HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-11-05-EC-minTown of Lexington
Disability Commission Minutes
November 5, 2003
Present: Jennifer Aliber, Victoria Buckley, Charles Cole, Bill Kennedy (Selectman),
Richard Landau, Len Morse - Fortier, Michael Novack (Town of Lexington), Dan Perez
Absent: Sue Cusack, Michael Martignetti
Minutes: Minutes from the previous meeting were approved.
Procedures on Future Letters: There was discussion and agreement that one week (5
business days) would be the timeframe in which to make comments on letters. Urgent
matters should be handles in 24 -48 hours. V�gi Ia has the Commission letterhead, and it L uf�y,
is accessible to Richard as a Microsoft document or he can scan in any written material.
Report on the Committee /Commission Chairs Breakfast: The town of Lexington has a
large number of committees and commissions, almost all of which desired to have a more
collaborative and allied relationship with each other. The question was raised whether
the list of Committees, Commissions and their member composition was available on
line. There was also discussion about the distinction between the Historic District
Commission, which is interested in enforcement of the colonial and historic character of
the town, and the History Commission, which may have a broader agenda. Len offered
to look into this.
There was a good deal of interest in Fair and Accessible Housing, and a feeling that
townhouses were not a good solution for many due to the stairs. Brookhaven will be
adding 52 more units. The town of Bedford is reportedly doing an exceptional job in
creating accessible housing (Steve Hammond ?).
Capital Expenditures: We have been asked to review the list of priorities for physical
improvements. The Commission feels that part of our job in preparing the list is to make
it clear that we understand that not all older structures can be easily made to
accommodate all disabled individuals, but that all public facilities should have a clear and
accessible path of access which would include: parking, front door entry, access into the
building and allow a disabled visitor to then contact the office or person they wish to visit
and have an appropriate place to meet them, even if they could not get to the office itself.
The existing list has been based on a study which is not ten years old, and which had
been generated on the basis of payments made, not on a physical review of the actual
conditions. After examination of the compliance priority list of the Enablement
Committee of August 20, 2002, the following list was generated:
1. Fire Department
2. Town Hall, front door
3. School Administration
4. Police Station
Victoria agreed to send these four items to Mr. Bacha ( ?) as the top priority list.
Others on the list included:
5. Old Reservoir Bath House
6. Cary Memorial Hall (where the library is temporarily housed)
7. Center Field Building ( ? ? ?)
8. Cemetery
The Senior Center had been listed at number 5 and the compliance issue was that of the
fire alarm system. The Commission felt that this is an issue of public safety and not an
enablement or disability issue.
The Animal Shelter was listed at number 10 and no longer exists Q).
The suitability and accessibility of the Visitor's Center remains an open question and
should be reviewed and corrected by Bill Hadley. Although work has been done on the
building, there have also been some complaints, including the placement of toilet room
accessories out of wheelchair reach.
There is concern within the Commission that the town could be viewed as deficient in
good faith effort on disability issues, especially as there is budgetary pressure to
reallocate funds earmarked for accessibility to other needs.
Cary Hall: Was Cary Hall on the Building Envelope plan before the library moved in
temporarily? It is unclear what the reuse plan is at this time, though it will be important
to make sure that the ADA regulations are incorporated into them. A suggestion was
made that it might be worth going to the meetings. One person to contact on this matter
is Cathy Rawson, Library MIS Director (781- 862 - 0500 x291). Len Morse - Fortier to call
and Len and Jennifer might want to meet her and do a walk through of the building.
Special Town Meeting November 17: This session will bean attempt to balance the '04
town budget and Peter Kelly has made a suggestion that the funds to improve access to
the Fire Station be used for other purposes. At this point he does not appear to have a
majority of the Board of Selectmen willing to take this step.
Individual citizens may certainly call the Selectmen and let them know their concern that
an already approved budget item is potentially a subject of reconsideration.
Disaster Plan: How would town disaster plans affect people with disabilities?
Development Review Team (DRT): Reviews will now be held once a month instead of
twice.
John OtWuseum of Our National Heritage: Victoria made a motion to form an alliance
with the Museum and the Bikeways Committee to create a path of travel from the park
into the Museum grounds.
Special Event Parking: The issue of special event parking was brought up, in regard to
the Museum and other venues. Most of the time there is enough accessible parking
available, but when there are special events and an extraordinarily large turn -out, there
often isn't sufficient accessible parking. Solutions to this matter were not discussed at
any length.
Next Meeting: 3 December 2003