2019-03-07-COD-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commission on Disability Minutes from March 7, 2019 Members: Victoria Buckley (Chair), Michael Martignetti,Julie Miller, Leonard Morse-Fortier, Janet Perry Town Liaisons: Kelly Axtell, Assistant Town Manager;Joe Pato, Selectman; Bonnie Teitelman, Council on Aging Guests: Lin Jensen, Christiana Mager • Streetscape Ramp: We are still waiting to test a sample of the new ramp design proposed for the Streetscape project. • Announcement: Susan Barrett asked Victoria to announce that the MBTA fares will be increasing as are Lexpress fares. This will probably mean that RIDE fares will increase as well. There was a brief discussion about RIDE issues and how hard it is to get issues addressed and resolved. • Presentation by Lin Jensen and Christiana Mager, proponents of citizens' articles 30 & 31 for Town Meeting: Lin and Christiana are working with Girl Scouts to pass articles Town Meeting to ban polystyrene food service ware and also to ban single-use plastic beverage straws. They presented to the Commission since some people with disabilities need plastic straws. They circulated several examples of compostable paper and plastic straws. Commission members had already reviewed the NPR article (citation is htt s: www,n r,or sectiions thesallt 2OJ$ 07 JJ 627773979 wh - eo Ile-wirl�h- p......... ......................................p...................g ......................................... ................................... ......................... ............. ............. ......................................................... ................X....p..............p........................................ disab llitie.s-wain.t.-�g_!ns_-c n-lzll s ii -straws-to-be.-_more.-f11_exiblle). There are a number of health reasons why someone might need a more rigid straw, such as spasticity in the jaw, dental needs, etc. The concern is to make sure that there are flexible straws suitable for those who need them. The wording for the Article 31 that was suggested prior to this meeting was;Food Establishments will be allowed, upon request and when reusable or compostable straws are either not feasible or not available, to distribute single-use plastic straws for persons with health-related needs. Based on this wording in Article 31 and the idea of doing outreach with the Girl Scouts to the merchants, the Commission voted unanimously to support the article. We will need to talk to restaurant owners to see how we can help them understand the needs of their customers. Joe Pato suggested that Lin ask the moderator of Town Meeting to call on Victoria when the article is presented to state the Commission's support. • Minutes: February minutes were reviewed and approved. • Update on Council on Aging presentation (March 6): In accordance with the Commission's desire to do more outreach, Victoria presented yesterday to the Council on Aging. She shared information about the Commission and the ADA, as well as asking what their needs might be. One attendee talked about there being no pedestrian light at Simonds Road and Bedford Street—Victoria will refer this to Kelly Axtell. There was a brief discussion of forming a voluntary registry of citizens with disabilities; outreach to the Massachusetts Office of Disability will be done to see if other towns offer this. • Additional new business: Victoria brought up that she had received a call from a citizen who was concerned that the decision to not cancel the Town elections due to snow may 1