material will be ordered as soon as the design is completed.
General Services is also conducting a survey of the Charlestown campus to determine the level of effort required to paint the steps, sidewalks, and curbs to help make them more visible for the residents with Low Vision issues.
Year In Review
The past 10 – 12 months have been extremely interesting, challenging and rewarding for me personally, for the Charlestown Administration and especially for the Charlestown residents. While there were several issues that needed attention, such as signage requirements and low vision issued, none were greater than Water Intrusion and the results of Water Intrusion, apartment flooding. This issue became so intense that it required the best part of my, and my committee’s attention for the first 3 months of my term as Chairperson.
The residents were extremely frustrated with living in fear that the next Water Intrusion incident could very well be in their apartment.
I feel this experience is the highlight of my year because I think that we, all the Charlestown residents and employees, were successful! Oh, we are not done yet. We have not won the war, but we have won a lot of the battles This is my last Residents’ Council meeting as chairperson of the Maintenance and Engineering Committee. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the General Services Administration for their total support. We were indeed Partners! I would also like to thank the members of my committee for sticking with me. But I especially want to thank the residents of Charlestown for their unbelievable support. Together we can win!
Next meeting is date is TBD.

Resident Life, Nancy Fayer and Margaret Vincent, Co-Chairs
The Resident Life Committee (Committee) examines all aspects of community living at Charlestown to support pleasant, productive, and harmonious living.

1. In October and November, the Committee, with the assistance of Virginia Antevil with the assistance of Virginia Antevile and the Administration, organized the “Light up Charlestown” project. It culminated in the sale of 1,000 battery-operated candles to residents, who displayed the candles in their windows during the holidays.

• “Developing Partnerships” was the theme selected by Residents’ Council President John Remias. We partnered with five Council Committees:
Maintenance and Engineering to install safety equipment to aid low vision residents, install higher visibility elevator buttons, increase visibility of elevator floor numbers and paint sidewalk curbs yellow to reduce the potential for residents falling.
• Dining Services to design the renewed Dining Ambassador program,
• Health Services to engage the Medical Center,
• Safety to prevent falls and
• Communications to encourage residents to add their photo to the My-Erickson on- line residents directory.
• We also partnered with the Sustainable Transportation Working Group, and Joe Carrick, chair.
• In November Margaret Vincent wrote a campus-wide feasibility study for a photobook of residents. The results of this study showed that residents would not provide the needed funds or volunteer time to pursue the project, thus saving Community Resources significant time and expense.

• The Committee currently has two emphasis areas: Diversity, inclusion and Belonging (DIB) and New Resident Welcoming
o The Dine Together supper program is an opportunity for new residents to meet other new residents and for all residents to make new friends.
o Ten Dine Together meals have been held since the program began. The meals are held at 5:15 – 6:30 PM on the first Monday of the month, in the Creative Arts Studio, near the Shortline. The attendance is steadily increasing with 16 people attending the August supper.
o A redesigned Dining Ambassadors group under the leadership of Stephani Leddy is running a pilot program over the summer.
o Bunny Rogers is sending welcome notes to all new residents.
• A new Charlestown Indoor Walkers Map is a simplified campus walking map designed particularly to help new residents (and the rest of us) find our way to the most popular locations inside Charlestown. The map is currently being distributed for comments and corrections which need to be returned to Margaret Vincent by Thursday, August 15.
• The DIB subcommittee includes:
o Tapestry – The popular, community building, story-telling Tapestry program held four neighborhood Tapestry events this session. A total of nine events have been held since the program began .
o Tapestry has also developed two videos for MyErickson, featuring 20-minute Tapestry discussions.
o Tapestry will be offered twice this fall in late November/early December with sessions open to the entire Charlestown community and will be held in the Chesapeake Restaurant, 10:00-11:30 am. The title for the fall sessions is “Getting Older: How’s That Going for You?”
o Tapestry monthly meetings will be held the first Monday of month at 1 PM.
• The Ageism/Ableism/ subcommittee is led by Ann MacKay who has had four articles published in the Sunburst this year. The Joint Diversity, Equality, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Council is planning a fall event focusing on Ageism/Ableism.
• A Low Vision Development Team (LVD Team):
o Early in 2024, it was recognized that low vision residents at Charlestown were underserved and faced barriers which often prevented them from participating. As a result, on January 16, 2024, the first meeting of the LVD Team was held I assist with organizing LVD Team and David Graham is the moderator.
o The LVD Team is working to develop an active, engaging organization and socially coherent group. To accomplish this, the LVD Team has formed four Action Teams: 1) Communications, 2) Physical Environmental and Facilities, 3) Programs, and 4) Resources.
o The Program Planning and Resources Action groups are organizing and presenting two upcoming community low vision awareness programs:
 “Everyday Assistance”, presented in conjunction with the Baltimore Veterans Administration, on Monday, October 28, 2024, at 10-12 am, in the auditorium.
 “Helpful Reading Aids” presented Thursday, January 23, 2025, in the auditorium.
In Closing: Margaret Vincent and I would like to thank the other Committee Chairs on the 2023-2024 Residents’ Council. You have been well-informed, dedicated, creative and congenial partners. It has been a pleasure to work with you. We also thank Resident Life Director Karen Leighton, and the Community Resources Team, led by Mary Evans for their interest, assistance and council. And thank you to everyone who has participated in our projects. May you continue to offer your support to the new Committee

Safety and Security, Ed Appel
The committee met July 11.

Security letters in residents’ cubbies ask to confirm vehicle registration and return their gate pucks to building front desks. A license plate reader will open the gate for registered vehicles.

Recently, plastic trees from a lobby and a contractor’s tools have disappeared. On 7/24, a Hyundai was stolen from Charlestown. Remember that your package delivery shelf or elevator lobby may not be a safe place to leave valuable objects. Cars should be locked, and Hyundai’s and Kia’s need extra protection offered by dealers. Security documented these theft reports. Baltimore County Police Department is investigating. Gate and entranceway video cameras and license plate readers help deter thefts and provide evidence.

Reminders: Be careful when going outside in the extreme heat. Call Security to lift anyone who falls to ensure their safety. When a pendant is activated, Security responds to both the location of the pendant and the holder’s apartment, plus dispatch calls the apartment. The security response goal is four minutes, but Charlestown Security averages two minutes. After a fall or an episode, Security does a welfare check on the person the next day.

Ascension St. Agnes Hospital is back online after a ransomware attack, but some services may still be impaired. Ambulances are now taking patients there.

A new Maryland law requires that security officers receive at least 12 hours of training. A contractor will provide all required facets of the training to Charlestown security officers.

During the last year, the Safety-Security Committee revised its strategy, focused on safety issues like falls and unsafe driving and campaigned for use of pendants and reporting incidents to Security. Charlestown staff was very responsive, and we continue to recognize our truly superlative Security Department. This year, the committee plans to support multi-committee efforts, including safety for those with cognitive impairment, low vision and mobility issues. The Committee urges all Charlestown residents to report safety concerns to Security or staff promptly. We are all part of the “Charlestown neighborhood watch,” keeping each other safe and worry-free.

Next meeting is on Thursday September 12, 2024, at 1:00 in CTS 116.

Update from Don Grove:
Don came back from the free ice cream praising it. Some of us, namely me, forgot to go get some. He also, once again, thanked the Council and John Remias for work done this past year. Other notes include:

• Covid numbers are down from 9 to 6 in Independent Living and 3 in Continuing Care.
• There were some power outages from the storm the other week. Myron Foster and his IT team have been working with the Erickson Senior Living team so that everything is back online.
• As plans unfold for the Historic Neighborhood, Charlestown is seeking resident feedback for our new café to be located on the 1st floor of Fountain Hill. Don encouraged all to complete the survey to select the new name. Drawings will take place in September.
• Upgrades to the St. Charles are progressing with work to remove wallpaper ongoing on the 2nd floor.
• Surveys: The Employee Engagement Survey is also ongoing with a goal to achieve 80% feedback. Students will have their chance in a separate survey. As well, the residents’ survey will occur in October.

A resident asked about a driver who almost drove into a wall. It turns out that he had his car in forward rather reverse. No damage was done.

A discussion arose regarding speeding through the campus. Could we have speed bumps? This is not a likely solution because of emergency vehicles driving through. The other question was about the use of speed cameras on our roads. Don said that it could be considered, except that those cameras would require monitors to watch. The license plate cameras coming and going through the front gate provide some information for security.

Jay Spivey said that the license plate readers were up and running. Nancy Meier questioned why they didn’t work for her car. She had verified with security that they had her correct license number. Jay said that they have not yet encountered this problem.

Respectively submitted,
Nancy Meier, Residents’ Council Secretary