Minutes
Aging and Disability Commission - Minutes - May 5, 2026
May 5, 2026
A public record published by the Town of Simsbury (simsbury-ct.gov). mySimsbury indexes it and makes it readable; it is not the official copy. View the original file.
AGING AND DISABILITY COMMISSION Age Friendly Community Sub-Committee Regular Meeting Minutes - Tuesday, May 5, 2026 – 2:30 P.M. Zoom Meeting Jan Beatty, Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m. PRESENT: Jan Beatty, Ed LaMontagne, Mike Jennings, Libby Easton-May, Cheryl Cook, Valerie Finney PUBLIC AUDIENCE/PUBLIC COMMENT: No one from the public was in attendance and no comments were received. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: April 7, 2026 – Mr. LaMontagne moved to accept the minutes. Ms. Easton-May seconded. All voted in favor. OLD BUSINESS • Community Partners Contact Mr. LaMontagne spoke with Chief Boulter from the Simsbury Police Department and reviewed the department’s progress on their action plan items, of which all were met. He also met with Sarah Neilson from the Main Street Partnership who is interested in pursuing how we can work with downtown businesses to make them more age-friendly (e.g., posting phone numbers to call for delivery or assistance). • Contacts/Agencies for Aging-In-Place Expo Ms. Beatty stated that we can add two new tables to the ones that were there last year. A suggestion was to add the Simsbury Housing Authority. Amy Woodman, who is a dietician from Farmington Valley Nutrition, will also attend. The Simsbury Police Chief indicated that the PD will participate. • Resource Guide Magnet Ms. Beatty developed a draft text and forwarded it to subcommittee members for review. A revised draft copy was distributed and reviewed by subcommittee members and Senior Center Director. Mr. LaMontagne will take the draft to Trailhead Printing for their input on design. He will also consult with Simsbury Social Services. • Application for AARP Community Challenge Grant The AARP Community Challenge Grant was completed by Tom Fitzgerald in the Town Manager’s office and submitted to AARP by the deadline of March 4th. The town should be notified if the grant application has been accepted sometime in mid-May. • Aging-in-Place Expo Letters The Aging-in-Place Expo letters to past venders will be sent out shortly inviting them to attend this year’s Expo scheduled for September 18th. NEW BUSINESS • Request for Awareness Month Ads to SCM Shannon Leary from Simsbury Community Media has offered to place ads regarding various awareness month celebrations on SCM. She is also receptive to air any information the Age-Friendly Community Subcommittee may have. • Update on Revisions/Additions to Action Plan Domain Plans Mr. LaMontagne stated that the Police Department has met all of their action items. A review of the Action Plan will be ongoing to determine which action items have been accomplished, which are still in process, and whether others should be added. • Caregivers Support Group Discussion After discussion it was determined that the Caregivers Support Group, although an item that would be added to our Action Plan as suggested by a community partner, would best be served as an agenda item for the full Aging and Disability Commission. • Summary of AARP Age-Friendly Webinar Places with Purpose: Built for Belonging Ms. Beatty reported that one of the webinar speakers was a woman from Aibonuto, Puerto Rico who spoke about how a plaza, located across the street from the Senior Center, was refurbished to make it more age-friendly for seniors. Lulu Huppman from Fernandina Beach, Florida, mentioned that the town established an advisory committee of members from AARP, University of South Florida, the Florida Department of Health, and the Main Street Business Association to work with businesses to be more age-friendly. The coalition is called All Access Main Street and their components include a checklist/action plan of design and promotion points to help make businesses more age-friendly. UPCOMING AARP WEBINARS Note: Past webinars can be viewed on the AARP Livable Communities website • May 12, 2026 from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM (ET) Future Ready: Leveraging AI for Age-Friendly impact • June 9, 2026 from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM (ET) Readiness and Resilience: Age Friendly Strategies for Emergencies ADJOURNMENT There being no other business the meeting adjourned at 3:35 p.m. Next Meeting: June 2, 2026 at 2:30 pm, via Zoom. Respectfully submitted: Edward J. LaMontagne Edward J. LaMontagne Clerk