Committee Concerning People with Disabilities

COMMITTEE CONCERNING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES MEETING MINUTES City of Middletown 61 Durant Terrace – Recreation/Community Service Building December 3, 2019 6:00 PM 1. Members Present: Marty Knight/Chairperson, Phil Cacciola, Joe Carta, Joseph Bibisi & Richard Pelletier. Absent: Elderrean Paules, August DeFrance and Keith Vinci. Staff Present: Catherine Lechowicz – Director of Recreation and Community Services General Public: none 2. Meeting Called to Order: Called to order at 6:01pm. 3. Public Hearing: none 4. Approval of Minutes: A motion to approve the meeting minutes of October 1, 2019, was made by Phil Cacciola and seconded by Richard Pelletier. The motion carries. Joseph Bibisi abstained. Departmental Reports:  Richard Pelletier stated that he has a new chairman and new vice-chairman. The Mayor appointed these people. He also said that he is now on the sub-committee of the junior high school committee. The committee will be responsible for checking invoices before they are paid. The meetings are held in the trailer which is difficult to get into. A discussion ensued.  Joseph Bibisi stated that the warming shelter is open at the Holy Trinity. The South Congregation is also open as a warming shelter. There was a discussion about the YMCA shutting down the housing portion. They are working on getting everyone there housing. The building was built in 1928 and will cost a fortune to bring up to code. A discussion ensued.  Joe Carta stated that he has nothing to report.  Phil Cacciola stated that Cathy made contact with the Shepard Home to get people involved in the Community Health Center. There are veterans that need health benefits that are residing there. We are hoping that they can get help at the VA and if not we are hoping that they can get help through the Community Health Center. Everyone will be screened to see what they are entitled to. There is also a priest that will be coming there for counseling. They are also looking for a pool table, a huge tv and some winter clothing. They are working with the DAV on these issues. A discussion ensued.  Cathy Lechowicz stated that she was happy to hear that the bump-outs were shoveled. She also stated that our Municipal Agent, Laura, is able to work to help the veterans by doing a Benefit’s screening. If the veterans are 60 or older, she is able to help them. Laura fielded 267 general questions. We have had multiple open enrollment events in which other CHOICES counselors were brought in to help. The open enrollment events help seniors decide which plans are best for them. There were 2 small ADA issues that Laura has handled. A discussion ensued.  Marty Knight stated that Dr. Helen Evrard has resigned from the committee. The Mayor knows about this. There was a discussion about filling that position with someone who meets the same political affiliation. There was a discussion about the AARP #3394 group disbanding. A discussion ensued. Old Business New Business:  The CCPD meeting dates for 2020 were discussed. There is one correction for the September meeting. The date for the meeting will be September 1st instead of September 8th. A motion was made by Phil Cacciola to pass the corrected meeting dates for 2020, and was seconded by Joe Bibisi. The motion carried.  There was also discussion about the Chairperson position for the committee. Phil Cacciola made a motion to have Marty Knight be the Chairperson for life and was seconded by Richard Pelletier. The motion carried. Miscellaneous: Adjournment: A motion of adjournment was made by Joseph Bibisi and was seconded by Phil Cacciola. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 6:28 pm. Respectfully submitted, Laura Bruni Runte