Committee Concerning People with Disabilities

COMMITTEE CONCERNING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES MEETING MINUTES City of Middletown 61 Durant Terrace – Recreation/Community Service Building January 7, 2020 6:00 PM 1. Members Present: Marty Knight/Chairperson, Elderrean Paules, Joe Carta (via phone), August DeFrance, Keith Vinci & Richard Pelletier. Absent: Phil Cacciola and Joseph Bibisi Staff Present: Mayor Ben Florsheim, Chief of Staff Bobbye Knoll Peterson, 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 December 3, 2019, was made by Richard Pelletier and seconded by Joseph Carta. The motion carries. Elderrean Paules and August DeFrance abstained. Departmental Reports:  Elderrean Paules stated that there was a great holiday party at Monarca Place. She explained that Monarca Place was built for the disabled and that she has been there since inception. The building was built as sensory deprived. They are having a birthday party for a resident that is turning 90. A discussion ensued.  August DeFrance stated that he is the representative of the Boat House Committee. He was unable to attend the last meeting because of the ice. The meeting was still held. The Chair of the Boat House Committee, Jerry Daley, sent out information of what went on with the new changes. He told August that there is information that should go in our minutes regarding DEEP. The City Finance Department determined that we should have the Common Council approval for $18,000 for the economic development of the river. A discussion ensued.  Richard Pelletier stated that they haven’t had a Building Committee meeting on the new middle school project. A gas line has to be put in for the new school. The Recreation Department will be moving into the old portion of the middle school. Richard stated that the Planning and Zoning Commission is working on changing their bylaws to make it so that a person with disabilities would be able to attend meetings via phone. A discussion ensued.  Keith Vinci reported about the state agencies and state departments need access to sign language interpreters for specific business that goes on. Currently, in the deaf community, the state stopped supporting the state sponsored support interpreters 2017 and it was closed down. If you need sign language interpreters please let Keith know. Unified Theater will be at the end of the month. Keith assists in teaching the students how to sign a song each year. A discussion ensued.  Cathy Lechowicz stated that our Municipal Agent, Laura, fielded 87 general questions in December which is down from 287 in November. There were no new ADA issues that Laura has handled. A discussion ensued.  Joe Carta did not have anything to report.   Marty Knight stated that on January 23rd through 25th he will be going to Wisconsin to attend the Marshfield Center of Excellence where he will be part of a research study. They will be testing new medication for people who are overly obese due to the syndrome that he has. A discussion ensued. Old Business New Business: Miscellaneous:  Ellie extended an invitation to the Mayor and Chief of Staff to attend a Lions Club meeting. She explained that both she and Marty are a part of the Lions Club. A discussion ensued.  Keith asked a question regarding a ban on plastic straws. A discussion ensued. Adjournment: A motion of adjournment was made by Elderrean Paules and was seconded by Richard Pelletier. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 6:48 pm. Respectfully submitted, Laura Bruni Runte