President Stephanie Leddy called the regular meeting of the Residents’ Council [the Council] to order at 3:00 pm on Tuesday May 5, 2026.  Seventy-one (71) residents attended in addition to Don Grove, Executive Director; Laura Rye, Associate Executive Director; Jill Clippinger, Resident Life Director; Paul Edelman, Director Dining Services; David Schneyer, Finance Director and Jason Dennis, General Services Director.

Moment of Silence

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

Minutes

Minutes of the April 7, 2026 meeting of the Residents’ Council meeting were approved.

Mission Moment
Honoree:   Barbara Grondahl
2 Anonymous Residents
Honored By: Lois Kimber
Barbara Grondahl and two anonymous residents who prefer to remain that way, and a health aide who Lois simply knows his grace for their recent kindness and teamwork. Lois was stranded when the batteries on her new EMV died as she was coming over the bridge between Herbert run and St Charles.
Suddenly, an entire team of rescuers appeared, they safely transferred Lois to Barbara’s EMV and assisted Lois in driving back to her apartment, while Barbara pushed Lois’s EMV.  Lois affirms that this encounter was, for her, a true example of what Charlestown is all about.

Honorees: Ralph Wade
Eric Bowman
David Smith
Honored By: John Yoder
John Yoder, group leader at the JL Douglas archives at Charlestown, recognizes three residents from the woodshop group who went above and beyond the call of duty to assist the archives, Ralph Wade, Eric Bowman and David Smith.  John initially consulted with Ralph about shelving for the archives, new office space. When the shelves Ralph recommended arrived unassembled, Ralph Eric and David returned to assemble them. John recalls that the three men spent two half days literally crawling around on the hands and knees to assemble the shelves, and did a wonderful job. This occurred during the season when the wood shop members were hard at work on the Toys for Tots project. The Archives project would not have been completed without the unselfish giving of Ralph, Eric and David. They truly demonstrated the spirit of Charlestown.

Executive Team Reports

Stephanie Leddy President
Feliz Cinca de Mayo! It actually looks like Spring is here this week, I hope for good, but there are no guarantees.
It is wonderful to walk around campus and see the landscaping being done that will enhance the campus. Despite the rain, on Earth Day 50 trees were planted by the Maintenance fence. Many thanks to all the volunteers who came out to help.

Today is also a special day because our Student Scholars are being recognized in a ceremony honoring them in the Conference Center starting at 6:30. 36 are being honored- I believe that is a record number. Congratulations to them and their families.  Everyone is welcome to come celebrate them.

I am purposely keeping my remarks short today so we can get some time to enjoy the day before the celebration. My colleagues will fill you in on all the important activities going on in their committees. We now have a new weekly newsletter that will also keep us up to date on the goings-on. Check it out on My Erickson and cci.Charlestown.

Jerry Donaldson, Treasurer

Expenses

Balance – March 31, 2026	$ 6,081.97
Income	3,975.80
Expenses
Balance – April 30, 2026	$ 9,418.59

 

Expenses & Income Details
Envelopes & Stamps for Dues Collection	$ 530.42
Resident Council Election Supplies	$ 108.76

Jerry reported on the April Dues Campaign – $2.00 was requested from 1300 apartments.  Each contribution is tied to an individual.  We received 1214 contributions from 1711 names for a total of $5086.00 so far.  Contributions are still coming in.

Committee Reports
Benevolent Care, Sandy Mack, Chair

• Recap – Memory Walk

The Memory Walk was held on April 13th, honoring the lives of 11 individuals. The event was very well received, with over 60 attendees, and provided a meaningful opportunity for participants to remember and celebrate their loved ones. The event also raised $3,500 in donations for the Benevolent Care Fund.

• Upcoming Events

Paint Day will be held in the Gallery on Wednesday, May 6, from 1–4 p.m.

Please join us on Friday, May 8th, from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. in the Chesapeake lobby for our special Mother’s Day Sale. You’ll find fresh flowers, artisan jewelry, and greeting cards—everything you need to create the perfect gift for someone special.

The Treasure Sale will be held May 14–16 in the Conference Center (90% of proceeds benefit Benevolent Care.)

A “Hello Summer” Raffle is coming soon! Ticket sales are scheduled to begin the week of June 14, with additional details to be announced shortly. Paint Day – May 6th

• SEC Investing & Investment Fraud Presentation-

Philanthropy will host an SEC Investing & Investment Fraud Presentation on June 24 at 11:00 a.m. in the Auditorium. June 24th in the Auditorium at 11 am.

Next Meeting- Wednesday, May 27 at 2:30 in Room 116, Charlestown Square

Communications, Betty Elder, Co-Chair
Community Resources

• Mary provided updates on upcoming community events: resident paint party on May 6th and plans for a Star-Spangled Spirit Week celebration around July 4th, running from June 26th to July 4th.
• Streaming – Mary Evans reported progress on streaming services, with Disney Plus and HBO Max now operational, while work continues on setting up Amazon Prime Video. Jill Clippinger reiterated that procedures and guidelines for streaming services (Disney Plus, HBO Max, and Amazon Prime) will be communicated to residents once complete.
• The Activities Registration Project – Jennifer Tillett is continuing to work to implement the online ticket/registration system for activities and plans to test the project with some of the community concert series and then bring together all the performing arts groups to talk more about it.
• The new weekly newsletter, Charlestown This Week, focused on upcoming events and updates and scheduled for Saturday delivery, will be distributed through My Erickson messages rather than email.

General Services 

• Channel 2 (WMAR/ABC) has not been renewed for the Comcast channel lineup
• Courtyard Crossing lobby should open in mid-May.
• We discussed the migration of Xfinity (Comcast) Mail to Yahoo. Anyone who has a comcast.net email has probably received an email from them. The IT team plans to offer free email migration assistance at the next Tech Bar, with a warning that contacts must be saved as contacts in the old system for successful migration.
• The Cart for purchase program will be implemented in May. Peg Buehlman will assist with the campaign regarding cart purchasing.

Erickson IT Support update Zach Parks

• Erickson IT Support update: 230 residents (1.5 days), 99 staff (1.5 days).
• Connect 3 Wi-Fi system upgrade – Zach announced that Connect 3.0 upgrades in independent living would begin in late May and will be completed by early July.
• The independent living mobile phone systems upgrade (Telnet project) for this fall is still in the planning phase.
• Next Tech Bar will be May 20 in the Chesapeake Restaurant area
• The IT department reported on the recent major network outage, explaining that fried UPS units caused the main disruption, with one half of the core already restored to battery power and the second half expected to be completed in the next week.
• The reason for the Wi-Fi issues in the Historic District is because cell repeaters there have stopped working. It is recommended that residents turn on wifi calling. Any residents who notice dead spots in their apartment should contact IT for them to look at the situation.

Other Topics

• Signage Subcommittee – We are still waiting to review the signage package for the Maple Terrace upper floors.
• Resident photos on My Erickson profiles. There was a discussion about the continued need to increase resident photo submissions for the website, noting that only 20-25% of residents have photos, and suggested conducting another push during tech bars and potentially working with the pendant check team. We really want to see residents put their photos on their profiles.

Our next Communications Committee meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 28 @ 2:00 PM. by Zoom.  Website will meet at 1:30PM as well.

The Conservation Committee, Jack Flood & Gary Rogers, Co-Chair

• The Conservation Committee participated in Nature Fest on April 23rd, staffing tables providing information on recycling, the upcoming food scrap composting program and energy conservation.
• The Conservation Committee was featured in the April Sunburst which provided an update on current Committee efforts including the electricity conservation educational campaign.
• The electricity conservation educational program concluded on April 30th. A new slide encouraging water conservation has been posted on My Erickson and Channel 972 and will run until June 30.
• The residential food scrap composting project is moving closer to implementation. Educational materials for the program were introduced at Nature Fest on April 23rd. Meetings have been held with the Administration to finalize the pilot program which is expected in June. Announcements and related documents will be posted on My Erickson.
• The CapEx proposal for a Solar Energy Feasibility study is currently with the Finance Committee for their review.

        Next Meeting: Tuesday, May 19, 2026 – 2PM – Brookside 1

Dining Services, Cathy Stevens, Chair.

Dining Services

• Secret Shoppers Sought- Fireside, Atrium & Terrace
• Terrace to open late May to June 1st. No reservations taken,
• carryout available, full-time bartender (also at Chesapeake)
• Upcoming special meals: Cinquo de Mayo (also Scholars’Dinner) Mother’s Day
• Cafe on Main has grain bowls

Restaurant Reports

• Fireside- residents want functional blinds on all windows
• Can get eggs to order whenever poached eggs (eggs Benedict is on menu)
• Please consider offering brown rice, whole grain foods, more frozen yogurt

Next meeting is Monday, May 18, 2026 at 1:30 in CTS 116

Finance, Art Johnson, Chair

• The Auditorium Renovation Report is now posted on cci.Charlestown. Go to cci.Charlestown and then to Finance Committee. The report can be found at that site.
• At our April meeting, the committee finalized procedures for ranking CapEX27 proposals. Since then, the ranking of ten proposals has been completed. The Committee’s report was forwarded to the Finance Director, Executive and Associate Executive Director, and the President and Vice President of the Residents’ Council. The report will be posted on cci.Charlestown next week. Go to cci.Charlestown and then to Finance Committee for the report.
• The Committee also received a report on the Benevolent Care Fund from Committee member, John Geist. John provided an analysis of the finances of the Fund from 12/24 to 3/26, which generated several questions deserving of further discussion. Questions posed by John and committee members were a combination of operational and strategic. These questions ultimately were concerned with the long-term stability of the Benevolent Care Fund. David and Sandy Mack participated in the discussion.
• The Committee reviewed the first quarter financial report. David provided a quick overview of the report and responded to a few questions. Due to time constraints, discussion ended but will be continued in our May meeting.
• Please remember that the Scholars awards event will take place tonight at 6:30 in the Conference Center.

Next Meeting:  Tuesday, May 26, 2026 in BR1 at 9 AM

Grounds, Dick Voelkel, Chair

• Front raised garden beds will be done by the contractor & existing garden beds will be refreshed by Level Green
• Concrete slabs under benches still in process
• Grounds Dept working on refurbishing benches: cleaning & painting
• Exterior lights in 7-8-9 and Edgewood still out
• New Brookside patio will have a temporary light pole to check light coverage prior to permanent lighting
• The electric car charging station is being occupied daily by a non-resident vehicle.
• Earth Day planting of Eastern Red Cedar, Magnolia and Holly trees was huge success. Kudos to Ron Hendrickson
• Car Wash areas- one by garden is turned off, The Cross Creek one in front of Conference Ctr is open
• The Shortline fence needs repair

     Next Meeting: will be Tuesday, May 26th in BR 1 at 11AM

Health and Wellness, Marty White, Co-Chair

• Promoting Wellness and Independent Living-

Steve Schimff gave a presentation on preserving health and wellness at Charlestown.  Wellness is the ability to live life independently and to the fullest.  It requires being able to get up from a chair or a floor position and to walk unassisted.  Thus, maintaining wellness and the ability to live independently involves preservation of muscle mass and strength.  The difference in cost between independent living and continuing care is approximately $100,000 per year, so wellness financially benefits the Independent Living resident and/or the benevolent care fund, depending on the circumstances.  Thus, programs to help residents’ main strength and muscle mass benefit all of us.

• Continuing Care

Carol Benner and Pat Kasuda continue to work on ways to smooth the transition from Independent Living to Continuing Care.  They recommend that activities employ materials better suited to the Resident’s physical abilities.

• Low Vision

Orange name tag ribbons to identify people with low vision are now available.

• Parkinson’s Group

April was Parkinson’s awareness month, and the fitness center did a chair rise challenge at the Wellness Expo.

• Infectious Disease

Respiratory viruses are low throughout the county, and the measles epidemic in South Carolina is now over.  We are on track to exceed the total number of 2025 cases by mid year.  The good news is an uptick in vaccination rates.

The next Medication Disposal Event is May 18, 2026 at Cross Creek and Fireside lobby from 1-3.

Next meeting: Tuesday, May 12th Caton Woods Meeting Rm 11AM

Housekeeping, John Arnold for Pat Whittier, Chair

• The good news is, Pat is home and recovering. The bad news is recovery is a long, slow process, so I’ll continue to fill in as needed. I want to give special thanks to the housekeeping committee and to General Services staff for their participation in the housekeeping Committee during Pat’s absence. I could not have done any of this without them, particularly the housekeeping committee, that just been incredible.
• Kudos to the Housekeeping Committee for keeping things going
• Housekeeping staffing needs

Management informed us that they are working to fill the empty positions. They hope to get two additional full-time employees so we have some buffer in the housekeeping area, because it is so hard to keep the employees.

• What we can do to make a difference?

If you see something, let me know. Let Pat know. She’ll be glad to have a phone call too. She’ll just transfer it on to me.

Next Meeting: May 18th in Brookside 1 at 10:00 AM.

Legislative/Political, Stephanie for Richard Lee, Chair

• LWV – Charlestown unit held its Spring meeting on April 22nd
• LWV will hold a voter registration event for residents who need to register to vote or change information. See May’s Sunburst for details
• The Charlestown MaCCRA meeting is May 19th from 11-12 in the Gallery
• Legislative session ended 5/13. 90 bills were presented-32 passed.
• Two are of interest to seniors:
• Legislative wrap-up for 44a & 44b district members will be 5/6 at 7 in the Auditorium
• Candidates’ Forum for County Executive & Council seats scheduled for May 19th from 2-4 in the auditorium.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, May 13th at 10 AM in BR1

Maintenance and Engineering, Stephanie for Brian McGill, Chair

• New rug in Courtyard Crossing and stairs to Terrace
• One (1) Car Wash Station near Conference Center Lobby is open
• Conference Center Elevator back in service
• Outdoor Fire Pit near Terrace
• Library books are back on new shelves
• Indoor Fireplaces maintained and off for the season
• Covered parking places with solar panels on roof. CCBC does this.

Next Meeting: Tuesday, May 26th @ 2 PM in BR1 

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

• The Tapestry Program’s spring programs were successful. They met yesterday to begin planning the fall series
• The Dining Together Program had 28 residents last night.
• The Dine Together Luncheon met for a second time
• The Accessibility & Inclusion Committee had a table at the Health Fair
• It submitted a CapEx27 proposal to upgrade current buses & buy a new one
• The Low Vision group has purchased orange ribbons to help identify vision issues. They will be available through Sales office & lobby desks & Health Fair. Residents are wearing them
• Mimi O’Donnel is working to expand the Friendly Visitors Program to Continuing Care.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, May 20, 2026 in BR2 at 2pm

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

• Pendants Checking coming in four locations

Security is testing pendants at pop-ups. They plan walk-up events on Monday, May 11 at Cross Creek from 2-4 pm; on Monday May 18 at Charlestown Square from 1-3 pm; and on Tuesday May 26 at St. Charles from 1-3 pm. The first event at Fountain Hill yesterday resulted in testing of over 100 pendants.

Security still plans to test pendants during annual apartment mechanical inspections, when pull cords, HVAC filters, and smoke detectors are tested. Security has found that due to the service age of this generation of pendants, it is prudent to make sure that batteries are charged and the activation signal reaches the Security system. Like any electronic device, some may need new batteries or replacement, sort of like your TV remote. Remember that to activate your pendant, push the button for three seconds.  It will vibrate notifies Security with its location.  If you notice that your pendant starts blinking, its battery is probably low and needs replacement. It’s supposed to notify Security, but some have not.

Security is working to ensure that smoke detectors are upgraded where needed due to their age. Also, efforts are underway to ensure that cell phones, home phones and all emergency communications continue to function, even when power goes out. Note that Security uses push-to-talk radios which work even when phones do not. Maintenance to emergency systems and IT systems like MyErickson are ongoing. Some may need unscheduled necessary updates.

• Badge and License Plate readers addressed by Security

Security has had to reprogram residents’ badges and license plates into the Security systems to ensure that they work properly.  If there is a problem with your badge or the license plate reader doesn’t work properly with your vehicle, notify Security.  Additional readers are to be installed on outside doors on campus so that your badge will open them.

• Traffic Safety- new signs, “STOP” painted on road at Stop signs

A big “thank you” to Security and General Services, with Grounds support, for installing new stop signs and slow signs.  Already an improvement has been observed in vehicles traveling slower and stopping, enhancing campus pedestrian safety.  Additional measures have been recommended, including fresh paint on pavement markings. Please drive carefully on campus to keep everyone safe – residents should lead the way in safety. Don’t hesitate to notify Security if you see unsafe driving, with details like the vehicle’s license plate.

• Safety Presentation: Wed. May 20th from 1-2:30 in Auditorium. We have great presenters, and it will be packed with good information.

Next Meeting: Thursday. May 21th. 11AM-12PM at Caton Woods meeting Rm

Nominating, John Arnold, Co-Chair

• Thirteen candidates are ready for orientation on May 19 at 7pm in the Gallery

Nominating committee, we have 13 candidates that are ready for the orientation on May 19, at 7pm in the gallery, the Candidates will be introduced at the next council meeting. And Election Day is Wednesday, August the fifth.

• The Candidates will be introduced at the next council meeting
• Election Day is Wednesday, August 5, 2026
• Election Captains – contact your polling people to see if they are available this year. If you are interested in being a volunteer for the election, let either me or Joe Carrick know that you would.

Next Meeting: May 6th at 10am in HR 140

Administration Update
Associate Executive Director Laura Rye

Thanks to all who shared updates and who participate in various residents’ council committees. This is really impressive.

The Wi Fi upgrade – moving to connect 3.0.  Early adopters, which is a small group of residents, are going live next week to test the system.  They’ll have that for about two weeks in a test kind of environment before we start with the rollout for the entire community, which will begin on Tuesday, May 26.  More details will follow soon.

The Telnet project, how our cell phones will connect throughout the buildings and how we can increase those cell phone signals, has received approval to move forward from a financial standpoint.  The IT teams are working through the contracting process – we hope to have dates for the project by next meeting.  We have asked is to go in phases.

The Charlestown This Week newsletter
Kudos to Jill and the resident life team for putting that together. We’re really hoping that it’s a consolidated resource for you on what is happening around the community and how to get involved.

The Composting Program
I came from Riderwood – they have a very active resident composting program. I’m super excited for it to be coming here to Charlestown, and for all of you to be able to be a part of that program. Jack and the conservation team are working very hard on getting it up and moving partnering with our dining team.

The Terrace Opening date?
We are hoping all of our fingers crossed and toes crossed, that the construction teams will be complete by the 15th of May – Hoping to open in June.

Lighting Outside.
What we have found is, instead of having coax cable and having conduits put in place for all of the electrical outside is all of the electrical was individually buried for each of the lighting poles.  That means we are working very hard with both our development partners, with the contractors and with our GS team, to determine what is causing these outages, and how can we get repairs to them as soon as possible, and also not just do a quick repair, but how can we repair it systematically so that it is providing that safety aspect when it comes to lighting outside.

The EV charger
It is installed and is not hooked up to electric yet. We are waiting for the electrician to come and turn on the power source for it to be ready for use.  We’ll be painting the spots green and putting signage up as well.

Library Lighting.
There’s not really good lighting in that space. The designers were here this morning looking at lighting – they’re looking into alternative lighting solutions to help improve the lighting of the actual books in the bookcases.

Questions

Will the EV charging parking spaces have solar panels with purpose of charging?
We have not formalized a plan to put solar carports – that is not a formalized plan. That is something that’s being explored by the by the residents group.

Erickson is looking at the three large Maryland communities to see the feasibility of doing another study. There was one done about five years ago on energy use. At that time, there was not a cost benefit analysis that made sense to install solar. We are asking the three communities to have another look and see if another study can be completed.

Mercy reminded everybody that the scholars’ graduation today is going to be very, very crowded, but the 972 is going to be recording if you can’t go to the conference center.

Comcast – WMAR’s parent company Scripts has come to an agreement with Comcast; so WMAR is coming back to Comcast. That’s wonderful news.

This is for transportation safety people. At least twice in the last two weeks, I have seen our shuttle busses zooming through stop signs.

Employees Entering Apartments – Is it appropriate for employees to enter apartments and not leave any explanation for their visits?
Answer – it depends on the reason for coming in. Who it is that’s coming in. Is it related to life safety? Is it a request that you would put in through general services? Is it a project that we have going on campus?  Depending on the rationale for why they’re coming in, there may or may not be a formal hang tag left on your door. There may not be real time additional information that is provided to you. It is a case-by-case basis.