The meeting was called to order by President Dale Huggler at 1:00 p.m.

ROLL CALL 

Present:   Stuart Bartlett, Terry Beardslee, Jim Bricker, Jim Charboneau, Frank Cowger, Bob Cudney, Mike Davis, Ann Denis, William Ellingboe, Pauline Hall, Rev. Bill Hipwood, Dale Huggler, Rev. R.C. Knight, Jean Kroll, Jack Mahank, Daniel Marcrum, Tehea Minke, Boyden Olson, Larry Sabin, Dianna Schafer, Bob Spencer, Daniel Torstenson, Gerald Wall, Rose Walsh, and Richard Donakowski

Excused:  Donna Dietz, Bob Harden, Joseph Pellens, Sheila Phillips, Clyde Soucie, and Gary Wozniak

Absent:  Walter Walsh, and Jessica Mandeville

Quorum present.

Staff Members Present:   John Briggs, Laura Budreau, Barb Dault, Kathy Goddard, Karen Godi, Linda McGillis, Diane Price, Laurie Sauer, Sue Schuler, Lisa Slupecki, Carol Shafto, John Swise and Misty Dragiewicz

President Huggler asked for a moment of silent prayer in memory of Marcia Hopcroft, former board member, who recently passed away.

MINUTES OF LAST MEETING

Motion by Frank Cowger to approve minutes of the January meeting.  Support by Daniel Marcrum.  All ayes, Motion carried.

Jim Bricker led the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance.  Rev. Bill Hipwood presented reflections.

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS AND PUBLIC COMMENT

The following guests were introduced:  Richard Donakowski was present as an alternate for Leonard Zolnierek, Sue Schuler introduced Misty Dragiewicz, the new Grants Administrator for the Area Agency on Aging, Dan Doezema was present from the Office of Services to the Aging, Linda McGillis introduced her mother, Grandma Lorraine Crevier who has been a Foster Grandparent for 24 years, Bob Knight, Terry Beardslee Frank Cowger, Boyden Olson and Gerald Wall all introduced their spouse and Jim Bricker introduced his wife and son. 

COMMUNICATION

None

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Head Start Policy Council – Tehea Minke

Tehea stated that a Michigan Works! program representative will be present at the next Policy Council meeting to review the services provided by that program.  There will now be two NEMCSA Head Start Policy Council Representatives on the Mid Michigan Community Action Board.  The additional seat will make it easier for at least one member to be in attendance due to the amount of meetings Policy Council members are asked to attend.  Tehea indicated Head Start may need to begin competing for their funds through a re-competition process every 5 years.  Should the reauthorization take place containing this language, it will create many concerns.  Re-competition of funds is not in the best interest for Head Start as building relationships and support with other agencies will be more difficult as renewed funding will be reviewed every five years.  Linda McGillis encouraged board members to write the legislators explaining the concerns about re-competition.  Linda indicated that the Senate has basically dug its heals in on Head Start and reauthorization may not be passed this year.  The program is currently operating on a continuing resolution.  At this point, re-competition is the biggest concern with the reauthorization.  Head Start was granted a waiver on the transportation issue mandate until the end of 2006.  Supplemental funding was also granted for a fatherhood conference in Texas. 

Regional Council on Aging – Rev. Bill Hipwood

The last meeting dealt with council membership and election of officers.   The election resulted in the following slate of officers:  Rev. Bill Hipwood, Chair, Clyde Soucie, Vice Chair and John Karoly, Secretary.

Volunteer Services Advisory Groups:

   Senior Companion Program – Rev. Robert Knight

The group met on Jan 26 and was presented with a draft of the new format for the advisory group.  The revised group will operate under a less formal structure, have 11 members, a Chair, and a Vice Chair.  Meetings will be held on a quarterly basis.  Rev. Bob Knight was reappointed as the SCP representative on the NEMCSA Board of Directors.  Anticipated funding cuts for 2005 were discussed.  The Corporation for National Service has a new CEO, David Eisner.  Members received an update of Senior Companion volunteer numbers and sites.  The annual recognition luncheon will be held on June 29th, at the Alpena Holiday Inn.  All NEMCSA board members were invited to attend and were asked to RSVP as soon as possible.   

    Foster Grandparent Program – Jean Kroll

The group now consists of 12 members; Jean Kroll is the Chairperson and Glenda Turcott is the Vice Chairperson.  Jean Kroll was reappointed as the FGP representative on the NEMCSA Board of Directors.  There are no budget cuts for this year but some are anticipated for 2005.  Members received an update of Foster Grandparent volunteer numbers and sites.  The annual recognition luncheon will be held on April 29th at the Alpena Holiday Inn.  All NEMCSA board members are invited to attend and were asked to RSVP as soon as possible.  The Retired Senior Volunteer Program annual recognition luncheon is scheduled for August 25^th at the Grayling Holiday Inn. 

Client Services Advisory Council – Boyden Olson

No meeting, no report.

Personnel Committee – Clyde Soucie

No report. 

Membership Committee – Frank Cowger

No meeting, no report. 

Program Planning and Evaluation Committee – Rev. Bill Hipwood

The Office of Services to the Aging recently proposed a change to their Minimum Standards addressing the issue of paying board stipends for attending meetings.  Rev. Bill Hipwood reviewed the concerns of the committee. The committee recommended that John Swise compose a letter to OSA expressing the board concerns and asking them to modify the last paragraph of the proposed Minimum Standard to include payment for committee meetings.   John Briggs discussed the approved bylaws which indicate that the agency can pay board members a stipend for attending meetings.   Discussion.

Motion by Jack Mahank to have John Swise compose and send a letter to OSA.  Support by Pauline Hall.  The letter needs to address the fact that NEMCSA has an adequate policy in place which does not allow for potential abuse, however the OSA definition needs to be expanded to include board committee meetings.  John indicated that he will explain how NEMCSA does business within the current structure and that board member stipends are paid from an Indirect pool.  All ayes, Motion carried.    

The committee reviewed, discussed and recommended for approval the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention funding as presented by the Area Agency on Aging staff.   

Motion by Larry Sabin to approve the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention funding recommendations as presented.  Support by Daniel Marcrum.  All ayes, Motion carried.    

INFORMATION ITEMS

Directors Report

Financial Report –  Jim Robarge

No report.  John Swise indicated that the auditors had finished their work at the agency earlier in the week. 

John Swise talked about the NCAF Conference he recently attended in Washington D.C. with John Briggs, Dale Huggler, Linda McGillis and Karen Godi.  Those in attendance met with Congressman Bart Stupak and heard from several legislators and various speakers throughout the conference.  Encouraging news was heard about CSBG funds.   

ROMA Presentation – Carol Shafto

 Carol reviewed the information she mailed to all board members regarding ROMA.  Rev. Bill Hipwood indicated that the Program Planning &Evaluation committee spent many, many hours working with Carol in putting this information together.  The agency now has an extraordinary document that can be used in all areas of the agency.  Carol reviewed the ROMA initiative, what it means and how program information was used to develop the report.  Carol briefly reviewed the final report, reviewed the national goals and stated how they relate to the agency goals.  Carol also reviewed the Board goals and expected outcomes.   Dale Huggler indicated that he learned that Michigan is way ahead of most states in regard to ROMA. Carol indicated that NEMCSA and two other agencies lead the way in Michigan. 

Motion by Jack Mahank to adopt the board outcomes which are all milestones will be met, 100% client satisfaction and all people seeking service will be served.  Support by Pauline Hall.  All ayes, Motion carried.

John Briggs discussed the new allocation of fuel assistance funds that NEMCSA recently received.  The amended contract is for an additional $171,000 in funding.  A brochure stating contact and eligibility information was distributed to board members.  Applicants can fax or mail all documents into Beth Storms when applying for assistance.  The total allocation is for direct services, no administrative dollars are included with this funding.  John also thanked Bob Knight for working with the Earned Income Tax Credit program staff, fielding questions and providing additional training as they worked to begin this new initiative.  

Dan Doezema from the State Office of Services to the Aging indicated that the State legislature passed a bill on life span respite services in order to get better information to consumers regarding the respite services available.  The upcoming OBRA Conference will be held in May at the Kellogg Center.  The conference discusses screening for nursing home clients and this year it is opened up for Aging staff to attend.  Many great speakers will be present and will be talking about a various number of topics. 

Motion by Rev. Bob Knight to adjourn the meeting at 2:19 p.m.  Support by Robert Spencer.  All ayes, Motion carried.

10.  NEW BUSINESS

            a.   

11. ADJOURNMENT          

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TO:         NEMCSA Board Members

FROM:   John Briggs, Chief Operating Officer  

DATE:    March 5, 2004

RE:          Meeting Information - March 2004

Enclosed is the meeting notice for our Friday, March 12, 2004 Board of Directors’ meeting to be held at B.J’s Restaurant, 900 N. Center Road (Old US-27 North), Gaylord. Please refer to the enclosed directions and map. In addition to the tentative agenda, your packet contains other program information and updates. Please bring your Board meeting packet from the cancelled February Board meeting. It contains the minutes of the January 9^th meeting and the specifics on our one action item.

Our only action item this month, carried over from February, requests approval of recommendations for Disease Prevention Health Promotion Funding. The Regional Advisory Council endorsed these recommendations at their January 26^th meeting.

Our Director’s Report this month originally scheduled for February, will feature Carol Shafto, Planning and Evaluation Director, presenting the 2002-2003 ROMA Report. This report is the first attempt in NEMCSA’s 35 year history, to have an agency-wide report of program results. The Board Program Planning and Evaluation Committee along with Carol, Program Directors and other agency staff have put a tremendous amount of time and effort over the past several years to get us to this point. This process and outcomes will only get better as we continue to work on it. As it is, we are well ahead of most of the state and nation. In late January, a copy of this report with Chairman Bill Hipwood’s memo was sent to you. Please bring it to the Board meeting Friday.

Next in your packet is an invitation to an Open House on Friday, March 19^th at our new Head Start/Early Head Start Education Center in Bay City. This facility was featured in an article in February’s Board packet. Immediately following is a listing of our sites and volunteers for the Retired Senior and Volunteer Program (RSVP) of Crawford and Roscommon Counties. Quite a diverse group of sites!

Finally you will find enclosed, copies of two new articles. The first article features a Vision 2020 project grant presentation of $10,000 from the Allstate Foundation to Alpena Habitat for Humanity. This was the result of special efforts put forth by State Senator Tony Stamas, and the collaborative efforts of Karen Thompson, Executive Director of Alpena Habitat and Susan Bowen, Community Planning Specialist for NEMCSA. Great work Susan and Karen! And thanks Tony! The second news article from the Midland Daily News, talks about the Head Start harness reprieve. On the flip side is an editorial from the same paper with an interesting twist on this topic.

The last item in your packet is the March issue of Board and Administrator. As usual, if you have any questions or require additional information about any of the items in this packet, please contact John Swise, Karen Godi, specific program staff or me. See you at B.J.’s. The buffet is pretty darn good there, even during Lent. Please remember to bring your Board packet, nametag and include the odometer readings for your mileage reimbursement. The Board stipend form with space for claiming mileage reimbursement is included in your packet.

Important Dates to Remember

Friday, April 2            Board Meeting at Huron Breeze Golf and Country Club, Au Gres

Friday, May 7            Board Meeting at Waters Edge Restaurant, Rogers City

Friday, June 4            Board Meeting at Coyles Restaurant, West Branch

If you are planning to bring your spouse or any other guest with you, please notify

Karen Godi, Executive Assistant in advance, so that we can arrange for adequate seating and meals. Thanks!

NOTE: We need to have odometer reading on mileage reimbursement forms to satisfy our audit requirements! Please check your readings before leaving and arrival at the meeting, and then double that for the estimate of the return trip. Thank you very much for your cooperation.

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