Senior Advisory Committee - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Calling the meeting to order of the Senior Advisory Committee. Please stand and join me in the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. At this time, I know you have the January 15 I'm sorry, the oh, first we're going to approve the agenda.

I'll entertain a motion to approve tonight's agenda.

Make the motion to approve the agenda. I second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Okay. The agenda is approved. And now we could look at the minutes of November 13.

Do I have the minutes?

We'll entertain a motion for approval.

I'll make that up.

We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor of approving the minutes as written, signify by saying aye. Aye. And the November minutes are approved as written. Do we have any presentations, Jennifer?

Yes. So we wanted to just do a brief presentation on the freebie program. So that would be from Kyle and I. We wanted to give an update as to where we're at as far as our stats and what we're looking as far as the implementation of our third vehicle that has been in place now. So we did want to kind of give an overview of where we're at as far as the rides.

Now we did start the program May 21, hard to believe, 2024. And as of to date, our complete rides are 16,276. Passengers that we've been able to serve is 18,197. So we do see that the rides are increasing, which is great. That means that our seniors are getting out into the community.

They're benefiting, you know, coming to the community center. And then we're also seeing that adding the third car is lowering our average wait time, which is very good for the seniors as well. And then we are seeing that our program participation is also increasing. So everything's kind of working the way that it was designed. And so we're really excited about the program.

So we did want to come to you and at least talk about the Freeview program. And kind of the feedback that we have heard from the seniors is that adding the third car has been wonderful. They were very happy with the second, but as you can imagine, as the program has increased, it was a little bit more of a wait time. So it is good to report that we are able to see an increase in ridership, even more so than what we were doing, but also the customer satisfaction, which is very important. So we did want to present on that.

I think that is a wonderful program that we have brought to our senior population, not only because we are giving them freedom, but we're also seeing that they are able to go to different places that they weren't able to go before. So I think that's really important to report, just so you guys all know how the program itself is working, especially with the addition of the third car.

What has what I my first thought when I, saw another card the other day, I saw a briefie on the road, thought, oh, did they get the third card going? I wonder what the wait time is now. So sorry. So my question was about wait times, and that you said they have decreased. That was one of the first things you addressed. Do you have a comparison? In November, the average wait time with two cars might have been do you have that

stat? Yes. So right now, I can tell you since we've added the third car, we're at twenty six point eight four minutes. And before that, we were closer to, like, the 35, 38.

It's almost 30%.

Right. So it's went down tremendously. Is there, dare I say,

talk of a fourth

You know, right now I don't think we have that slated. I'm sure that we'll continue to monitor the program. And if we get to a certain, you know, position where we're able or capable of adding the fourth car, of course, I think that this program is just the beginning. And in moving forward down the timeline as far as maybe offering rides more so to everybody. But I think right now the most important thing was to be able to provide the same type of program to our seniors, especially when we transitioned from the senior transportation and rides program to this. It was very important to the village that, you know, we didn't have a lapse in service, and that we also were able to still provide, you know, even more rides to our seniors.

Is there talk and again, if it's not even something that can be entertained, this would be educational for me to know. So I'm curious if there's because this seems to be so abundantly popular with the seniors in Wellington, is there talk? Is it feasible? Is there a sponsor? And I know there's Palm Tran, but of getting a shuttle there was talk years ago about a trolley.

getting some kind of a shuttle that maybe it's a mall shuttle only, that it takes you to the mall. Maybe it makes stops around the perimeter of the mall, and it's at certain times. It's not a freebie where you're getting taken by yourself to your doctor's office, but if you are going to get an x-ray, it would be stopping it around the perimeter, or Whole Foods. Is that ever is that something that a committee would work on getting numbers or see if there's support for it?

Yeah. I Or

is it something that's just let's get freebie going?

Yeah. I think right now with freebie, it is going really well. I mean, that's something that I know has been talked about in the past. You know, that's something that possibly could be considered in the future, I would say, too. But I do think that the freebie service right now is sustaining what we're looking for. But that doesn't mean that eventually we might have to add something or increase something as well.

It seems like there's so many calls to Costco. And I can envision, like, a a palm trail sized van with seniors, with the trailer behind it, with everybody's even though we're all single family, I mean, no one at home, we still go to Costco. So we'd have everything in the back. But I think Wellington is really could maybe be a trailblazer in providing for seniors down the road. I just kind of wanted to put it out there so it might be a thought in the future. Yeah, Also,

I would wonder if they would have entertained the idea of having a shuttle, a bigger ride, so that more than just, I don't know, two or three people, like a, what is it, SUV or a bigger car to provide

for sure. Multiple rides.

Yeah, definitely. I mean, definitely as the program increases, I think we're always going to try to stay ahead of the trend and make sure that we provide the rides for our senior population. Additionally,

as the 441 Corridor continues to be developed, there are going be so many more office buildings, medical buildings, restaurants. I mean, all kinds of things. And I think also it may be a welcome thought to get on public transportation rather than driving the 441 Corridor on your own as you're aging. Right. Could be

those are great ideas, for sure.

I that's a really good point about and we've got these we've now got Lotus opening. We've got all these that seniors have the money. And this gives them access to go spend it and use it and support village goods and services. So think it's yeah, I think it's a really I think freebie is just so great for the village. And it really has helped and made lives different. So just the ways that we could enrich that for Sure. More seniors.

Yeah, absolutely. Definitely. Anything else from And then staff updates. I know Kyle had some things that he wanted to share as far as the programs and things go.

Absolutely. Let me just So we had our New Year's party earlier this month. And we had roughly we had two seventy seven register. We think we were right around there for our actually showed up on the day. It was an awesome time. They obviously had a blast. And then we already have about 200 registered for our next Valentine's party, which I think is February 12, I believe. And then, should I wait for

Yeah. And then I think we also wanted to add about the Senior Olympics.

Yes. I was very excited to tell you guys about our inaugural Senior Olympics that we just had this past week. We had about 60 to 70 attendees. We had six different events. We had ping pong.

We had shuffleboard, a giant Jenga, Connect Four, Cornhole, and and it was it was so much fun just to work it and and to see everyone having such a good time. You saw the competitive juices flowing. It was it was really an awesome thing to see and we've already been asked, you know, when's our next one? So we are putting our brains together and and we'll make sure that we have an even better next one, and it'll be a continuous event to happen.

And I think you had a first, second, third place winner, right?

We did.

Yep.

It it was they really had a blast. We had the podiums for them to stand on, and then Heather had helped us make some our our medals for our winners. Mhmm. It was a great time. We had a sponsor come in and, you know, gave out prizes. It was a genuine good time. Yeah.

I love your enthusiasm. That's exciting. That's great.

We just try to make it fun. I mean, that's the I biggest can say

it's nice. Circling back, what time is the Valentine's Day party the lunch?

11:30. Yes, 11:30.

So it's Friday. Twelfth. Thursday. Thursday. So that's

the thirteenth.

Yeah. Valentine's Day is a Saturday.

Mhmm. Yeah.

Oh, that's And that's usually one of our biggest attended ones. So Yeah. That one and the holiday

twelve

eleven.

Okay.

Thank you.

You said it was on the twelfth?

Yes. Okay.

When you're speaking to seniors that attend your programs, do you encourage them, if they're Facebook users, to follow you all on Facebook? I was just at a meeting where one of the councilmen were addressing some residents. And they were like, how do we find out? And I feel like you all do such an amazing job updating the community through Facebook. I was just saying to Roxanne, Ken is everywhere, taking pictures and video.

And also the village manager, Jim, does an amazing job of his updates. I know you guys do some podcasts with him that I really, I don't know of another city locally that really puts everything out there so readily available to keep every resident very much in tune.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Course. Course. We hate to hear somebody say, Oh, we missed out on this, we I missed know. And we try to make sure that we get it out as fast and as much as possible.

Well, even if you just call the call, someone's always happy to help you.

Yes. Right.

Just the 4000 number, whatever it is, you know, that someone just finds the information.

Right. So that's very nice too. Yeah. Definitely. And then, you know, we're just planning for the spring. So in addition to the senior events, we are gonna be hosting the Wellington Irish Fest on March 7. It's a brand new event, so it'll be at the amphitheater. So we're definitely inviting everybody to come out to that. That'll be from eleven to 10PM, so we'll be able to celebrate, Irish. And, they will also have our, Festa Italiana.

Those are just some new things that, you know, they're gonna be coming to the amphitheater, and that'll be in April. So we're just wanting everybody to, you know, join us at the community center and at the amphitheater, especially Thursday nights for Lakeside Market too. So speaking of, we have it tonight. So we're hoping that, you know, the weather doesn't keep everybody from coming. But, you know, just trying to prepare for the spring and make sure that, you know, not only our seniors, but everybody have a lot to do within our community because it's very important.

Thank you again. Anything else from staff?

Just a couple other things. We had a lunch and learn today on vitamins and supplements. We had 53 attend today's lunch and learn. It was extremely informative. I found myself standing there taking pictures of the slides. But and then we had a lunch and learn last week that had 45 in attendance. And then we also have our AARP smart driving course. Tomorrow we have, I believe it's seven registered. And then we have our next two technology classes are completely full with a waiting list. So it's definitely the demand is there for those classes. And

what's the capacity of those classes?

I believe the technology is 15. Yeah.

Because it is one gentleman with another provider and then 15 that you know, it can be a little challenging. You know? And the great thing about those classes is that they also ask, lots of questions, and it may not be pertaining to the subject matter. But, you know, they're still able to help. So that's really great because, you know, everybody needs help with technology. So it's a great class.

Oh, my phone just had an update. I I have no idea. I was yelling at my husband, why'd you do this? Now I've gotta learn how to use my I phone was gonna see if I had room for that class to go to. So, yeah, there's always a question. And I don't, you know, maybe the 15 year old figures it out faster than we do, but they still have to get help sometimes. So it's really useful. That's great.

Will there be anything available with tax season coming up upon us? It's right here. Do you have any opportunities or any lunch and learns dealing with and I know a lot of these seniors don't really have to deal with that, but I'm sure there's quite a few that are still heavily involved in paying taxes.

MS. Yeah. So, we usually refer them to AARP just because they do have a service that they're able to assist with that. Don't believe we have any lunch and learn with taxes.

Not yet. But we can definitely look into that.

Yeah. Can look into Do

you have a master list of all the attendees from these various activities?

Yes. So we have it's called CivicRack. It's our platform that we utilize. So any program that we have, everyone does have to register through that. So we are able to keep attendance for every single one of those programs.

Looked at the stats to see if a particular area hasn't been, oh, responding or something like that, where you could target, not that you're at a loss for attendees, but just out of curiosity.

I would say we've never looked at that. You know, for us, we usually we do have the newsletter that we send out, so it does have all of our programs electronically. Sure. So we do have a vast and and also it's where, you know, the people that come, they are also recommending their friends come. I mean, certainly, we could always, you know, try to get more people for sure, but I wouldn't say there's, like, a specific area, of people that are not attending.

And then we also try, working with our community policing department, our code department. We we we do try to work together, you know, so if they are out in the community and they do see a senior in need or a senior that maybe is not involved, they will recommend, and even while our community cares. So we kinda all partner together to make sure that, you know, we're trying to get the information out, but also making it readily available. So I know a lot of times Kyle will send over the calendar, or he'll even go over to the house, you know, to do, like, a a welfare check. So, we're definitely trying to make sure that we're including everybody, and then also just working through our community partners too.

So that's one of our biggest, you know, avenues that we're able to accomplish that. You know, that's really big for the village and, you know, creating those partnerships, but also maintaining so that we were able to get the information out to, all the people in the community.

And these are all targeting seniors? Correct. What's your budget?

Our budget? For seniors. For seniors. So for our special events, our budget is $52,000. That is what we have, but we do offset that by about $25,000 in sponsorships. Okay. So we do work with a lot of health care systems that are able to offset those costs for us. And then for bingo, we do have a budget. I don't know the exact number off the top of my head. But right now, we're able to actually get most of, bingo paid for and sponsored. So we do work with, like, we just had senior dedicated medical center. We have Humana. They help pay for those gift cards. So they do a sponsorship every single month. So the village is able to, you know, utilize those funds to help pay for a lot of the costs that we have as well.

Very good.

Yeah. Are there any grants available?

So grants, typically for our grants, like for instance, we do work for a grant with, the amphitheater. So we do for that. But as far as seniors go, I don't we've really looked at that as much so. I mean, that's something we could certainly do. I know that they have the program, what is the SilverSneakers program. So I know that is a program that could be instilled too. But most of our programs within the community center, we have been able to make them most of them free, just by working through sponsors. So, like, the technology class, that's a free class. AARP, they do have to pay a fee, but it's it's nominal. It's $20, I believe. And the reason why is because it helps them lower their insurance cost.

Right.

But a lot of our classes that we offer are free, and that is because of our partnerships in the community.

How does the senior budget compare to let's think of other demographics the children's budget? And now you're the umbrella person for all activities other than, I guess, parks and rec. But still, have you I'm statistics and probability minded person, so I think in terms of how do we rate we seniors rate compare to, let's say, early childhood kids or high school programs other than those with the do we, the village, have any say in the Boys and Girls Club? Do they kind of supplement their activities? Is that club all sponsored by Umbrella Master Boys and Girls Club?

And it's the same thing, like, even with our Garden Club, you know, do a Boys and Girls Gardening, you know? And it's like, that's not coming out of the village, as far as I know. That's coming from the garden club. But I'm just trying to even the playing field because sometimes one of the goals here in Wellington for seniors is having them age in place. And by having just I'm not saying we should have a little bit more attention because, obviously, you know I've praised you guys up and down Forest Hill Boulevard for the years.

But again, yeah, there's a degree of I was thinking of budgetary things and how we rate compared to other again, let's say age groups. It's there now, you're not hearing this from me. Is there anything that's special for parents? Not necessarily these are not seniors I'm talking about. But because we've done so many wonderful programs here not that I'm looking for extra work for them, but as long as we've got that equestrian tax money coming in, it's good to know we're spending it wisely.

However, food for thought.

Yeah. Go ahead.

No. No. I was just

No. I was going to say, you know, we certainly do have a lot of programs for seniors. I wouldn't be able to speak on, you know, exact budgets or anything. But here within our community service department, you know, we do our civics one zero one program, and that's where we are in the schools. For instance, it's coming up on January 27, and that's where we're able to teach kids about local government. So we do partner with the schools in order to do that. We'll be doing that this spring with Palm Beach Central. And in the fall, we do it with both high schools. We do our swag program, so that's students working to achieve greatness. And we partner with the Crown Pearls of Wellington, and we do internship programs for them as well.

And we basically have up to 35 kids. We place them within certain internships. Like for instance, we had some here within our engineering department. We had some here within our community services department, the state attorney's office. So I would say that we'd certainly do a lot of programs and services for youth as well.

It's just different, you know, because Sure. Obviously, with the families and and the way that that works. And that's just to name a few. You know, obviously, parks and rec, you know, they have soccer and football and, know, all of those programs. But, you know, every single program is certainly gonna be set up very differently in a sense that, you know, like when we have an independent contractor who comes in, you know, to teach a class, let's say they come in to teach yoga, right, that is going to be the person will be paying for that program. And so that is a different platform as opposed to a free program. So it kinda just all works differently, I would say, and and the budget is considered differently based on the need and the programs and the overall objective, I would say.

Fantastic. Thank you very much. Anything else from staff?

No. I think we're good.

Okay. Then we'll move on to old business. Anyone have anything for old business? Okay. I'm going to go ahead.

No, no. You go ahead.

Was just going to reflect on and I have reflected a lot on the presentation Eileen gave in November regarding the senior club. And she was very thorough, gave us a really good historical view of the senior club from its inception through these years, and how things have changed some with you all coming on as staff and providing senior programming. She was very forthright about their funding and their use of their funding. And I know we had a little bit of a discussion at the last meeting. And I don't know if in order to have additional discussion, I need to open up with a motion, which once seconded, we can discuss the motion.

And is that the most appropriate way for us to go about Yes. Okay. Since I am chairing this meeting, I think the motion may have to come from somebody else.

Do want to open up the discussion again? Is that for the senior discussion? Is that what you wanted to do?

Yeah. Right. Well, yes, regarding their contract with the village.

All right. I'll move the motion to discuss the importance of whatever the president of the senior club had to say.

Okay. All right. Well, it was just really just to open up discussion about the status of the senior club. Is there a second to that?

I want to amend that.

Okay. Second. Okay. So now we can open discussion as a committee based on what was shared with us last time. So do any of you have anything you'd like to share before? Since I'm sharing, I'll come last, I guess.

Well, part of my asking about the budgets of these various groups kind of is part of where I was going with that question. What is the funding, the real funding that is provided for seniors in Wellington, true funding. So in the budget, how much the percentage of the funding for senior activities, how much is that reflective compared to the funding for these other demographics?

That kind of opens up part of this discussion I was somewhat interested in. After listening to Eileen and seeing and knowing exactly what you do on a regular basis, I guess a few questions came up. Some of it is duplicity in programming. And the other is the fact that the council now is in a contract with the senior club to fund them with $50,000 I'm sorry, fund them when their budget drops below $50,000 or their treasury drops below $50,000 And that's where I'm seeing that allocation of funds really should stay with the village so that you can provide the senior funding or senior programming. I feel like at this point in time, we have outgrown the need for the senior club to be the sole source of senior activities that it once was.

And the village has grown, and the departments have grown, and staffing has grown to be able to take over that responsibility. And that now the senior club can just exist as their own club providing services to their own members, because we do have village staffing to handle the general senior public. And that funding that is part of that contract is, in reality, taking funding out of the hands of village staff who are responsible for senior funding. So I guess my recommendation at this point would be to discontinue that contract with the senior club, let them continue to exist, allow them to continue to exist as an organization, and then use whatever funding was in that contract for future needs for your program. I think two things.

The duplicity in the planning and programming doesn't make sense. And also, the presence of impropriety to fund a private, separate club with village dollars I don't think sits right. When we have a senior program that should be using those senior funds to best dole them out and utilize them. And look how far your budget goes, because you have the ability, with partnerships, for free programming and all of that. When you have a limitless pot, you are not looking at, okay, how much do I need to collect and dues?

How much should I charge for this ticket? Because you know that that pot will never be empty. So I don't feel like maybe the way in which the senior club is spending their funds, they don't have to think about the things you think about. How can I fund this with my limited dollars? What do I have can I charge to make sure I'm covering my costs?

If there is something in place saying that when you dip below $50,000 another check will be coming in, to me it's it doesn't incentivize anyone to really look at, okay, how do I become self sufficient? And so that's the third part. The least important part. The most important part is that we have two groups providing services for one population. And one of those groups are getting public funds to do that when they're not a public organization.

And those two things, I guess, are the two things that really her conversation with us left me feeling uncomfortable with. And the third thing is the least important. You know, it's like a child. You keep giving them allowance every time that, well, I used some allowance. Oh, here's more.

Well, it's like, are they will they ever get to the point that they know how to budget their money, because they know the pocket's always open. So, and any other club, the Kiwanis, the Rotary, everybody collects dues. And when they sell tickets to a luncheon, they know they have to sell it at this point in order to be, you know, to make ends meet in their club. So that's, I just feel being members of other organizations, I feel like, And again, and I'll stop now, because I'm going on too long, not to at all discredit or malign anything that they've done, because they've served a great credit, and will continue to. The question is, should the village continue to fund that one particular club, when we have a perfectly good, I don't even want to say substitute, but something in place that is working really well that would benefit greatly from additional funding, just like Mary said.

We could benefit the whole community of seniors could benefit greatly from doubling your budget.

May I just ask a question about the funding? If pot if they did not get any if that group, the contract is dissolved, where is the funding? Is it a senior budget? Is it a general accounting? In other words, would it be able to shift over for senior programs within the village to spend?

I'm I'm I'm not gonna answer yes because I'm not sure, but I would say probably yes. I mean, you know, I don't have a a fact answer, but, you know, I know that it's very important for us to service the seniors and to make sure, you know, especially, you know, we just added the third car for freebie. You know, we wanna continue to grow our program. So I I don't wanna say yes because I'm not a 100% sure, but I wouldn't see why not because we're definitely trying on all forces to make sure that we are offering top tier services.

Well, this also, you know, dovetails with my question about have you been keeping you I'm sorry. It'd be so emphatic. But a list of the attendees, those who take, and I know the senior club would be doing it because you have to register for those monthly meetings, but to see if there's any dovetailing, repetition because sometimes I think the senior club people are hooked in to the social, totally social aspect of getting together for that two J's lunch, having Aileen run the meeting, have some source of entertainment. And they may be a different group who actually participates in your programs here because they're clickish. They'll have tables set up for their little group.

I often wonder, as we discussed at the last meeting and I discussed ad nauseam here, are we really reaching the senior population as well as we could be thinking about ultimate, because you're doing a great job where we are now. But if we're talking about this budget and this potential conflict between public and private, it to me is kind of a surface thing. It's just a name, a title. But now the club does have what, 500 members, And you have to be a member, a resident of Wellington. But your other programs then have an untapped source for spreading the word again.

Not that you want larger classes, not that you want although I always thought about having Tai Chi on the lakefront, but whatever, that kind of fell away. But, you know, or the Zumba Gold people. I saw at Zumba Gold, I didn't really recognize, but not that I know everybody here. I certainly do not know everybody, and we don't have seniors here anyway. I'm the only senior.

Oh, that's not true.

I wish.

That's not

true. This is my concern. It's the old don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. You know, it's

So to answer the question, we do have an overlap. So a lot of the people that go to the senior club do go to our events. Yeah. So it really is, you know, a lot of the same people, I would say. I know we've certainly looked at it before too, and we did find that there is a large percentage. And, you know, that obviously, they do wanna be social, and we do know that. And that's why we have added so many things like the senior Olympics. And, you know, we're trying to add things that, you know, are making them more sociable, but also offering a service. Do I wanna say that we are hitting every single senior? No.

But, you know, you also have to take into account that because we do encounter this a lot too. A lot of seniors don't want to come to the community center. They don't want to be sociable. You know, they would rather stay home, and so we do encounter that a lot too. We do have a lot of seniors that, you know, prefer to stay at home, use the freebie service, you know, go where they need to go, and then go home. You know? And, unfortunately, you know, we try, but we can't force them. We would love for that to happen. We'd love for everybody to be there. But as far as the programming goes, yeah, a lot of the senior club utilize our programs and our services. So I would say that there is a heavy overlap for that for sure.

And our seniors, as I questioned the last meeting, that breakfast and lunch county program doesn't just include Wellington senior seats or county programs

Correct.

That don't come out of your senior budget.

Correct. So it's a partnership with and anyone can come to it. Yeah. Mhmm. And that's the way it is for the county anywhere. So if they have the program at Royal Palm, you know, if a Wellington resident would prefer to go there, they're more than welcome to. And, you know, we value that partnership a lot because it really does help us not only make sure that they're getting nutritious meals, but, you know, whether they have to pick between medicine or food, they don't have to with us. You know, they're able to have their breakfast, have their lunch, sometimes, you know, two lunches. But, you know, we definitely see that. And as far as, like, our programs go, yes. Our programs are open. You know, like, for instance, we have the Zumba class. Even if you're not a resident, you're able to take the class. You pay a nonresident fee. So we do have that too.

And, you know, I think the really great thing that we also have is that people really love Wellington even if they don't live in Wellington. Right? It might be somebody that lives in Myrtle Palm, but they're like, hey. I wanna go to the Wellington Community Center and take that Zumba class because, you know, Jamie's awesome. And, you know, I'll pay the extra fee. Right? Because they wanna be a part of our program. And I think that's a compliment to us for sure. Mhmm. So I would say, you know, we're certainly trying to offer, you know, programs to everybody as much as possible, and I think that's our overall goal.

So, therefore, you're saying that you accept nonresidents on our time?

Well, they're paying. So, for like the programs that they're coming to, they're paying to be Those

too.

Yeah, they're paying to be there.

But lunches but that's got to that has sponsorships.

Correct.

So nonresidents are able to attend.

Correct.

And

it's because we do have sponsorships,

yeah.

So we have up to Usually every year we have about $25,000 in sponsorships. Is

the village, insurance wise, transportation wise, to and most importantly, and my apologies for not saying it first staff wise, able to expand programs to include, say, theater. Dinner's out, picking a restaurant and saying, you know, we're going to roost Chris February 10 for Valentine's Day dinner. Five, four we'll leave at 03:30. We get there at 04:30, have dinner, you know, whatever, and it's going to be everybody paying their own way or subsidized or something. But even if it would be individual checks, the village provides the transportation to and from West Palm Beach.

That's I'm really throwing something big out. Is the village able to to Hard Rock for a day of whatever that people want to do at Hard Rock. Is the village allowed to do those things and has the resources to provide them?

We do. So we actually have a bus that we utilize right now that we for transportation for the youth. Obviously, with any type of transportation that we provide, we have them sign a permission slip. So everybody has to sign a permission slip. Let's say if we wanted to go to the Hard Rock, obviously that's a little bit further. Maybe we'd probably get more people that would want to go to that. We could always contract with a busing company in order to also facilitate that trip.

And we have discussed this before. I do, I know. But I wanted to just bring it up again while we're talking about all of this again to make everyone aware of the scope of what staff can provide should expansion be considered programs for seniors. Thank you.

You're welcome.

And now I just want to just insert and I'm going to let Mabel, because I've had my time at the mic. I don't think anyone and I'm definitely not insinuating that the senior club should not continue. I just believe that the senior club should continue in a self sustaining manner. Now, with 500 members, they're generating $15,000 in dues every year. And this is what I was talking about.

When you have these activities, and rather than charging $10 and then using $30 from your Treasury to subsidize it, charge a fee that you will be able to cover the costs for. So just like any other organization does. So they should continue, because they're a great part of the history of Wellington, but they should continue in a means by which they can support themselves. And they are actually, if the contract were to end today, they are still going to start in a very nice position. They already have a treasure of $80,000 still, that they've been accumulating in funds from the village's allocations.

So really, it's just a question of them being able to sustain themselves and reworking some of their fee for services. You were talking about, like, the teen programs and sports programs. They're all pay to play. So the village doesn't underwrite that. If this is what it costs for you to play, you're paying that.

So that's basically how any organization works, unless you have a huge benefactor that, like the senior club had in the village. But most of the time, what you're providing needs to be covered by what you're bringing in. So your revenues and expenditures need to come out to zero. Or at least you're, you know, in the black. So anyway, that's the only thing that really I'm suggesting at this time that the village council think about in just allowing the senior club to just exist on its own.

I have to just add this in. You're talking about the oldest group of people who admittedly it's Wellington. There aren't too many poverty people here, but they're living on fixed income. And this is the group that would need that little bit of perks in continuing that great return on a $30 membership that the community could kick up. Again, we want our seniors to live comfortably.

We're not all in mansions. We're not all in gated communities. Our gate keeps breaking down where we are, but nonetheless, and it's to be considered. I love the comments that I've heard here. If indeed we have a legit audio on this video, this meeting, and could be put have the councils hear our concerns, I think it's something that they can consider.

Nuts, boats, dollars, cents, demographics, whatever. Because at first, if now, what she's proven by your answer is the fact that probably the funds and of course, the resolution would have to be totally invalidated. But the funds of that 50,000 would most likely go into the general coffers. It couldn't therefore maybe be given to the senior budget that the village has instead of a blanket check. Okay, it's like, just, again, I feel like cattle, you know, in the Senate.

Here, I'm this one voice over here, But just knowing that they're considering whoever came up with this idea, that they're considering alternatives. But what are we hurting? Not so much in this case, adding more programs on. Because believe me, until you've gone to those luncheons, those people look forward to them and we would say, well, of course, you're getting a free lunch and entertainment on $30 a year. But is it just that?

Are they all dressed up coming up? They're comfortable clothes, perhaps for some of us a tattoo casual, But, again, just saying, guys. That's an expression I learned here in Florida. Just saying. So that's all I'm saying. Okay. But great, great comments so far. Okay.

Well, Donna said a lot of what I was thinking. And just to be, you know, clear, I think it's what we're saying and what I hear Donna saying and some of the others are that we keep the senior, the senior club. Let them have their special outings, but do it on your dime, basically. Do it on the funds that you receive from your $30 your money. You can do that.

And then that's like your private thing without using the village's extra money to do that. If you want to do the other things, the things that the seniors are open to through the village, With the money that we would get from not funding the senior club, we could enhance those activities and make them maybe a little more exclusive, a little more inviting. So that would give the general public an opportunity to entertain a more, quote unquote, glamorous or more sophisticated type dinner or luncheon with performances or, you know, special guests and so forth. So that, and my understanding is that based on the funds that you have and the funds that you collect from the your membership, you could still have those special events that you have and still, you know, not be in need of a lot of you wouldn't be at a loss for funds.

Understand, both of you, all three of you, you're missing one point. Elderly people have limited funds. We're talking about a two J's box lunch. Yes, we're using the facilities of the ballroom. But our goal, unless this council has totally changed its outlook on seniors, we want the seniors to age in place.

And this is one of those perks, if you will. Now, I'm sure we can change the language if you had dedicated funds and call it dedicated funds like any bond ordinance would be in a council. We might put it in a new sewer or something. We have our ordinance in there, and x amount of money has to be given to the construction or the engineers first. And then, as they go along, as money with a max given.

Or let's go back to our HOAs, or we have reserve accounts. Technically, the reserve accounts for your lands, roads, for whatever, painting, buildings, whatever those those are dedicated funds which can't be spent elsewhere. Now, if F50Gs, or whatever it comes out to be, my jersey is coming out, if those 50 Gs, dollars 50,000 were put in there, And, know, well, we might go a little low next year. We can't help you guys out. I would hope the council, in considering this, if it's been considering it, would consider the ramifications of the actions, of course, and think in terms of, all right, what these $30 a month for membership had been, make suggestions, say, in order for you and you would know some of the figures that you've used how much have you been supplementing your monthly meetings and say, hey, what you've been able to do, you really should put your membership fee up to $50 a year.

But again, I love the fact we're talking about something salient. Seriously, this is a good topic for this committee to discuss. However, you know, it's just to put these ideas out there. Now, if you're gonna call for a vote, can you guess how I would vote? I mean, obviously, that would be good, which shows where democratic, you know, group here.

But, yeah, that's kind of it.

So I've thought about this a lot since November. And maybe it's just the way my mind works, but in my career, you have to cut everything and make it really short and sweet. And I go back to this group was terrific when the village was fledgling, and we had a lot of families. And suddenly, there were some people who were getting older, and they got a club together and started it. And the village said, sure, we'll help you.

But everything changes and develops. And now we're a big community. We have a large senior population. And the village has taken on saying, no, we're going to make seniors very important, and we're going to establish programs. And I'm going to use the word forgotten, and I'm not suggesting that that's what happened, but it was kind of, you know, it happens.

Funding continues for certain programs because that's the way it's been. And then all of a sudden, says, why is this happening when we have this? And I wonder, as a taxpayer, if I heard that my tax money, some of my tax dollars, in some way, shape, or form, were going to fund a group that was a private group. By charging, they're private. Because you do join the group.

You can I wouldn't say private, exclusively private? But you do you're paying to be a part of the group. And they're using some taxpayer dollars to get funding. And I think those taxpayer dollars are better used within the village, with staff focusing solely on the programs provided by the village. And I know, and I was corrected by somebody out of here, that somebody mentioned when they were doing the presentation, they don't get a lot of help from staff.

But the staff actually does an awful lot to help this senior club. So we're really asking you to do two jobs. And one of them has nothing to do with the village, really. Am I correct on that? And if I'm being too strong on that, please correct me. Because I think this group has done a I point over here, because that's where they were sitting. So I'm acting like they're all there. I'm sorry. If I think this group did a terrific service to the village of Wellington's seniors through the years. And I think that and I don't know which council it was, said, we've got to start really recognizing our senior population.

And you know, was called Welly World at one time, because it was all these families coming here, there were great programs, and that all still exist and they've gotten bigger and better. Schools that were the best, and they're still the best. So it was this great utopia for families, so to speak. And now it's becoming that way for seniors as well, and it's so terrific. But I think, I think it's time now to say, please operate as a club.

Please do whatever you choose to do, but you we're going to dissolve any contract with you based on the fact that the village now has programs that are terrific, but also programs, hopefully, you know, I asked, and I think Mabel did too, about can we get a van, or can we get a bus, can we transport people places en masse to Costco? The Costco transportation. Monday, Wednesday, Friday. The mall transportation. Or, you know, the Lotus.

You know, we're asking about expanding things. Well, that's going to take more money. And the community continues to grow. So the village is going to be watching where the money is spent. So I feel like, to wrap it up, the money should stay within the village for the senior programs that the village is solely responsible for providing.

And if that means that, as a committee, we have to get a subcommittee to plan theater outings, or hard rock, or do some things to kind of absorb. Because maybe some of that group, maybe some members of that club would say, you know what? These programs are expanding. I can just do everything here. Because a lot of those members are doing events with the senior programs that the village is providing.

So let's make it one let's just make it one group, or the dollars stay in one pot. And that's the village coffers that you all have the liberty to look at and decide what programs. And that's my thought. And I'm certainly willing to be, you know, swayed another way. But I don't know that I can be, because it seemed to me, it just hit me like, wait a minute, it's taxpayer money, and this group pays, you know, has people paying to belong. And, you know, if I wanted to start a riding group, and I bought a couple of horses, and asked five people, you know, if people wanted to ride and do this, I charged them. Then I came to you and said, but I'm giving people an opportunity to ride. Please give me money. I don't know that that's really I mean, that's just way out there. It may not even be feasible.

But I'm just thinking in my mind. I don't think that's that's really the way you can do it.

I last second. Even though in a formal debate, negative doesn't go last. Affirmative has got to go last. But you said the word. It's taxpayers' money. These seniors, many I've only been here eleven years. They've been here twenty, thirty, whatever amount of years, taxes. But that's it. So affirmative, we can go back.

Just one comment, too. But I want to say, I would venture to say that I've been here for twenty five years and I knew nothing about the senior program. And I would say that, or senior club, I would say that there is a huge population who have lived in Wellington, have paid taxes, and knew nothing about the senior club. I knew nothing about it. Had, like I said, I've been here. I wasn't a senior when I came here, but I paid taxes ever since I've been here. Never heard of it until I sat on this board. So there are a lot of, yes, they pay taxes, but there are also a lot of people here who pay taxes and know nothing about the senior club. Even today, if you asked, there would be a lot of people who would know nothing about the senior club.

At this time I'm going to make a motion to recommend to the council to dissolve the contract with the senior club to allow them to just be an independent organization. Is there a second?

I second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed?

Aye. Opposed, nay.

Okay. So I don't know how this goes from here with our recommendation, but I'm assuming you bring it to staff or to counsel. Yes, I will.

I will bring it to staff and counsel.

And could you please inform us when they have that so if there's any, you know, a lot of times you come to the podium and speak, would you have to say you want to be able have that opportunity

to do Yes, that? Absolutely. Okay. Okay.

All right. New business. Oh, no other old business? New business. Any new business for the committee? I don't see any public here to make public comments. Board comments?

Well, I was just going to ask I think I'm circling back, I apologize. I should have asked Mabel Spoon about when this goes to staff, or to counsel, or to the village council, it's brought up in a public meeting, if perhaps, I think, reiterate that we are updated on the progress of what's taking place. And if anyone has any questions, or the senior club would like to meet with anybody or come to the next meeting, they know about it, if they'd like to discuss further and answer questions. Again, I think that they just so it's made very clear that I think we all applaud what the senior club does, and it's a terrific organization. But it would be great to see the village programs expand and become a little bit more, you know, through not right away, but as time goes on.

And I think we've all been kind of excited about talking about expansion and developing more programs. I know, as hard as you work, that's probably one more thing you don't need to have added to your huge plate of responsibility. But it's much appreciated. And I think when you're at these events and you see the seniors, it's just it makes you really you want to do more, you know? So thanks again for all you do.

Thank you.

Any other Board comments? Okay. I'll entertain a motion for adjournment.

I make a motion to adjourn.

We have a motion for adjournment. Is there a second? A second. And all those in favor say aye. Aye. And we are adjourning at 05:14.