Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-07-16-EC-min.pdf Enablement Committee July 16, 2002 Meeting Minutes Attendance: Robert Harris, Chair, Members: Chuck Cole, Richard Landau, Sue Cusack, Steve Baran, Alumni Members: Gary Strong John Gardner, New Member Victoria Buckley Special Guest: Bill Hadley, Dir Of the Department of Public Works June 18 Minutes: Two sets were submitted and were approved as written. (Thank you Steve and Jennifer!) Responsibility for taking the minutes will rotate among the different committee members. Each minute-taker must sign off on the minutes. Chuck has offered to do the August minutes. In the June 18th minutes, there was a reference to the dune buggy chair that is on order by the Recreation Department for use of the Old Res. A request was made to describe the chair A dune buggy chair made of PVC piping and large tires. The chair is either pushed or pulled to facilitate transportation around the beach or into the water Revisions to Enablement Committee Charge: The 4th bullet under compliance to be revised to include "programs" It would read "Review preliminary plans for the construction, renovation, or remodeling of facilities, spaces, or programs that serve the public prior to the development of final plans." Add the following bullet: "Look for training opportunities that would be applicable to all roles in town government that would enhance employees' ability to facilitate greater awareness, sensitivity, and accessibility in the town programs and services; and to work with town managers to ensure that their staff in need of training, receive it." Disability Awareness in the Lexington Public Schools: A question was asked about whether a disability awareness curriculum was used in the public school. Victoria offered that Hastings' Diversity Committee has integrated issues related to disability Sue mentioned that the district has several curricula available but none are implemented in a systemic and consistent basis. The Lexington Sped PAC will be aggressively working with district administrators to infuse disability into all the conversation related to Diversity There are several committees at all levels of the school structure where this could happen e.g., diversity, curriculum development, hiring protocols. Report from DPW on the 94 Audit and other Matters: Bill Hadley reported. • There are new locks and ADA compliant door handles are being installed at Town Hall. • 2 new doors at the center plaground restrooms with appropriate latched • Curb cut at end of Depot alley at end of Meriam Street near Minuteman Building • Curb cut at Harrington-Bedford has been modified by curb-although the specifications may not be up to code. Bill will be taking Barbara out to the curb to determine future actions. • Peter Chalpin says 3-4k for a curb cut(there are 285 curb cuts that are recommended to be L done in the 94 audit Report--apparently not many have been done) f • Resurfacing budget can be rewritten to include curb cuts. • Suggestion was made to ensure texture of curb cut to facilitate usage for individuals with vision of impairment. Action Plan Development: Bill would like to develop a plan to build community awareness to develop fiscal support to address the issues in the 94 Audit. Plan should be followed by budget approval through Capital. Chuck proposed a 12 month pilot First Step We agreed to use the 94 Audit as the source from which we would build our list of priorities. Bill will have his depart review the audit-buidling by building. Second Step Bill will have the review of the Audit completed by August 2nd to identify what has been done. Findings will go to Steve. Third Step• Bill will go to Shirley(chair of Captial)to start the discussion about the capital needed to resolve the 94 Audit; Bill will go to Peter Chalpin to include curb cuts in our resurfacing contracts. Fourth Step- A small subcommittee will form to identify priorities from the 94 Audit and bring them to the committee for approval in September The subcommittee will be represented by Steve and Barbara. Fifth Step: The Enablement Committee will set the priority list based on recommendations from the subcommittee. We present our list to Bill in September Other Items: Bill noticed that the back door of town hall has a pressure plate that is not working as efficiently as it could; he is looking to getting this taken care of. Bob pointed out several concerns: • the signage for Handicap Parking in front of the Yangtzee River was not set to code • he also noted that there should have been a curb cut put in at a new construction at 54(?) Waltham—even after prior warning to the town that this situation should be monitored. • He also pointed out that the new crosswalks in front of Cary Hall do not meet code. Barbara raised the issue of the Firestation; Bill thought 30k in the building envelop project had been allocated to make the front doorway accessible. The Visitor Center will be graded to facilitate better access. Bill will talk to Steve Frederickson-the Building Commissioner to establish an internal procedure that ensures a timely delivery of all plans to the EC for review ( Chuck will pursue the details of an RFP is being put out to develop Met State as a 40 B proposal. Complaint Form: 1 Add the space for contact information from the person completing form and their relationship to complaintant 2. Report of Meeting-Minutes should be taken and they should be signed and dated by both parties. 3 Add Town Manager as a signatory for issues that relate to the Town 4 Add a footnote that indicates that complaints need to be kept on file for four years. Files of ongoing and resolved complaints will be maintained by the ADA Coordinator. Letter to the Editor Amended as followed and emailed to the Lexington Minuteman for publication in the July 26th paper To the Editor of the Lexington Minuteman The Lexington Town Enablement Committee is grateful to the Board of Selectmen and officers of the Town for their sensitivity to issues affecting the disabled. Occasionally, however, the pressures of time and circumstances result in compromises that deserve comment. A recent newspaper article reports that the Board agreed unanimously to seek a waiver from the Department of Justice regulations that would require that proposed tour buses be accessible. Since the tour bus program is only in a trial period, the Selectmen agreed to seek the waiver so as not to impose a financial hardship on the vendor at this stage. We wish to affirm the importance of accessibility requirements even under the circumstances of a trial period, and were pleased to learn that arrangements have been made to provide accessible transportation to individuals who are able to give notice a day in advance. Public facilities must be available to all citizens, including those with disabilities. The specifications for the provision of services must require compliance with federal and state laws. Rules governing racial and gender equality should never be waived and neither should accessibility regulations. We look forward to working on behalf of our Town and its disabled citizens. Robert Harris, Chair And the Members of the Enablement Committee Minutes respectfully submitted by Sue Cusack, July 21, 2002.