Committee Concerning People with Disabilities

COMMITTEE CONCERNING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES MEETING MINUTES City of Middletown 61 Durant Terrace December 1, 2020 6:00 PM 1. Members Present: Marty Knight/Chairperson, Elderrean Paules, August DeFrance (via Webex), Phil Cacciola (via Webex), Richard Pelletier, Keith Vinci, Tateisha Perry (via Webex), Joe Carta (via phone). Absent: Joseph Bibisi Staff Present: Catherine Lechowicz – Director of Recreation and Community Services General Public: none 2. Meeting Called to Order: Called to order at 6:03pm. 3. Public Hearing: 4. Approval of Minutes: A motion to approve the meeting minutes of October 7, 2020, was made by Phil Cacciola and seconded by August DeFrance. The motion carried. Departmental Reports:  Elderrean Paules stated that they can’t use the socialization room because of the pandemic and that there is 1 new tenant at Monarca Place. Keith Vinci asked as to the status of the individual of the woman who moved in. He wanted to know if she was disabled. It is unknown if she is disabled.  Keith visited a place in Wallingford that is for deaf individuals as a social center however he wasn’t able to enter because of the pandemic. He is exploring emergency interpretive services for hospitalizations and is trying to get that up and running. A discussion ensued.  Richard Pelletier stated he was not able to attend the last meeting of the middle school but based on the emails that he is receiving everything is on track. The 21st Center Infrastructure Bond has passed. It was a referendum that was on the last ballot. There is money that is earmarked for what will be the Recreation Center at the middle school. There is money in the middle school fund for when they demo the rest of the building so that when they put a wall up so that it is a standalone building. The bond will support the rest of the renovations there. A discussion ensued.  Joe Carta did not have anything to report.  August DeFrance stated that they did have a meeting of the boat house and they have been meeting down there but he does not attend those meetings. They have come a long way. There is a lot of fill being put in and a lot of landscaping has been done. They have been modeling some buildings. They went over many designs as a group. There is a meeting in January and at that meeting will be the discussion of money. They will show a design and explain the cost. A discussion ensued.  Tateisha Perry wanted to ask is there were any commissions that needed a representative of CCPD. She is not on any other commission meetings and is volunteering to do so. She said that with MYARC they are doing well. Not all individuals are back at work yet but they are trying to fight covid. A discussion ensued.  Phil Cacciola is questioning the status of the ordinance that they are reviewing and wanted to make sure that we do not lose the ability to be on a commission as a representative. A discussion ensued.   Cathy stated that they are reviewing the entire building committee ordinance and how it functions. It was not specific to this group it was overall how committee are formed and how they will function. The only change to this committee is having it be slightly broader the draft that I saw said that all building committees will have a representative from the committee concerning people with disabilities or an individual who can represent those interests. A discussion ensued. The ordinance is currently on the agenda for the December council meeting. If someone wants to speak during public session you are welcomed to do that. There was no new information from the Municipal Agent in terms of issues about the disabled. A discussion about voting ensued. Joe Carta stated that he voted curbside and that it went excellent. Marty had no challenges voting and Ellie stated that a young person checked her in and she forgot to give Ellie her ballot.  Marty Knight stated that the 2021 meeting dates needs to be discussed. The first Tuesday of the month works for every month except September. We have changed the date for September to the second Tuesday which is September 14th. A discussion ensued. Old Business New Business: Miscellaneous: Adjournment: A motion of adjournment was made by Keith Vinci and was seconded by Richard Pelletier. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 6:26 pm. Respectfully submitted, Laura Bruni Runte