Committee Concerning People with Disabilities

COMMITTEE CONCERNING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES MEETING MINUTES City of Middletown 1325 Randolph Road – Monarca Place Middletown February 4, 2020 6:00 PM 1. Members Present: Marty Knight/Chairperson, Elderrean Paules, August DeFrance, Keith Vinci, Phil Cacciola & Richard Pelletier. Absent: Joseph Bibisi and Joe Carta 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: Mark Radziwon discussed an issue that occurred with Dial A Ride. He had an appointment with his cardiologist at 7:15am. He called Dial A Ride and was told that they could only pick him up at 5:45am. He was picked up at 5:45am and was dropped off at 6am and he had to wait outside until the building until it opened at 7am. He was finished with his appointment at 9am even though his pick-up time wasn’t until 10:30am. He was hoping that they could come earlier to pick him up. He called Dial A Ride and was told that they could not come earlier. He was picked up at 10:30am and the bus driver told him that he was sitting in a parking lot from 8:30am until 10:30am with no scheduled pick-ups indicating that he could have picked him up earlier. A discussion ensued. Cathy will follow up with Middletown Area Transit to determine what happened and a letter will be drafted. 4. Approval of Minutes: A motion to approve the meeting minutes of January 7, 2020, was made by August DeFrance and seconded by Richard Pelletier. The motion carries. Departmental Reports:  Elderrean Paules stated that she had nothing to report.  August DeFrance stated that he had nothing to report.  Phil Cacciola stated that he had nothing to report. After Keith spoke, Phil remembered that he forgot to mention that Autism Speaks is now having Yellow Envelopes to help when they are being interrogated or pulled over for traffic violations, they hand the police or First Responders the Yellow Envelopes just like the Green Envelopes that the Deaf community use that Keith, Phil, and Marty came up with several years ago.  Keith Vinci stated that Unified Theater went really well.  Richard Pelletier stated that a substantial part of the school foundation is in. They approved change orders at the last meeting. A discussion ensued.  Cathy Lechowicz stated she wanted to thank Keith Vinci for all of his help teaching the children how to sign the song. Our Municipal Agent, Laura, fielded 172 general questions in January with 1 new ADA issue regarding an elevator being down at the Wilcox Apartments. They have assured a date when it will be fixed. Paperwork was given out to all CCPD members. We are asking that everyone give their updated information. A discussion ensued.  Marty Knight stated that on January 23rd through 25th he went to Wisconsin to attend the Marshfield Center of Excellence where he was part of a 12 member research study. They were testing new medication for people who are overly obese due to the syndrome that he has. A discussion ensued. Old Business New Business: Miscellaneous: Adjournment: A motion of adjournment was made by Elderrean Paules and was seconded by August DeFrance. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 6:58 pm. Respectfully submitted, Laura Bruni Runte