Moment of Silence
The Council observed a moment of silence for those who have passed away.  Stephanie also asked the residents to keep John Remais in our prayers as he is currently in St Agnes Hospital.

Minutes
Minutes of the September 2, 2025 meeting of the Residents’ Council meeting were approved.

Mission Moment

Honoree: David Kramer
Nominated by Deborah Richards
Deborah celebrates the kindness of her neighbor, David Kramer, who rescued her as she was struggling to carry an almost 20 pound bag down a long hall and down the elevator to her car. Seeing that Deborah was out of breath, David insisted on carrying the bag for her, although David himself began to struggle with the weight of the bag, he continued to carry it to Deborah’s car. I was so grateful for his help. Recalls Deborah, I’m certain I would have had a stroke without David’s friendliness and enthusiasm. It meant so much more to me than the few minutes it took David to carry the load.

Honoree: Charlestown Residents who marched in the July 4th. Parade
Nominated by Art Johnson
Art celebrates with gratitude those who braved the heat on July 4 to represent Charles Town in Catonsville, annual July 4 parade with enthusiasm and joy. Our annual participation in the parade reminds the overflow crowd that we are very much a part of the Catonsville community.

Executive Team Reports

Stephanie Leddy President
Last month our Resident Council meeting went international when Sue, whose homeland is Malaysia, went back to visit and was able to watch our meeting there. She saw me introduce my cats as mascots and she brought me back a Malaysian cat named Kuching which is cat is Malay and also the name of the capital of Sarawak, a province in Malaysia where I was in the Peace Corps. Thankfully it is a stuffed cat and thanks Sue for watching our meeting where ever you are and letting us all know that we can do that too.

On a more serious note, Virginia Antevil has had to resign from the Council as Secretary. Virginia was wonderful as Benevolent Care Chair and invaluable as secretary. We are keeping her semi-retired as she is still a font of information and help for us. Thank you Virginia for your service.

John Arnold was approved by the Council to move to Secretary from Housekeeping Chair. John please stand.

And I also want to re-introduce our other officers, Larry Taylor as VP and Jerry Donaldson as Treasurer. To remind you that the four of us and the rest of the Council are your representatives and are here to help you when you might need around Charlestown.

Pat Whittier who was an alternate has taken on the Housekeeping Chair role- Pat. Remember if you see something, say something.

Here’s a question for you all. How many of you enjoyed breakfast in the Conference Center yesterday or today? Let’s give a round of applause to our Dining staff and our administrative team for this wonderful repast. As you know, this was the kickoff for the Resident Satisfaction Survey and you even had an opportunity to do your survey right at the breakfast. Did anyone do that? If you didn’t, you have till October 26 th to complete in online or on paper, which you can get at the front desks. On October 13 th , members of the administrative team and the Residents’ Council will be going door to door to talk with you about the survey and give a treat to those who have completed it and to those who say they will. This is your chance to say how things have gone this past year here at Charlestown- tell the high points with praise for what was great and be frank about anything you think needs improving. Say a lot or say a little, but please make it a point to say something and fill out that survey. Last year 82% of us filled out the survey. Let’s see if we can beat that number. Tell your friends that they need to do it or they can’t complain about anything.

October is also Staff Appreciation Month. A letter from me was in your cubby along with a form and an envelope. Read the letter and follow what I said- Give so the Staff will know how much we appreciate all they do for us. Give this month so that their December will be the happiest ever. 100% of us giving them something will make all of Charlestown the happiest place ever. You have till October 31 st to do so.

Jerry Donaldson, Treasurer

Balance – August 31, 2025                $ 7,102.57
Expenses                                                ($    50.00)
Deposit from Dues Collection                $    2.00
Balance – September 30, 2025                  7,054.57

Expenses –
Donation to Benevolent Fund in memory of Paulette Hammond

Committee Reports

Benevolent Care, Sandy Mack, Chair

• Benevolent Care Campaign

The Benevolent Care Campaign concluded in August with 30% resident participation, raising a total of $153,720.

• Planned Giving

Our planned giving program secured 20 new commitments thus far this year totaling $1.7 million dollars.

• Memory Care Ceremony

Friday, October 10th at 10 a.m. in the Chapel.

• Treasure Sale

Thursday, October 23rd thru Saturday, October 25th.

• Silent Auction

Coming up in December we have a silent auction. Discover the beautiful legacy of Angeline Culfogienis, a former resident and Fireside artist, whose work will be featured in an exclusive silent auction on Wednesday, December 10th from 6–8 p.m. in the conference center. Every bid on her inspiring artwork supports the Benevolent Care Fund.
Next meeting: Wednesday, October 22 at 2:30pm in Charlestown Square RM-116.

Communications, Hope Tillman, Chair

Mary Evans / Community Resources

• Groups & clubs guidebook. Mary Evans shared that they are considering a new approach of providing a limited printing of a list of club names, contact names, location, meeting dates, but no blurb. When it comes out, the CCICharlestown.org website will continue to be updated with more comprehensive information, including flyers, pictures,
• Community Resources has introduced a new single email address for the Community Resources team:

CCICommunityResources@erickson.com

• Allison Chlada is leaving. She has taken a position at the Grandview. Her going away get-together was during the time of our committee meeting.

Gregory Johnson / General Services

• Purchase of additional carts. Five Carts have been purchased and added to the Cross Creek Area; 15 more carts are on order.
• Gatehouse. General Services is sprucing up the gatehouse, including a new HVAC system replacing the one that is 25-30 years old. Gate Inbound process is up and running. Exit gate arms will stay up from 6 a.m. to midnight. After this introduction, the outbound gates will be down except from 10:30-11:30 am and 2:30 to 4:00 pm when employees leave.
• Smoke detectors. Older smoke detectors (10-12 years old) will be replaced beginning after the window washing project is complete. .New ones have easier access which makes battery replacement much easier/faster.
• xFinity/Comcast. There are changes to the XFinity/Comcast channel guides and price changes to the premium packages as well. The Changes to premium packages are listed in the notes section of residents’ 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 bills.

Information Technology

• Hope mentioned that the mobile phone system upgrade at Wilton Overlook and Caton Woods is ongoing, with no completion date set.
• The next Tech Bar will be held on December 10th in the Chesapeake from 10 to noon. At the last one there were 88 residents.
• IT has been completing Windows 11 upgrades on employee computers and the Computer Labs. The end of life date for Windows 10 is October.
• IT hosted a compatibility test table at Shortline on September 23rd.
• “Tech Time” tech support videos – 2 are on MyErickson, and they are working on more.
• When one of the shuttletrackers is not working, contact IT. The one in Fountain Hill has not yet been installed.

The next Communications Committee meeting is scheduled for Monday October 27th at @ 2:00 PM. on ZOOM. If you need the ZOOM link, contact hope@hopetillman.com

The Conservation Committee, Charles Robinson & Gary Rogers, Co-Chairs

• Recyclable Items Display Board being updated

The current Recyclable Items Display boards are being updated in preparation for the next series of displays.

• Food Composting- Underway & being monitored by Committee

An extensive discussion of food composting took place. At this time, food scraps are being collected for composting from all of the kitchen facilities and from diner’s plates in the sit-down restaurants. This appears to be the most that can be done at this time. The committee will continue to monitor this issue for additional opportunities.

• Leaking Faucets & Fixtures Educational Campaign

The committee will be working with the administration to mount an educational campaign aimed at repairing leaking faucets and fixtures to conserve water and reduce utility bills.

• Hallway Lights

The committee has been made aware that some hallway lights are not being dimmed at night, wasting electricity. We are working with the General Services on this issue.

• Installation of Solar Panels

An extensive discussion took place regarding use of solar panels at Charlestown. Current constraints to the implementation of this technology include cost, Historic District view shed, roof warranties and existing forested areas. The committee will continue to monitor this issue for additional opportunities.
Next meeting: Tuesday, October 21 at 2:00 pm in BR1.

Dining Services, Cathy Stevens, Chair

• Cafe on Main will open on October 20th

Cafe on Main to open Oct. 20. Soft openings are the week of October 23 by invitation only.

• The Terrace

Terrace to close mid-November through April. During this time Cafe on Main will consider extending hours and providing dinner via buffet service.

• Placemats

Placemats are being tested in the Atrium.after being sure they can hold up between washing and sanitizing after each use, placemats. Will be used in all three restaurants.

• Table Setups

Setups on tables will no longer include glasses. They will be delivered by servers.

• Dining going cashless in November

Charlestown will try to go to a cash-free service in November. All bar and food service not covered by meal of the day must be paid for by credit or debit card. They are working on how to pay for small items, such as fruit in the Shortline.
Next meeting:  Monday October 20th. at 1:30 in CTS 116

Finance, Art Johnson, Chair

• CapEX process to be reviewed in October

The CapEx26 process will be reviewed in October and will be presented to the community in November. We expect no substantive changes from last year. The Committee will discuss how to reach out to residents so that all will know how to submit a proposal for a CapEX project.

• August Financial Results

The August 2025 monthly Report indicated that Charlestown continues to have a strong financial position. However, as we have reported to you in past meetings, Charlestown continues to be challenged by high utility costs and increasing employee costs due to health insurance rates. This will very likely be true for the 2026 budget.

• Status of 2026 Operating & Capital Budgets

Nineteen (19) residents were being supported by the Benevolent Care Fund in August
Next Meeting:  Tuesday, October 28th. 2025 @ 9 a.m. in BR-1

Grounds, Dick Voelkel, Chair

• Erosion project at Herbert’s Run/St. Charles Bridge walkway schedule

Bridge support stabilization is scheduled to begin November / December

• Hydra Raking Project at the lake expected to start October/November
• Deer Control – culling of the herd will commence when weather cools

Garden Plots redo is being considered by the administration. Gardeners have not voted on it yet.
A Butterfly Memorial Garden is to be established honoring Chantel Sharieff

• Grounds Department has a contract in place with Level Green for Snow Removal
• Concern about snow removal for the winter – Grounds Department has a contract in place with Level Green for snow removal.

Next Meeting: will be Monday, October 28th. in BR 1 at 11 am

Health Services, Marty White and Lois Eldred, Co-Chairs

• Parkinson’s Group

Jane Vess reported that the Parkinsons Group established Parkinsonics, a music breathing exercise program to help improve vocal quality, and the Sunflower Lanyard program to identify those with hidden disabilities.

• Medical Center

Dr Myla Carpenter and Dean Crawford gave an in depth review of alcohol and substance abuse screening procedures at the medical center, and the challenges faced with providing help to those who need it. Discussions center around why someone is overusing medications or alcohol, and how that overuse interacts with their medical conditions and/or other medications. Psychological support and referrals are offered, but little can be done in Independent Living to force change unless those choices result in disruptive behaviors that adversely impact other residents. Staff have more control in Continuing Care, and staff are made aware of medical concerns when residents transition to Continuing Care.

• Home Health Advisory Council Liaison

Lory Stoner reported that the Home Health Advisory reported that 2 nd quarter performance by Home health was well above national average for almost all measures except management of medications, for which a quality assurance and performance plan was created and instituted. They were also better than national average on 11/13 potentially avoidable measures, and resident satisfaction was high, with increases in all domains.

• Continuing Care -Independent Living Liaison

Pat Kasuda and Carol Benner, our Independent Living/Continuing Care Liasons reminded us to visit friends in continuing care. Caton Woods now has a pool table and a trip to a Japanese restaurant is planned. Residents in Wilton Overlook had a lunch at Timbuktu Restaurant.

• Substance Abuse Working Group Lecture

The substance abuse workgroup sponsored a well attended lecture yesterday on how the brain works, and 2 additional lectures on effects on the brain of alcohol and prescription medications are planned for the first Mondays in November and January

• Medication Disposal Event: November 17th. 2025 1-3 at the Fireside and Cross Creek lobbies.

Next meeting: Tuesday, October 14th. at 11:00, in BR-1

Housekeeping, Pat Whittier, Chair

• Shout out to Housekeeping Staff & Housekeeping Committee

Thanks to the Housekeeping staff and residents on the Housekeeping Committee who have assisted with the inspection of the halls and common areas here in Charlestown. These inspections occur every month and the goal is to keep the common areas clean and attractive.

• Housekeeping & General Services Update

Jason Dennis, Director of General Services, gave a report from that department. They were focusing on the kitchen areas, stating that the Atrium seemed to be better but the Fireside still had some issues. Mice were still a problem, Orkin is held responsible, but Dining Services needed to do a better job of cleaning the floors. He addressed a question of laundry room cleaning and stated that each one is examined every week for maintenance. The program to locate and close openings on the outside of community buildings continues to help curtail mouse entrances.

• What we all can do to make a difference

We all need to do our part to keep Charlestown clean and attractive. One way is to use trash cans, placing plastic trash bags in the containers to avoid spills and rodents. Putting a door sweep on your entrance door will reduce access for mice and help with noise abatement from the hallway. Finally, I would like to ask you to not put items on tables in the common areas, this can be unsightly for your neighbors.
Next Meeting: October 20th. 2025, at 10 AM in BR-1
Legislative/Political, Richard Lee, Chair

• Annual Constitution Day event

Judy Plymyer accompanied a group of residents to the Annual Constitution Day event at the University of Maryland Law School.

• MaCCRA will not be developing any bills

Janet Allan stated that MaCCRA will not be developing any bills for the upcoming  Maryland legislative session.  State MaCCRA will meet with their provider LeadingAge to address each group’s issues without legislation.

• MaCCRA fall meeting October 13 in Gallery

The Fall meeting of MaCCRA will be held on October 16 th in the Gallery. There will be a short business meeting and a ZoomAI Companion is a generative AI-powered assistant from Zoom (for those with the paid version). It uses large language models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta, and has also trained itself by listening in on thousands of meetings between Zoom employees.  Some of its uses include:
• Summarizing... READ MORE presentation of fiscal issues in MaCCRA, including bankruptcy.

• LWV Charlestown unit BYO lunch 11/13 12-1:30

On Thursday, November 13th, from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm, in the Cross Creek Creative Arts room, the LWV Charlestown Unit BYO lunch meeting will be held to prepare for the 2026 gubernatorial election year activities. Topics of discussion include voter guides, voter registration, precinct volunteers and precinct poll evaluation.

• Meet & Greet prior to Legislative session
• Candidates forum for County Executive race.

Next Meeting:  Wednesday, October 8th. 2025 at 10 AM in BR1  All are welcome.

Maintenance and Engineering, Brian McGill, Chair

• Filling Vacant Positions in General Services

Chairman Brian McGill noted key vacancies in the General Services Department and the ongoing efforts to interview external candidates for them.  These vacancies can be expected to remain so in the near future due to the lengthy process of hiring and “on boarding” external candidates.

• GS surveyed external lighting network

After a resident’s concern General Services surveyed the external lighting on campus and found multiple outages that are now in the process of being repaired or replaced.

• External Staircase from Visitor Parking to Charlestown Ctr

The cement, external staircase from the visitor’s parking lot to Charlestown Center has been replaced and General Services will determine if yellow stripping is required.

• Committee Experiment with Spreadsheet of Open Actions

The Committee will experiment with maintaining a spreadsheet of ongoing actions the Committee has requested to be accomplished by  employee Departments. Requests will be tracked until completed.

• Elevators

The Arborside elevator modernization is completed.  It has passed inspection and is now operational.  The cladding of the Herbert’s Run elevators is completed.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, October 28rd. 2025 @ 2 PM in BR2 

Resident Life, Bill Jones and Fred Sadler, Co-Chairs

• The Tapestry Program held its first fall session earlier today and it was very successful. The next scheduled session will be on October 15th in the Atrium Restaurant. The theme for the sessions is “Living in Community-How’s That Going for You?” reflecting on our experience of living in community here at Charlestown. All residents received an invitation on their apartment shelves a couple of weeks ago.
• The Accessibility and Inclusion group has been very busy affecting the re-installation of some grab bars in public restrooms, installation of a railing at the Edgewood entrance and doing an auto-door survey to see where these need to be installed around the campus. A program on accessibility featuring Dean Crawford and Krysten Abar can now be seen on Channel 972. The Custom Interiors group will be invited to the next committee meeting.
• The Low Vision Program sponsored a presentation by the Maryland State Dept of Rehabilitation Services on September 22nd at 1:00 PM and was attended by approximately forty (40) residents and staff. They are holding a “Meet & Greet” session on October 9th from 10:00-11:30 in the Chesapeake Restaurant. Conversations between people, with low vision issues and how they deal with them, will be the focus of the event. Everyone with interest in this topic is invited. On November 10th, several group members will visit the National federation for the Blind.
• Margaret Vincent is beginning her second year publishing the new resident newsletter and has changed her distribution so that now she can distribute to more than 100 people each week. She is still looking for a few volunteers to act as “cub” reporters to provide her with information on club activity.
• The Transportation Sustainability group has been given information on the Senior Lyft, Freedom Car and Uber Programs that could benefit residents. We met with Dave Schuch to discuss the feasibility of publishing a brochure and will be moving ahead to put this together in the future.

The next meeting of the Resident Life Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, October 15 2025 at 2:00 PM at Brookside Classroom 2.

Safety and Security, Ed Appel & Patti Omiston, Co-Chairs

• Unsafe Driving Continues

Security is addressing resident concerns as reported. We ask all committees to encourage members/residents to continue reporting concerns. Non-urgent concerns can be reported directly to Patti, Ed, or Safety and Security Committee members. All urgent or unsafe situations should be reported immediately and directly to Security.
There were no reported incidents as of the most recent meeting with BCPD.
Handicap parking now has a 24-hour limit with security enforcement. New signs are in place and residents are notified as per the varied communication methods.
Assuring traffic safety is an ongoing process. The committee approved a list of suggestions aimed at alerting drivers to slow down to 15 mph and STOP at all signs throughout the campus.
Security continues to conduct driving safety initiatives to coincide with busy traffic times in the morning and afternoon. Penalties are assessed for all drivers including residents, employees, visitors, and workers/drivers driving on campus.

• Committee Recommendations for Pedestrian Safety
• Gatehouse

A gradual transition of the gatehouse exit gates is in process to better track vehicle departures The exit gates will eventually be down during the day except for short periods during shift changes when gates will open to facilitate staff departures.

• Report Unsafe Situations to Security

Misuse of walkers as a wheelchair like transport is a serious safety concern and should be addressed with the resident/family member on the spot as well as reporting to the resident coordinator and security. The committee is in process of producing fall prevention, safe walker use, and safe EV use videos.

• Badge Readers

Badge reader transitions for several buildings (Cross Creek, St Charles, Brookside, and Herbert’s Run) in process. One of the considerations is placing/pulling wire through the building especially for the far end doors. Charlestown Square is slated for 2026 and the historic district for 2027.
Next Meeting October 16th. at 11am in CTS 116.

Executive Director Don Grove’s Remarks and Responses to Questions

• Don thanked the council for preempting his list of topics by already covering them in the committee’s reports.  He attributed this to excellent communication with his teams.
• He thanked the participants in the Resident Survey breakfast and asked everyone to promptly answer the survey. He also stated it was best to bring specific concerns to him or his staff rather than putting them in the survey.  He assorted us the response would be faster because there is a long delay in getting survey results
• He reported that the state has completed a full, thorough assessment of our skilled nursing facility survey and the results were very good. There is hope that we will get back our 5 Star rating following this. He asked that we congratulate Max Mendelzon, our nursing home administrator and Mohamed Jalloh, our Director of Nursing, on their good work.

A question was asked about using cats to address the mouse problem.  The question was dismissed unceremoniously.
A question was asked about requiring cash at restaurants and Don said, “So I think it’s more of a rumor that you know that’s way down the road, but not anything medium here.”
A question was asked about how to find the committee meetings outside of the council meeting.  The person was referred to ccicharlestown.org and MyErickson.
A question was asked about how to report people ignoring the 24 limit on handicapped spaces and Don said, “you can make security aware, and if it’s a repeat problem, we would work with them.”
A question was asked about rails in public restrooms and Leslie said, “We have identified that several of the grab bars were installed incorrectly. They were installed backwards, basically. So that is not where it should be. Jason’s team is now having to go back and reinstall.”

Submitted by John Arnold, Secretary