2000 04 27CITYOF
CHANHASSEN
690 G~, Ce,ret Drive, £0 Box 147
Cha,hasse,, Mi,,esota 55317
Pho,e 612.93Z 1200
General F~x 612.937.5739
Engi,ee~q,g Fax 612.~37.9152
Pubhc Safio, Fax 612.934.2524
~b www. d. cha,hasse,, m,. its
To: Senior Commission
From: Sharmin A1-Jaff, Senior Planner
Date: April 27, 2000
Re: Joint meeting between the City Council and the Senior Commission
The City Council scheduled a joint meeting to discuss the Goal and Objectives for
the Senior Commission. This meeting is scheduled for May 15, 2000 at 5:30 p.m.
At the direction of Chairman Geving, we will meet for approximately one hour on
May 5, 2000 to discuss these goals. The meeting will be held at City Hall in the
Council Chambers at 9:30 a.m.
ATTACHMENT:
1. Suggested Senior Commission Goals and Objectives for the Year 2000.
The Cio~ of Chanhassen. A g~vwi~ community with dean lakes, quality schools, a cha,ming downtown, thriving businesses, and beautiful parks. A great place to live, work, and play.
SENIOR COMMISSION
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
FOR
YEAR 2000
The following are Senior Commission Goals for Year 2000. The majority of
them are ongoing:
Identify issues facing senior citizens and present them with possible
solutions and recommendations to the City Council. In 1998 and 1999,
the commission discussed the possibility of a "Senior Needs Study" with
the City Council. This goal remains a priority for the commission. The
study would be similar to that which was conducted in 1990, open ended
with no preconceived ideas. The study would take place after the release
of the 2000 census. The Metropolitan Council projections indicated a
45% increase in the senior population at the end of the decade. If the 2000
census confirms these projections, a larger percentage of the overall
population will be seniors, which will lead to larger issues and type of
services catering to seniors. The commission's goal is to be proactive and
prepare for these needs rather than react to them. This goal is consistent
with the City Council's action step to provide Quality Amenities,
Community Involvement, and assessing the need for more senior housing,
assisted living, and Long-term care nursing Home. The commission is
also asking for direction if they should start preliminary research and
gather data pertaining to assisted living such as sites available in the City
for such a facility, size of parcel, location requirements, general services
offered, meet with the owners of the high density oarcels to inform
them of the need for assisted living, etc.
Congregate Dining - Meals On Wheels: The program has been running
successfully and the number of seniors using the program continues to
increase. The Meals On Wheels portion of the program is growing on a
monthly basis (the program is adding I to 2 seniors per month). This goal
was a priority from 1997 and has been accomplished. The Senior
Commission intends to continue to advertise the program and ensure that
those who need it are aware of its existence. A number of hospitals have
requested meals for clients that were recently released from hospitals and
have not made full recovery to the point where they can prepare meals for
themselves. The commission also intends to encourage volunteers (other
than seniors) to participate in serving and delivering meals. Current driver
volunteers include four (mother and child) teams, seniors, council and
commission members, business owners in the community, and working
non-senior adults. The total number of volunteers including food servers
o
o
0
exceeds 60 people. This goal is consistent with the Cost-Effective Quality
Services, Community Involvement and giving businesses in the
community the opportunity to volunteer their time and services.
Senior Center: The number of activities and attendees of the center
continue to increase. Some activities have been moved to the Recreation
Center while others have a cap on how many may attend. The Senior
Commission realizes that the City does not intend any space/building
expansions in the near future, however, if and when an expansion takes
place, the Senior Center need to be enlarged. This goal is consistent with
Quality Amenities.
Transportation: Transportation continues to be an ongoing challenge for
seniors. Although seniors often express a need for transportation, we have
been unable to pinpoint one affective method. The mission and objective
of the commission is to help resolve senior transportation problems, and
improve existing transportation service, i.e. Southwest Metro Transit and
CART. This goal is consistent with Strategy 5, Encourage and promote
community connections, work with a variety of groups (commissions,
other government agencies and private entities) to ensure that the public
transportation needs of Chanhassen residents and businesses are met.
Information And Referral / Senior Information Line: In 1999, the Senior
Center was rewarded a new computer and software from United Way.
Staff continuously advertises the program and makes people aware of the
availability of the service. This goal also falls under Cost-Effective
Quality Services.
Educate future generations of seniors: Increase awareness of the
opportunities and challenges that face seniors in Chanhassen. A
subcommittee organized a slide show presentation, which was shared with
the City Council. It will be presented to the community and schools. This
goal falls under Community Involvement.
Communication With Neighboring Senior Centers and Community
Education:
a. Coordination of events.
b. Transportation coordination with other senior centers and
community education.
This goal is consistent with Cost-Effective Quality Services.
Senior Parking At Public Buildings: Ongoing. The Senior Commission
contacts local businesses and request the installation of the signs at their
10.
11.
parking lots. This goal is consistent with encouraging the participation of
businesses in community events.
Support Senior Expo. This goal gives staff an opportunity to learn about
issues facing seniors, what other communities are doing to address these
issues and form partnerships with other agencies. The Expo is held once a
year and the cost for this valuable service is only $10.00 per person. It is a
Cost-Effective Quality Service.
Support:
Chanhassen Heritage Preservation
Urgent Care Facilities
Food shelf
Inter-generational activities
This goal is consistent with the City Center Identity action plan and
History Preservation. In the past the Senior Commission members raised
money to buy a brick for the Chanhassen Depot and organized several
activities in the Senior Center to raise additional funds for the same.
Have an annual joint work session between the Senior Commission and
the City Council to present the goals and objectives for the year and insure
that the Council's vision and their expectations of the Senior Commission
will be met. This goal is consistent with Community Involvement. The
Senior Commission members are actively involved in the community.
Each member is assigned the duty of attending a senior activity once a
month to listen and educate seniors on programs available to them and
hear their concerns and issues facing them. Through this format, they are
able to poll a representative sample and report the key issues to the City
Council.
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