20220602 - Community Center Advisory Board Minutes

Community Center Advisory Board Meeting Minutes

Ridgewood, N.J.

June 2, 2022 (In-Person)

In attendance: Zarmeen Patil, Deanna Schablik, Janet Fricke, Helen Leonard, Michael Sedon, Cathy Greve, Liz Kloak, Beth Abbott, Sheila Brogan, Nancy Freidman

5:00 p.m. Call to Order

Approval of Minutes for May 5, 2022—Sheila motioned and Janet seconded; Minutes approved.

Treasurer's report, Deanna Schablik –

·      Cash Balances:

Foundation Checking $3760.57 - as of end of April

Taub - $7,140.92 as of end of April.

All activity was small interest payments.

·      Deanna has about $1800 left to spend from the $3760 funds received from Columbia Bank.

Community Center Report-Deanna

·      AARP Safety Course was held and 20 attended; Community Center makes no money from this but offers the space and effort as a service; AARP charges $20 per person.

·      The Memorial Day water table was a success and Deanna thanked all who helped.

·      58 have signed up for the opening day Graydon breakfast June 4. 70 bagels have been ordered. Liz and Mike and some Health Department folks planning to assist. Health Department is paying for the band.

·      Deanna has organized some courses for seniors during summer mornings. The challenge is that the Community Center is a lightning shelter but that is usually relevant in the afternoons.

·      The Community Center was a lightning shelter for RHS baseball recently and Deanna felt that the space was not respected by the students. She will relay to Nancy Bigos and likely she will communicate with the Athletic Director.

·      The 5^th grade step up events are Friday June 10, collaboration with Municipal Alliance, Parks and Recreation, Health Department. Ice breaker games by Lukin Center for Psychotherapy, a DJ will be there and Ben and Jerry’s will donate ice cream.

·      A youth leadership grant for $4600 was secured from the Department of Mental Health.  Two workshops will be set up with Lindsay Myer Teen Institute and For Alcohol and Drug Recourses.

·      Art Beat will take place June 11.

·      We did not receive the AARP Community Challenge Grant intended for the raised garden beds, $2000. In September we should talk about other ways to obtain those funds.

Village/Council Business, Deputy Mayor Michael Sedon

·      Pedestrian malls in the CBD will only take place one weekend in August

·      The Deputy Mayor is very focused on improving the loading zones in town so that trucks do not stop traffic and safety is improved. The Police have proposed a plan.

Age Friendly Report – Beth Abbott

·      The grant application has been submitted to TD Bank to finance the newsletter and website activities. No word yet on the result.

·      The ‘Age My Way’ photo display in the Ridgewood Public Library auditorium looks great and all are encouraged to visit during June.

·      Sheila will host a talk about Medicare 101 on June 28.

Parks and Recreation Conservation Board report-Liz Kloak

·      Liz described a positive tour of the Health Barn

·      Liz described new initiatives they are considering, specifically phone apps for Ridgewood Parks and Ridgewood fields.

·      There are over 500 campers signed up for the summer camp and a waitlist is in place.

·      The Hawes principal is retiring and a trail near Hawes will be dedicated to him.

Report by Janet Fricke, Assistant to the Village Manager

·      Billy will drive and Janet will chaperone senior residents to five Tuesday performances at Kasschau Shell.

·      Janet shared some of the challenges of transporting frail older adults on the bus.

New Business--

·      Deanna wants to push forward improvements to the large Community Center room, particularly a drop ceiling, better thermostat set-up, functional doors to the outside and improve the heat curtain. On our meeting agenda in September should be discussion of gathering data about room usage, how to advocate for these improvements, drafting a letter outlining needs to Village Manager and others, and hopefully gain inclusion of these items into the next Village budget.

·      Cathy Greve suggests a Community Center float in the July 4, 2023 parade.

Old Business – Discussion of the need for more Board members particularly a secretary. Deputy Mayor Sedon says that one woman applied to the Village Council to be on several committees, including the Community Center Advisory Board. She has yet to be interviewed. Deanna mentioned a HILT member who she thought had applied. She will follow up with that person and Michael Sedon about the result of her interview. We should all encourage people we know to consider applying to be on the Board. Resolution(s) should be passed to remove members who are no longer on the Boards and add new ones. Beth Abbott should only be on the Foundation Board now. An open question is whether the secretary position is for the Advisory Board and the Foundation Board or just one of them?

6:00 p.m. Adjourn

Next Meeting   September 22, 2022 at 5 pm in the Pat Mancuso Senior Lounge

Respectfully submitted by Beth Abbott.