UICOA Board Meeting Minutes
Minutes of Up Island Council on Aging Board Meeting
1/6/26
At Aquinnah Town Hall Offices, 955 State Road, Aquinnah Ma. 02535
and Hybrid
Present: Anna Alley, WT, Clerk; Beth Kramer, WT, Randy Weis, Chilmark; Paul Bailey, Chilmark; Jay McCleod, Aquinnah. Present on Zoom: Cynthia Mitchell, WT, Chair; Peter Cook, Chilmark; Bethany Hammond, Director; Bernadette Lyons, Consumer.
Call to Order: 9:05 A.M.
Approval of Minutes: Motion to Approve minutes of 11/5/25 and 12/2/25 by Beth, seconded by Randy. Jay abstained, all others aye by roll call vote.
New Business: Election for Vice Chair. Motion by Beth, seconded by Jay to elect Paul Manning. Votes by roll call, unanimously approved.
Director’s Report: Bethany reported the monthly lunches in Chilmark will start in February on the 2nd Friday of every month at the Chilmark Community Center. Help from volunteers would be welcomed and is needed. Lunch and learn at the Chilmark Library. Rocy, the outreach coordinator, will be having office hours at the Chilmark Library. She will also be having office hours in Aquinnah. There will also be a program through MV Mediation- Mv Consumer program in Aquinnah. Funding has been secured through a Comcast donation, managed by Healthy Aging, to bring back Tech Pro to the Howes House and other COA’s to help with computer problems beginning on Jan. 15th from 11 a.m. to 1 pm and limited help in people’s homes.
Regarding transportation, pick up at people’s homes and returns from the weekly Thursday luncheons at the Howes House is now being provided by the VTA and Healthy Aging. Also, the VTA is offering a training for potential drivers and to train the trainers on Feb. 17-19, 8 hours each day. Bethany will get more information about this program if anyone is interested. Paul Manning and Jay Mcleod are interested, but they need information about indemnification for volunteer drivers. Bethany will also find out this information. Paul Bailey has received a Handbook for volunteer drivers and will go through it and see if the liability issue is explained. He is also checking with Jim at MV insurance about this issue. Cindy suggests Bethany check with Jen and Chelsea at the Town Hall. Paul has spoken to Jen who put him in touch with MV insurance. Peter would like to know if there is an age range required for volunteer drivers, and a CORI check etc. Beth, Paul Bailey, Paul Manning and Jay Mcleod are all interested in possibly volunteering for this program. Bethany will find out the details and get back to them.
Facility and Strategic Planning subcommittee reports: Beth reports that the subcommittees have been meeting and met with Dave Chase yesterday, but due to hard work being done by each subcommittee and holidays, a first draft of the Strategic Plan is not ready. They need a 2-month extension and would hope to present that draft at our March Meeting. The board will receive a copy of that draft a week before that meeting. The working groups will present a summary report of their work and an action plan. Then the Strategic Planning Subcommittee will create a draft plan for presentation to the Board. Cindy asked if some kind of report could be given at the Town Meeting in April. A final plan will not be ready by then, but a report on the planning efforts can be made. Town reps (Beth in WT, Randy in Chilmark and Paul in Aquinnah) will contact the town moderators to ask to present a report at town meetings by the end of March. There was some discussion about when and how to present the Strategic Plan draft to the town Boards of Selectperson. That should occur after the Strategic Planning Committee has written the first draft, so all towns have the same information. Beth also reported that Casey Decker, an engineer, has looked over the Howes House building pro bono, and he will inform us of his thoughts on what needs to be done to make the Howes House as usable as possible. He will also present some possible costs. Bethany would need to prepare a warrant article for such sums by mid-February. Randy has found the design drawings for the renovation done in 1992 and has found someone who can convert them to CAD plans which he will send to Casey. Peter presented a summary in writing of a ‘working draft’ mission Statement for the UICOA. His group is working on a brief Organizational History of the UICOA, reviewing the current anticipated Challenges facing the UICOA at this time, and recommend next steps to address those challenges. (See attached report). Peter also reported that he will be meeting with the Generation Club at the high school this Saturday, and they will be discussing the possibility of a visit from Arielle Galinsky, the organizer of the Legacy Project which is in many colleges and schools in the US.
Motion: Permission to extend the date for a draft presentation of the Strategic Plan to the Board to the March Board Meeting followed by a brief report for the town meetings of progress to date on a final Strategic Plan. By Anna, seconded by Beth: Unanimous approval by roll call vote.
Topics Unanticipated by the Chair: None
Old Business: None
Next Meeting: Tuesday, February 3, 2026 at the Howes House, 9 A.M. and Hybrid.
Motion to adjourn by Randy, seconded by Jay. Unanimously approved by roll call vote.
Meeting adjourned at 9:51 A.M.
Respectfully submitted, Anna Alley, Clerk