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Minutes Of The Monthly Meeting Of The
Marstons Mills Village Association
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Secretary: Ann Trout
Board Of Directors
Present: Al Baker, David Curtis, Linda Edson, Craig Larson, Peter Lavigne, Debbie Lavoie, Donna Lawson, Brian Lobdell, Ann Trout, and Robert Trout.
Absent: Bill McIntyre.
Guests
Janice Barton, Leah Curtis, Hank Farnham, Robert Swansen, and about 60 people at the panel forum.
Call To Order And Welcoming Remarks
 The President called the meeting to order at 7:10 PM.
Minutes Of Last Meeting
Were accepted.
Treasurer's Report
 Was accepted.
Town Council Report
 Janice Barton and Leah Curtis were present and reported:
 Leah notes that a citizen has reported someone camping in the conservation lands. Debbie will check into this.
 She also notes that the Darby land (in the area of Osterville-Old Mill, and Bumps River Road in Osterville) has an article coming up to give this land a restrictive easement to allow the town to site a new well there in the future. Leah and Janet Jochim would both favor a delay in passing the easement until the town gets more factual information and has an opportunity to further discuss the implications of the easement. The town has been asked for $43,000 for gates, parking, drives, and trash removal in the budget.
Old Business And Announcements
 None.
Invited Speaker/Public Forum
Panel discussion of the Group Home proposed on JB Lane in the Hamlin Hollow Neighborhood.
Panel Members: Attending were Mr. Buddy Baker-Smith from the Department of Mental Health, site officer coordinating housing and licensure for the Cape, Mr. Steve Jochim, also from the Department of Mental Health and supervisor of the mental health providers in the Cape Cod area, Ms. Kristin Young from the Fellowship Health Resources Corporation, Group Home Manager, Mr. Chris Wheaten, also from the Fellowship (which owns the house at 55 JB Drive planned to be used as a group home). Mr. Steve Fitzpatrick is the lawyer for the Fellowship. Mr. Bob Lebel and Mr. Fred Valence, members of the neighborhood, spoke to the concerns of abutters.
Mr. Wheaten spoke first, noting that the house has already been purchased by the Fellowship, and is planned to be used as a moderate intensity group home for clients with chronic mental illnesses. The clients would be those already residing at their Centerville facility. He, his staff, and the clients all want to be good neighbors.
The Fellowship works with residents long-term with the goals of reintegrating patients into the community and improving their ability to function with activities of daily living. Recovery is the goal. There are, however, no time limits on achieving this goal, hence, clients may be at the facility for lengthy stays.
The Fellowship has been in business for over 20 years and has been on the Cape nearly that long. The home serves residents of the Cape with chronic mental illnesses – these are people with ties to the Cape community. Mr. Wheaton noted that he knows of the group home system first hand, as his son has a chronic mental illness, and has been a client of a group home over the years.
Ms. Young then spoke. She has run the Centerville home for the last 3 years and will be the manager of the home on JB Drive. The current home is at 50 Bent Tree Dr. in Centerville. The present house is leased and its owner wants to sell it. She notes there have been no incidents at this home since she has been there and that, generally, her residents just want to fit into the community.
Mr. Jochim noted that the Dept of Mental Health works to serve both the interests of the home’s clients, and the larger community as a whole.
1) Mr. Lebel and Valence asked first regarding the permitting of a group home. Specifically, how does a group home fit into a single family zoned community? Mr. Fitzpatrick answered that the local single-family zoning is trumped by the state group home mandate which views group home occupants as functioning as a single family. The group home must abide by the enumerated items in zoning the same as anyone in the neighborhood (i.e. setbacks). And, in addition, keeping with the educational nature of the home, there would be further restrictions under the educational occupancy restrictions (i.e. fire alarms).
Because there is no distinction between a single family and a group home in local zoning, the only enforcement of local zoning rules would be the usual policing of code violations after complaints as with any single-family unit.
2) What changes are planned to the house? From the outside only a second floor exit and the addition of a railing for the deck will change for the house. There will be repairs to the trim. Inside, the basement will be rehabbed and finished off to make offices for the supervising staff. Fire alarms will be installed. Improvements will be made to the landscaping and the driveway also.
Fred: can people smoke? Smoking allowed outside the house, yes.
Audience: Will the staff be able to lock down the home (lock people in)? No. (Discussion that this is not a secure facility, and does not house acutely ill clients)
Audience: What will be the number of bedrooms? 4. Five residents are planned.
Audience: What type of offices will be in the basement? They are local administrative offices for this home only.
Bob: Are you planning to ask for any zoning permits? Only permits to build the exit and railing.
Audience: Comment that he is the abutter behind the house, and is concerned if there is a second floor exit in the back of the house people will smoke on it and flick ashes into the leaves at the back of the lots, creating a fire hazard. Concern noted by Ms. Young and she states she will address it.
3) Licensing/Classification of the type of residents in the home. Discussed that there are two measures of care classification for residents, intensity of care, and intensity of rehab.
There are 3 categories of intensity of care – defined by how much help clients will need to allow safe egress in an emergency:
 Impaired – need assistance to get out of the building.
 Partially impaired – need direction, but can leave under their own power (i.e. could hear the fire alarm, but not understand what to do).
 Unimpaired – able to understand and leave without assistance.
All clients for this home are defined as unimpaired.
The second classification is the intensity of rehab – how much supervision and teaching a client needs to achieve his or her goals for activities of daily living and work. In this the clients are defined as moderate. The staffing is:
 One person ~ 12-noon – 8 pm
 One person ~ 3:30 pm – 11 pm
 One person ~ 11 pm – 9 am.
Audience: Type of diagnosis? Schizophrenia, schizoaffective, major depression, bipolar.
Audience: Concern expressed regarding substance abusers and sexual predators. Jochim: Although one should expect the residents of a group home to reflect a cross-section of the community, neither this home nor any operated by this company on Cape are designed for the rehabilitation of substance abuse, or of sexual or other abusers. The State Department of Mental Health (DMH) is mindful of matching clients to the level of service they need. A program is chosen to optimize the resident’s chance of success, and so this home would be inappropriate for a high-risk client. He receives reports of all incidents from the region of the Cape and none have come from Oceanside.
Wheaten: Notes there are 102 people in the program at present. He recalls no one who has been referred from prison. Most are referred from in or outpatient psych programs.
Fred?: Notes there is a “reintegration program” on their website for felons.
Wheaten?: This is a Rhode Island program and not available in Mass. There are also chemical dependency programs in Delaware. These programs are distinct from the group homes operated on Cape.
Fred?: If the state asks them to take a particular patient, can Oceanside say no? Yes. Both sides have to agree the client is a good match. But, recall the residents will mirror the community they come from (they are all from the Cape). Not everyone may have a totally spotless record, but those at JB drive will not be there to address a substance abuse or incarceration issue.
Fred: Are there any restrictions on movements in the community? No. They will need to tell the staff where they are going for safety reasons. If they have a license and a car they can drive. At present only one person has a car, the rest use an 8-person van owned by the Fellowship. They do not anticipate that there would be a lot of people with their own cars in this program.
Bob Lebel: Do you plan to seek any waivers or building or occupancy codes? No.
Baker-Smith: The site was approved (by him, actually) before the purchase. It will have to be approved again after the rehab changes are done and before people move in. And then, it will be approved annually with walk-throughs.
He feels it is an excellent location and can allow the group home to be a part of the community without altering the community (several neighbors voice disagreement). There will be no signage. No unusual number of cars in the drive will make the house stand out.
Bob Lebel: What reassurance can you give us that this home with not change, over time, into a more high-risk clientele?
Baker-Smith: The program has the autonomy to choose its patients. Also, the Fellowship has operated the same type of group home on the Cape for many years. If a client proved unsafe, they would need to be moved to another facility with a higher level of service and could not stay on JB Drive.
Audience: What is the turnover rate of clients? Also, what is the level of staff training?
Jochim: All staff are trained by the Fellowship in programs approved by the DMH and/or the Red Cross. Some, including all managers, are college educated. Client turnover rate is variable. Some have lived in the home over 10 years, and the least someone would be there is a year or so. It is unlikely there would be much diagnosis creep – the program has been around in its present form for over 20 years. The DMH has licensed it for a minimum of 5 years at its present level.
Audience: Do you do CORI’s (background checks) on clients? No, only on employees.
Audience: Concerned regarding the report that another home had a level-3 sex offender as a client. And, there are daycares and many families with kids in this neighborhood.
Jochim?: Aware of that incident and the present clients are not at risk. And, would take the nature of the neighborhood into account with further placements.
Audience: Wish they had this forum before they bought the house and it was a done deal. She feels coming was a waste of time.
Various panel members: Disagree. Feel a lot of important concerns and information has been aired.
Audience: Bottom line is that their concern is safety and they want people to understand that.
Jochim: There are no reports of any safety issues with this house. (Centerville)
Fred: Any reports against the company as a whole? DMH ought to have them? (Baker –Smith gives stack of papers to Fred)
Audience: Are there any rules regarding the proximity of level-3 sex offenders to daycare or schools?
Craig Larson: No, where they live is a matter of public record though, and available over the police website. There are 4 living in Marstons Mills at present.
Baker-Smith: Notes that the DMH is the only source of referrals for this house, and so all new clients will have to go through their screening to be placed. He stressed again that they want their clients to be appropriately placed for them and the house both to succeed.
Audience: What do they actually do with sex offenders if they do not come here?
Baker-Smith: There is an internal protocol to match these clients to neighborhoods that minimize risk. The DMH are aware of the several daycare centers in this neighborhood. He will get back to Mr. Lebel and Valence with the exact wording of the resolution of the client in Harwich who turned out to be a registered level-3 sex offender.
Audience: Still not feeling reassured. Could make this house even lower intensity? Not and move the residents of Centerville to it.
4) Bob: Who gives out the meds? There is a nurse supervising a couple hours a week. The staff person monitors the meds the rest of the time.
Audience?: What is the age range? One gentleman is in his 20’s, the rest are in their 40’s or 50’s. At present all are men, but this is actually somewhat unusual, and is not a policy, just chance.
Wheaten: There would be an Oceanside Community Oversight Committee formed as a link to the community to voice concerns in an ongoing way regarding the home.
5) Real Estate $ Concerns. Fred: Do we have to tell potential buyers about the group home? (Fitzgerald) Up to you, but no legal requirement.
Bob: What about our real estate values? There actually is a study that suggests that there is no change in values with a group home in the neighborhood.
Audience: What about reimbursing us if the septic tank cannot handle the staff and clients?
Wheaten: If water quality degrades due to a problem with the septic system, they would address it like any other residence. However, the house inspection does not make them think this is likely.
6) Bob: Is the Fellowship sure it can financially handle the house? DMH has checked and found it a sound proposition.
Bob: How many properties do they own? One in Worcester, couple in RI, maybe a dozen all told. Find it advantageous in that need not go through a landlord to make improvements on the property, they have more direct control of the property, and the lease cannot be changed, nor can the rent be raised if they own the property.
Bob: What happens if the house is sold? It may revert to a private property. The limits on the sale are only on how the money from the sale is disbursed. (i.e. it has to be consistent with the Fellowship’s status as a nonprofit entity)
Audience: Again expresses concern that the home not morph into a more dangerous type of group home.
Fitzgerald: Practically speaking, this is not a problem with the Fellowship as it does not operate group homes for these purposes. If the house were sold and the new owners wanted to turn it into transitional housing, they would have to go through the same zoning approval that any other house would, as this would be a change in the purpose of the home
7)?: How does the DPH feel about Fellowship Health Resources? Are they a quality provider? (Jochim) Yes, they meet their contracts, have good programs, and have a good physical plant in their buildings. They cooperate and collaborate well. Among the top of the dozen or so companies he deals with.
Audience: Can we have another meeting before they open? Would be happy to meet again, but not needed as part of the approval process.
Audience: Would be nice as part of being a good neighbor that they give more notice they are moving in so people do not feel so blind-sided.
Wheaten: Notes again the company, staff, and residents want to be good neighbors. One client holds down a job. The rest go to the Bay Bridge Clubhouse during the day to learn living, socialization, and job skills. Clients are in the home voluntarily and must participate in the program.
 Expresses thanks for being asked to come to the meeting and hopes to continue the dialogue with the neighborhood.
Subcommittee Reports
Burgess House: Still awaiting go ahead for funding from the Town.
River Day: May 21st. Tenth anniversary .
Village Day: Sept 10th. Discussed with Richard Swansen, co-sponsor. Craig stated the MMVA would like to treat the race more as an event we coordinate rather than an event the MMVA runs. We would schedule it in the 11-12 time slot and provide lunch and the DJ. We would like the race to provide it’s own T-shirts, volunteers, and police assists, and we will talk further as to whether the school facilities or a portable toilet would be more appropriate and cost effective. Mr. Swansen is agreeable to all this. Robert Trout will continue to manage the checks for this event. We anticipate the run should draw from 40-70 participants, and could accommodate up to 120 without needing a timing service. Craig also made a plea for a “catchy new idea”. A square dancing demo and/or live music was suggested .
Membership: No news .
Newsletter: No news .
Scholarship: Still putting together the committee. It will now be Robert Trout, Peter Lavigne, and Linda Edson, as Emory Anderson will be out of the country in the coming weeks. Meetings to be announced by R. Trout .
Local Comprehensive Plan: No news .
Herring Run: No news .
Library: Working on an insert with the newsletter .
New Business
 Ann Trout would like to allow the Destination Imagination Team from the Horace Mann Charter School in the Mills to use the Burgess House to host a yard sale to raise funds for the Barnstable Gateway Program in May.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned.
Have Any Agenda Items For Discussion?
Please contact Ann Trout at 508-420-5740, or any Board member, with new agenda items for discussion.
The MMVA Board Of Directors [term ends]
 Craig Larson [2005], President ~ 508-428-9198
 Al Baker [2007], Vice President ~ 508-428-2433
 Ann Trout [2006], Secretary ~ 508-420-5740
 Robert Trout [2005], Treasurer ~ 508-420-5740
 Dave Curtis [2006] ~ 508- 420-9868
 Linda Edson [ 2005] ~ 508-428-4141
 Peter Lavigne [ 2007] 508-428-0167
 Deb Lavoie [2005] ~ 508-428-4515
 Donna Lawson [2007] ~ 508-420-9480
 Brian Lobdell [2006] ~ 508-428-3682
 Bill McIntyre [2007] ~ 508-428-1855
Terms end on the date of the next Annual General Meeting.
Next MMVA Meeting - Tuesday May 2, 2006 at 6:00 pm
At the Burgess House, Route 149
PLEASE PARK IN THE BURGESS HOUSE PARKING LOT NEXT DOOR !
NOT ON THE STREET !
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