Commission on Disability

City of Methuen, Massachusetts Commission on Disability The Searles Building, 41 Pleasant Street, Suite 306 Methuen, Massachusetts 01844 September 7, 2023 Meeting Minutes Location: Quinn Building 90 Hampshire St. Methuen, MA 01844 in Sanborn Hall 1. Call to Order and Attendance: Meeting called to order at 7:00pm. Present Members: Eileen Lee, Chairperson, Ashley Smallwood, Vice-Chairperson, Victoria Debrocke, Treasurer, Maryann Vitale, Secretary, Deb Blood, Kevin Hatch, Cindy Ciofolo. Not in attendance: Anne Gachohu, Sandy Almonte. Quorum was met. Also in attendance: Felix Garcia, Deputy Director of DPW 2. Public Participation: Sid Harris – Mr. Harris stated a request that MCOD take issues to City Council to improve collaboration with the city in resolving issues. He reported concerns on See-Click-Fix issues not getting addressed immediately by the city. Mr. Harris also reported concern with the Elmwood Cemetery renovation and lack of updating restroom to meet ADA standards. Lastly, Mr. Harris was concerned with tracking MCOD funds. Ms. Lee requested that Mr. Harris send her a letter with the outstanding concerns he spoke about tonight. 3. Approval of Minutes of Last Meeting: A motion was passed unanimously to accept the minutes of June 2023 meeting with spelling correction. Motion: Ms. Ciofolo, second: Mr. Hatch. 4. Treasurer’s Report: June 2023 ending balance was $92,938.05 reflecting a $3200.00 credit and zero debits. Ms. Debrocke reports still trying to schedule meeting with Ms. Beam to discuss MCOD’s request for more information regarding the collection and use of funds. 5. ADA’s Coordinator’s Report: Ms. Almonte, ADA Coordinator was absent from meeting. 6. Old Business a). Update from DPW on accessibility issues in the city & recent See-Click-Fix Reports: Felix Garcia, Deputy Director of DPW reported on the sidewalk renovation on Merrimack St. will continue over 2 years and extend to west side towards Jackson St and east side towards Pleasant Valley St. Mr. Garcia reported he will find out more information regarding the restroom accessibility issue at Elmwood Cemetery. Ms. Ciofolo, Ms. Debrocke and Ms. Lee voiced concerns about ADA compliance in providing accessible restroom for participants in public gatherings as well as employees of the cemetery. Ms. Ciofolo inquired about projects involving Gill Ave and Forest Lake. Mr. Hatch expressed need for DPW representation at all MCOD meetings to provide technical aspects of projects and ADA compliance concerns. Ms. Smallwood expressed concern on unresolved high school accessible parking issue while other school parking lots are getting renovated. Mr. Garcia reported he will reach out to representative of high school to address issue. He also suggested reaching out to superintendent regarding the parking lot. A motion was unanimously passed to have Ms. Lee and Ms. Smallwood reach out to the superintendent, Brandi Kwong, to attend MCOD meeting to discuss concerns with accessible parking at high school loop and the weight of the doors at the media center/library of the high school. Motion: Ms. Smallwood., second: Ms. Ciofolo. Ms. Smallwood also expressed concern for sidewalks near senior center. Mr. Garcia reported the sidewalk issue at the Merrimack Golf Course was addressed and found to be “walkable”. Mr. Hatch expressed concern about overgrown bushes and shrubs on Rt.110 near Jay Gee’s Ice Cream causing dangerous obstructions. Mr. Garcia reports he will coordinate with Ms. Almonte on these issues. Mr. Garcia left meeting at 8:05pm. b) Contact with treasurer’s office between Ms. Lee and Ms. Debrocke. See Treasurer’s report above. c) Discussion about collecting nominations from the public to recognize businesses in Methuen with outstanding practices that benefit people with disabilities. Update on input from the public and proposed nomination form. Ms. Smallwood reports form is not online yet and will bring more information next meeting including finalized form for MCOD to distribute. d) Discussion about ways the Commission can work with local businesses to provide information and training on making businesses more accessible to people with disabilities and best practices for providing service to people with a variety of challenges. Ms. Lee suggested that when distributing nomination forms, asking businesses if they are interested in receiving information or training on making their business more accessible to people with disabilities. e) Basketball tournament update and next steps. A motion was unanimously passed to postpone planning for the basketball tournament till MCOD has more time and resources for the event. Motion: Ms. Smallwood, second: Mr. Hatch. 7)New Business a) Discussion about the Commission’s attendance at upcoming community events- Methuen Day. MCOD members will be present to set up table and provide information to the community throughout the event. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn passed unanimously. Motion: Ms. Ciofolo, second: Ms. Vitale. The meeting was adjourned at 8:31pm.