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Heather Hartshorn Sweeney, Director of Social Services Tel: (781) 861 -0194
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Enablement Committee Minutes
October 1, 2002
Present: Bob Harris, Chair; Victoria Buckley; Chuck Cole; Richard Landau; Steve Baran,
ADA Coordinator and Recorder (presiding)
Minutes of 8/20/02 and 9/17/02 : Both sets of minutes were approved with the exception
that in the Minutes of 8/20 in the paragraph with the heading Committee Charge there
should be a change from :
Rick Sanford has discussed the charge with Site Cusack and has made some changes.
to :
Rick White has discussed the charge with Sue Cusack and has made some changes.
Arrangements for Enablement Committee meeting
Chuck Cole expressed annoyance around his inability to obtain Senior Center staff
cooperation in getting minutes to the Committee when he sought to leave them off with
staff member. Steve Baran was away at the time and the Committee was left with the
mistaken impression that the minutes had not been done.
He suggested that the buzzer which is connected to the receptionist's desk have some kind
of signage so that people will know about its availability. The buzzer is needed so that the
receptionist can signal to unlock the door leading to the elevator in the condominium area.
Approach for developing FY 04 capital budget request for town building ADA
compliance
The proposal : The Committee reviewed a draft proposal prepared by Steve Baran
involving the use of certain criteria for determining what non- ADA - compliant items in a
2002 Department of Public Works update on town buildings should be recommended for
priority renovation. The proposal was that priority be given to accessibility for the public
as follows:
a) Entrances
b) Paths of travel
>. An addendum was provided with the proposal indicating by check marks what were the
1475 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE • LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02420
non - compliant items relelvant to these criteria.
Committee response to the proposal .
Pollingplaces : The Committee agreed in view of the civil rights basis of the ADA
legislation that anything found to be deficient pertaining to polling place accessibility
should be made accessible and a priority. Steve Baran indicated that because of a mandate
from the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth and Massachusetts Office on
Disability that a survey had been carried out in 1999. Members of the Enablement
Committee including Martin Quinlan cooperated with the Town Clerk's office and the
Department of Public Works to carry out an accessibility survey and action was taken to
make all sites compliant.
Chuck Cole noted that when he went to vote at the Fire Station he could not fund a
handicapped parking place and had to walk two blocks away in order to vote. Bob Harris
suggested that there was ample space in the rear of the building and that some
arrangement might be worked out in that regard. It was also suggested that if additional
space were created that there be portable signs indicating additional voting spaces.
Additional items related to main criteria. Richard Landau suggested the following items
related to the above criteria of entrances and paths of travel be checked on the survey
addendum:
• Door knobs
• Thresholds
• Widthsofdoors
Where a program or department is not accessible to the public : Priority consideration
should be given to creating accessible areas to conduct business when a program or
department is not accessible to the public.
Second -tier priority : The Committee accepted Steve Baran's suggestion that a distinction
be created between accessibility for the public and accessibility for employees with
disabilities. The latter category should be given a secondary priority.
Proposal preamble : It was suggested that the proposal be prefaced with narrative that
would address the underlying values and standards of the ADA concepts and legislation.
Next steps
It was agreed that once the proposal had been verified as expressing the Committee's
consensus it would be forwarded to the appropriate Department heads for them to review
what had been brought into compliance and what still remained to be clone. Further, they
would advise if there were other items not mentioned in the survey but reflecting the
criteria (entrances, paths of travel) which needed to be added.
Role of Building Inspector
In view of the Dunkin' Donuts and 52 Waltham non - compliant problems, question was
raised as to what was the role of the Building Inspector in issuing permits. It had been
thought that any structure where renovations were being conducted was subject to ADA
compliance requirements. On the other hand, there were considerations of cost and age of
the structure that might render ADA and AAB regulations irrelevant. It was suggested
that the Building Inspector be invited to discuss these issues.
Liberty Ride
Bob Haris had felt that a letter to the Liberty Bus ride manager had not been Rnn in
requesting greater accessibility. The necessay changes were noted by Richard Landau
who agreed to redraft the letter which would then be sent to Bob for his furthr review and
signature.
Cary Library Plans
Bob reviewed the plans for the Cary Library and was pleased to find everything in
compliance with the eception of nosings on the stairways. We will convey this to Carol
Mahoney and request specs for the elevators. Do they include sound announcers ? — Bob
commented : Happy with things happening down there. Looking good!
Neat meeting
The next meeting of the Committee will be held on Tuesday, October 15 at 2 p.m. in the
classroom on the ground floor of the Senior Center (go down middle corridor ; 2" d room
on the right).