Committee Concerning People with Disabilities

COMMITTEE CONCERNING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES MEETING MINUTES City of Middletown 61 Durant Terrace November 1, 2022 6:00 PM 1. Members Present: Marty Knight/Chairperson, Phil Cacciola, Elderrean Paules, Richard Pelletier, Joe Bibisi and Keith Vinci. Absent: Molly Carta, August DeFrance Staff Present: Catherine Lechowicz – Director of Recreation and Community Services General Public: none 2. Meeting Called to Order: Called to order at 6:05pm. 3. Public Hearing: none 4. Approval of Minutes: A motion to approve the meeting minutes of October 4, 2022, was made by Keith Vince and seconded by Joe Bibisi. The motion carries. There was 1 correction to be made to the minutes. “The Wesleyan professor is familiar with American Sign Language but not as well versed with other types of sign languages.” The motion carries. Departmental Reports:  Elderrean Paules stated that Monarca Place is having their first social event in 2 years. We celebrated an 80th birthday party on Saturday. The hot water tank was installed but they are still waiting for the generator. A discussion ensued.  Richard Pelletier stated that the project on 80 Harbor Drive is progressing. A discussion ensued.  Phil Cacciola stated that the generator project at Monarca Place is moving right along. John, from the Middletown Housing Authority, stated that it is going to be better than they thought. They are adding 8 new apartments to the west side of Marino Manor. The scooters on the sidewalks are a problem with accessibility. The election is coming up next week and Marty has not heard a word from the registrar’s office. A discussion ensued.  Joe Bibisi stated that he has nothing to report at this time.  Keith Vinci stated that he went to Wallingford and saw the program for people who are deaf and found it was a nice building but the program was strange. There will be a CRITTERS program in December. It will be held at Middletown high School. A discussion ensued.  Cathy Lechowicz stated that she met with Laura Patey (advocate for students with disabilities) from Wesleyan, who also expressed concern about the scooters and bikes on the sidewalks. She explained that the university is going to put up more” nests” where the scooters and bikes live. Cathy stated that she did find the handicapped parking spot at MacDonough School. She is not sure that it is legally accessible. This parking spot was just put in recently. In order to be completely compliant, they need to put in 1 more handicapped parking spot. A discussion ensued. We need to replace Joe Carta on the Committee Concerning People with Disabilities. August DeFrance has not been at a meeting for many, many months. With permission from Marty, Cathy would like to reach out to August to see if he wanted to remain on the committee. A discussion ensued. There has been several meetings about the gates and the Woodrow Wilson apartment complex. On the weekends and evenings the gate closest to the north side of the school will be open. A discussion ensued. Old Business: New Business: Miscellaneous:  Marty said that he was very happy that Karen Nocera was recognized by the Liberty Bank Surprise Squad through WFSB Channel 3 for recycling Halloween costumes. Adjournment: A motion of adjournment was made by Phil Cacciola and was seconded by Joe Bibisi. The meeting adjourned at 6:31 pm. Respectfully submitted, Laura Bruni Runte