Commission on Disability

METHUEN COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES (MCOD) MINUTES FROM THE MEETING HELD JANUARY 6, 2022 1.CALL TO ORDER AND ATTENDANCE: Meeting convened at 7:01 pm via Zoom. IN ATTENDANCE: Eileen Lee (Chairperson,) Victoria Debrocke, Cynthia Ciofolo, Rose Choquette, Maryann Vitale, Kevin Hatch, Ashley Smallwood, Debra Blood(logged in at 7:14pm.) NOT IN ATTENDANCE: James Beagan (Co-Chairperson) OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE: Gene Walsh (Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator,) Patrick Bower (Head of Department of Public Works) logged in at 7:45. 2. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: None. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING: There was one correction made to the minutes. Mr. Hatch made a motion to accept the minutes of the November, 2021 meeting with one correction. The motion was seconded by Ms. Ciofolo. A roll call vote was taken: Chair Lee-Yes Cynthia Ciofolo-Yes Rose Choquette-Yes Kevin Hatch-Yes Maryann Vitale-Yes Ashley Smallwood-Yes Victoria Debrocke-Yes 4. TREASURER’S REPORT: October, 2021- $2,000. Expenses-None.November, 2021-$4,000. Expenses-None. Total- $58,017.24. 5. ADA COORDINATOR’S REPORT: Mr. Walsh said that last month he did not field any complaints. He reported that the new apartment complex being built at The Loop will house one handicapped apartment for every fifteen apartments. He, also, said that the new apartment complex on Broadway has handicapped accessible apartments. Mr. Hatch reported that SEE/CLICK/FIX registered two concerns. One involved the dumpster blocking the handicapped parking space at the front of City Hall. Mr. Bower said that the dumpster was not in its designated location and that he would check daily, so that this would not happen again. The other concern involved a handicapped parking space being used by a city employee with no handicap placard visible. Mr. Bower said that he will confirm that the employee has a placard. It was mentioned that at Hughes Road and Brown Street there is a tree causing the sidewalk to be inaccessible for some of our handicapped population. Mr. Bower is working to obtain grants that will pay for barrier removal projects. If the tree needs to be removed, the DPW can do it. If it is a healthy tree, then Mr. Bower needs permission to remove it. Mr. Walsh will check out the location on January 7, 2022 to determine if the tree is an obstruction. Mr. Wash stated that he did not get this complaint through SEE/CLICK/FIX. Mr. Walsh indicated that other town employees check out this website and send each complaint to the appropriate department head. Mr. Hatch said that he would check the site, periodically, and send the appropriate reports to Mr. Walsh directly and also to Chair Lee. 6. OLD BUSINESS: A.THE MAYOR’S RESPONSE FROM THE COMPANY THAT SERVES THE CITY WEBSITE, IN REFERENCE TO ASHLEY SMALLWOOD’S AND KEVIN HATCH’S HAVING EDITING PRIVILEGES FOR THE SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES. Ms. Smallwood and Mr. Hatch have permission from John Molori , the city’s web director, to access the city’s website for editing purposes. Mr. Molori will train Mr. Hatch on uploading documents to update sites and Mr. Hatch will then advise Ms. Smallwood on this process. B.UPDATE FROM THE DPW AND ADA COORDINATOR ON THE STATUS OF THE PROPOSED ACCESSIBLE CROSSWALK AT CITY HALL, INCLUDING PROPOSED SAFETY MEASURES AND SIGNAGE AT THIS VULNERABLE LOCATION. Mr. Bower said that measurements have been taken for a cross loop ramp at City Hall. It has been determined the ramp needs to be on a slope. The ramp needs to be designed with the help of a traffic engineer who will consult with the city about construction details and waivers if they are needed. Another issue that needs to be considered is the blind driveway near this location. C.PRESENTATION OF SAMPLES OF MEDIA SURVEY QUESTIONS FROM MS. SMALLWOOD, MR. HATCH, AS WELL AS THE CITY’S INPUT ON A SURVEY DOCUMENT CONCERNING DISABILITY ISSUES IN METHUEN (SURVEY MONKEY.) Ms. Smallwood and Mr. Hatch spoke with Ryan Hamilton (Executive Assistant for the City of Methuen) concerning how the city has used surveys in the past and have these surveys focused on one category or several categories pertaining to where the monies that the MCOD accrues should be spent i.e., parks and recreation, schools, or the Nevins Library. Ms. Ciofolo also thought that education programs geared toward the general public concerning handicapped issues should also be included. For the time being, it was discussed that the MCOD could focus on using an article placed in the Methuen News to focus on where the monies could be spent. Ms. Vitale said that each category could be represented and an explanation of how the monies could be distributed should be highlighted. Chair Lee also thought via the article we could ask the general public what other categories that would benefit from this resource. Ms. Ciofolo stressed that these funds must benefit the handicapped population in general and not just one individual. She said that the MCOD must sift through existing surveys to get a further understanding of what issues are most important to the handicapped community. Chair Lee also discussed if the MCOD funds could benefit the handicapped community with issues related to Covid 19, especially, distribution of covid testing kits. It was determined that in order to do this we needed to know where and to whom the tests needed to be delivered to. The Mayor said that he already had a list of names from the city’s Department of Special Education and could supplement the list with names from the Senior Citizen Center. Ms. Blood suggested that the MCTV program YES WE CAN could be of assistance on this issue. Ms. Debrocke suggested that a public service announcement could be made on MCTV and Mr. Hatch said that he could also post something on the MCOD social media page. Ms. Smallwood said that an MCOD needs to have a designated contact person for this purpose and Ms. Vitale indicated that the person’s contact information must be included with all media outlets. Chair Lee discussed the possibility of using MCOD funds for Hadicapped Parking signs. Mr. Bower said that the city has its own sign shop and the city could do this job. Ms. Ciofolo questioned that if a business needs a sign the business should pay for the sign to comply with building codes. The Mayor indicated that he now has funds to fix the city’s parks and recreation areas. The Mayor, also, had a meeting with city council and they voted yes to spending $17,000 on doors for the Methuen Senior Center before the fiscal year is over. The Mayor indicated that Steve Angelo, the Recreation Department’s Superintendent, has applied for grants for projects at Forest Lake and Burnham Road. Mr. Hatch told the MCOD that at each doorway to enter Methuen High School and at at the entrance to the Media Center, there are glass doorways that are difficult to open for individuals with a mobility device. He strongly recommends that the School Department and the city, in collaboration with the MCOD evaluate possible solutions to ensure ease of access to external and internal doors for all members of the Methuen community. Mr. Walsh said that there are zoning ordinances for any new structure that has automatic doors on the outside of the structure but there is no code for internal doors. Ms. Smallwood made a motion to add this to next month’s agenda so that we can follow up on this issue. Mr. Hatch seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken: Chair Lee-Yes Cynthia Ciofolo-Yes Rose Choquette-Yes Kevin Hatch-Yes Maryann Vitale-Yes Ashley Smallwood-Yes Debra Blood-Yes Victoria Debrocke-Yes Ms. Ciofolo requested a copy of Methuen’s regulations regarding projects that the MCOD can allocate funds to. The Mayor responded that the the town solicitors could help us with that issue. Ms. Choquette ,also,told the mayor that the automatic doors at the Marsh School are locked and that someone needs to unlock them. To conclude the discussion on an MCOD survey, Mr. Hatch made a motion to work on the survey and the city’s distribution network to denote the efficacy of having MCOD commissioners distribute Covid Testing kits to the handicapped community. The motion was seconded by Ms. Blood. A roll call vote was taken: Chair Lee-Yes Cynthia Ciofolo-Yes Rose Choquette-Yes Kevin Hatch-Yes Maryann Vitale-Yes Ashley Smallwood-Yes Debra Blood-Yes Victoria Debrocke-Yes A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Mr. Hatch. Ms. Vitale seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken: Chair Lee-Yes Cynthia Ciofolo-Yes Rose Choquette-Yes Kevin-Hatch-Yes Maryann Vitale-Yes Ashley Smallwood-Yes Debra Blood-Yes Victoria Debrocke-Yes Meeting adjourned:8:45pm. Respectfully submitted: Victoria Debrocke