20220922 - Community Center Advisory Board Minutes
Community Center Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
Ridgewood, N.J.
September 22, 2022 (In-Person and via Zoom)
In attendance: Zarmeen Patil, Deanna Schablik, Janet Fricke, Helen Leonard, , Cathy Greve, Beth Abbott (Zoom), Sheila Brogan
5:08 p.m. Call to Order
Approval of Minutes for June 2, 2022—Helen motioned and Cathy seconded; Minutes approved.
Treasurer's report, Deanna Schablik –
· Cash Balances:
Foundation Checking $3353.33 - as of end of August
Taub - $6157.24 as of end of August.
In the Foundation account there was activity related to Artbeat.
In the Taub account expenditures were to related to renewing the Zoom membership and website hosting.
· Deanna still has funds left to spend from the $3760 funds received from Columbia Bank.
Community Center Report-Deanna
· Deanna has been using the new computers purchased with the Columbia Bank funds for youth classes on coding and robotics
· The second AARP Safety Course was held with 14 people attending.
· Likely we will receive a donation from North Jersey Masters (sponsor of the Ridgewood Run) to thank us for the water table we host.
· The Graydon opening breakfast event was successful.
· Sheila commented that it was a positive result that some senior classes were able to take place this summer despite the Community Center being a cooling and rain shelter for the summer camp.
· Most Fall classes are full and Deanna is seeing new people attending.
· A youth leadership grant for $4600 was secured from the Department of Mental Health. The first of 2 workshops was conducted with the Lindsay Meyer Teen Institute (LMTI) from Rutherford. 21 students attended. One more is scheduled. Deanna has been spearheading and Sheila expressed her gratitude.
· Gwenn is stepping back somewhat from her role with the Civic Youth Corps. The Parks and Recreation department hired a part time person who will be involved with this program.
· Parks and Recreation plans to host a social for special needs young people at the Community Center.
· The 6th grade social will be on September 30 Friday. There was a discussion of why it is limited to 70 attendees. In the past when there have been more people it was out of control. It will be a game night rather than dancing with a DJ to keep it calmer.
· The 7th/8th grade social is October 14
· There are two Falls Prevention workshops coming up in the Fall.
· October 7 is the senior event for the Access weekend. It will be a Carnival. Age Friendly Ridgewood will pay for the hot dogs.
· Brain games with Sheila is scheduled for HILT on October 13.
· The Health Department Health Fair will take place November 3.
· The Elder Dinner is scheduled for November 13 from 3-5 pm in person at Old Paramus Church. EMS will provide lights for the parking lot. There was a planning meeting this morning. Committee is planning for 85 people to attend. Stacey is concerned about kitchen space for preparation due to Healing Meals making a change.
· Deanna was disappointed about some mentions of the Community Center in the draft Master Plan and she is speaking to Nancy about giving this feedback. The descriptions of the uses of the rooms were inaccurate. Deanna wishes they were consulted before the draft was completed. Sheila and Beth noted the goal in the Master Plan to add programming for seniors and youth but no mention of the needed physical and utility improvements that we have discussed in the past. Both Sheila and Beth have given this feedback to the Master Plan committee.
· Deanna will obtain quotes for creating a drop ceiling in the large room.
· Hopefully the Village will place an awning outside the door near Deanna’s desk, as planned.
· The Senior lounge was recently painted.
Village/Council Business
· Mike Sedon has resigned from the Village Council and we have not received notice of who our new liason will be.
Age Friendly Report – Beth Abbott
· We were not awarded the TD Bank grant to finance the newsletter and website activities. We have indication from the Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation that they may support these activities if Age Friendly Ridgewood proposes a project for advocacy on an issue for older adults at the New Jersey state level. In the mean time we continue as volunteers creating our newsletter and collaborating on events with the Ridgewood Library, Parks and Recreation and the Health Department. We are using our funds for costs related to our website, Zoom software and tangible support of events such as food contributions. We are also looking for additional funding via the Foundation Directory on the New Jersey State Library system.
· Age Friendly Ridgewood is participating on the planning committee for the Thanksgiving Elder Dinner.
· Sheila and Beth spent time analyzing the draft Master Plan and offering feedback to the committee. The older population was included and some projects we have advocated for are listed as goals. Age Friendly Ridgewood is listed as one of the potential responsible parties for four implementation goals. We hope that these potential projects will become real projects and especially noted the need for pedestrian safety improvements, improved pathway to Ridgecrest housing and asked for the addition of the goal of upgrading the Community Center spaces.
· Sheila hosted a talk about Medicare 101 on June 28.
New Business--
· Zarmeen reported on a bad experience with the parking kiosks and others shared similar experiences. Zarmeen is letting related parties know about the issues.
· It was suggested that the following items be added to next month’s meeting agenda
o Community Center improvements and a plan for our advocacy to get these items into the Capital budget
o A Fourth of July parade
o Members of the Community Center Advisory Board and the Community Center of Ridgewood Foundation and related resolutions needed.
6:02 p.m. The meeting was Adjourned
Next Meeting October 20, 2022 at 5 pm in the Pat Mancuso Senior Lounge
Respectfully submitted by Beth Abbott.
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