Committee Concerning People with Disabilities

COMMITTEE CONCERNING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES MEETING MINUTES City of Middletown 61 Durant Terrace December 6, 2022 6:00 PM 1. Members Present: Marty Knight/Chairperson, Phil Cacciola, August DeFrance, Elderrean Paules, and Richard Pelletier Absent: Molly Carta, Keith Vinci, Joe Bibisi Staff Present: Catherine Lechowicz – Director of Recreation and Community Services General Public: none 2. Meeting Called to Order: Called to order at 6:00pm. 3. Public Hearing: none 4. Approval of Minutes: A motion to approve the meeting minutes of November 1, 2022, was made by Phil Cacciola and seconded by Richard Pelletier. The motion carries. Departmental Reports:  August DeFrance stated that he had information about the boat house to report. There will be another meeting on December 14th. We should have some numbers at that point. It is in the process of being priced. There will be more information in January 2023. A discussion ensued.  Elderrean Paules stated that all 16 apartments at Monarca Place are full. There is a gentleman who is not blind or deaf but he is disabled after being in a car accident. There are working on the generator and she has been very cold because they had the doors open. Phil Cacciola stated that it is moving along better than they had planned on. They are saying that early spring it will be finished. Elderrean stated that the Lions Club will be having their holiday party in the social room. A discussion ensued about the voting process. Everything went very well.  Richard Pelletier stated that the multiple school project is going very well. They hired a secretary to take minutes at the meetings and it is more organized and there are minutes to read. At one of the schools they have put something over the gutters (guards) to keep the leaves out and in another school they have an issue with dripping onto the sidewalk so they will be putting a guard on those gutters as well. There will be a meeting regarding 80 Harbor Drive but I will not be able to attend. A discussion ensued.  Cathy Lechowicz stated that she was included on a meeting request with residents from Marino Manor because they have concerns about the bus stop there and safety and riders needed help with ADA accommodations. Richard stated that in 1 direction the bus stop is fine but in the other direction it stops on a hill. Cathy stated that she will keep the commission posted on what transpires in this meeting. Middletown Area Transit has combined with 9 Town Line which would mean that you will have more access to other areas. Elderrean stated that she doesn’t think that it’s a good idea that they combined because the drivers don’t know that she is blind. Richard stated that it could be an issue with training the drivers. Elderrean stated that she called for Dial A Ride and she was waiting for pick up and the bus pulled in straight so that she didn’t hear the back up so she didn’t know that the bus was there. The bus driver saw Elderrean standing there but did not know that she was blind so the bus left. The drivers need to know that people have different disabilities and it is becoming a problem. A discussion ensued. Cathy stated that there is not a handicapped button on the Recreation building for the doors to open but was told that the code  does not require it. Cathy insisted that there be a button installed so it will be installed. A discussion ensued.  Marty Knight discussed the upcoming 2023 year meeting dates for the Committee Concerning People with Disabilities. It remains the first Tuesday of every month at 6pm. The only correction is January of 2023 and January of 2024. It will be switched to the second Tuesday of those 2 months due to the New Year holidays. In 2023 it will be January 10th and in 2024 it will be January 9th. A discussion ensued. August DeFrance made a motion to change the meeting dates of the Committee Concerning People with Disabilities for January 2023 and January of 2024 to the second Tuesday in January and was seconded by Richard Pelletier. The motion carries. Old Business: New Business:  Cathy received the name of Laurie McFadden as a person to replace Joe Carta on this committee. She is an individual with a disability and is a democrat. Miscellaneous:  Cathy explained that Keith Vinci is not at the meeting tonight because he is with Unified Theater doing a dress rehearsal. The show is Thursday at 7pm, Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 1pm this week. They are doing the Cridders show on Sunday at 2:30pm at Middletown High School. A discussion ensued. Adjournment: A motion of adjournment was made by Richard Pelletier and was seconded by Phil Cacciola. The meeting adjourned at 6:31 pm. Respectfully submitted, Laura Bruni Runte